Bait
By Donald E. Stephen
A Vietnam War memoir by Martinsville, Ill., farmer Donald E. Stephen, who served in Vietnam as an Army infantry platoon leader in 1970-71. Stephen, a Special Forces-trained officer, went to Vietnam as a 24-year-old soldier and led men barely out of high school through days of prolonged fighting and uncertainty in the jungles of Vietnam.
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About the Author
Donald E. Stephen
Donald E. Stephen was born and raised on a farm in eastern Illinois, near the small towns of Martinsville and Casey. After high school, Stephen attended college at Southern Illinois University and scuffled with Vietnam War protesters when they tried to force him to sign a petition opposing the war. After serving in Vietnam, Stephen returned to farming in eastern Illinois and has remained active in farm organizations and veterans affairs.
Read an Excerpt
We were living in the jungle and our mission was to search and destroy. Reconnaissance located the enemy and our superior firepower was to destroy him. The problem seemed to lie in the fact that Americans died when the NVA were found.
Our reconnaissance reminded me of fishing our old pond for yellow-bellied catfish. You had to have a strong pole, very strong fishing line and a good hook. The ultimate bait for a catfish was a big juicy worm.
If you wanted to be sure to catch some fish, you set out several poles around the pond, and then set up a command post so you could watch all the lines at the same time. If you had a pole in the wrong place, the little schools of fish just nibbled and chewed until you lost your bait. To catch the big cats, you placed two worms on a hook and went to the mud bottoms and waited. Every 30 minutes or so, you checked your bait, and if it was still there, you just moved a few feet and tried again. It wasn't a question of whether you would catch a yellow-belly. It was a matter of when you would catch one and at what expense to your bait box.
After being in the bush for a few long weeks, I had decided that we, the good old American draftees, were the bait. Whether we were nibbled on, chewed, or swallowed whole, depended on where we were dropped in a new place.