Fire Base Ann
April, 1970
Memory is a funny thing; why one day or night would stand out, one event is so vivid and others aren’t. I have a great memory of one night on Ann. I had been out with Recon on my first patrol. We had walked off, patrolled several days and walked back in. There was plenty of beer for Recon and by the time the sun went down, everyone was three sheets to the wind. Well, of course, Cossey would have been sober, but I think he was listening to the Armed Forces radio with us. I remember this so well; the Beatles came on, singing “Don’t Let Me Down”. Arty flipped out and was begging everyone to shut up so as not to spoil the song. Paul playing those heavy bass notes, he, John and George all harmonizing, then Lennon singing solo: I’m in love for the first time.
The night went on. Sgt. Corn was drunk and riding a gook bicycle and crashed into the mess tent making a tremendous racket. I laughed so hard, it hurt.
Ace had written a song about Recon and the lyrics were sparse, but the refrain went on and on; Recon, recon, recon… we were all singing along late at night, until an officer appeared out of the dark and told us to “Shut the f-ck up!”, we were keeping the Colonel awake. Haha off to bed, lads. the colonel will be sure to find something for you to do in the morning.
Bird-out
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