The loud explosions, deep in the canyon startled Alpha Company. They knew it wasn’t either of the squads sent in because they carried no explosives. The chattering of the two machine guns didn’t help to calm nerves either. However, the officers and NCOs of Alpha had no idea which side was firing the machine guns because each side was armed with the same weapons. It was true that First and Second squads entered the canyon carrying the weapons so it could be them. It was also true that the unknown entity they assumed was an Army Special Forces A-Team could have them too. Ten minutes after the two explosions, what was left of Second Squad came limping out of the canyon. SSG Patel reported to the CO that they had men down in the field and …show more content…
‘How dare they kill his men!’ he thought to himself. Captain Kelso, Alpha Company’s CO, went from conservative and reserved about committing his Company to entering the box canyon. Now angry and seeking revenge for the men he had lost, he was full steam ahead ordering the Company into the canyon with no real game plan on how to engage the enemy within. The Company’s First Sergeant, Platoon Sergeants as well as the Platoon Leaders objected to the Captain’s rush into harm’s way. Regardless, Captain Kelso ordered all platoons into the canyon to capture or kill, preferably to kill the men …show more content…
Colonel Magnus saw the Special Forces Soldiers as traitors to the cause. His mindset hadn’t changed. You were either with him or against him. The SF soldiers were against him, so he ordered their bodies disposed of in a common unmarked grave and refused to recognize them. This concerned many of the senior officers within his command, what it a war crime many of them wondered. At a minimum they should recognize the soldiers and treat them as such. The senior officers weren’t all that sure they had the campaign all wrapped up. They all suspected that the closer they got to the nation’s capital the more force would be thrown at them. It was all but guaranteed that the 3rd Infantry Regiment was fiercely guarding the city. Colonel Magnus had no friends within the Regiment. It was by and large the most loyal unit in the entire United States