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Personal Narrative Essay About My First Vietnam War

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On August the 8th 1918 at 4:30 am let it be remembered that the heavens broke. After creeping through marshy ground and laying still since 3:00 the mighty guns of the Fourth Army all roared at once. Men around me lit cigarettes and cheered for the battle was on. That morning it was dreadfully misty and after the smoke from the barrage we couldn’t see more than 5 feet in front of us. We charged relying on our officers for compass bearings and many of us got momentarily lost. We were able to pass over the Huns front trenches with ease. During the initial push we even caught a Hun with his pants in his hands, they were just getting up! Then the 30th Battalion formed up right next to Lamotte, a ruined country town and the tanks moved into position. We waited till 8:20 till the tanks waved their little green and white flags and we were on the move again. After moving …show more content…

As we snaked through the valley my mate next to me, Greg got shot in the thigh as we were running between cover. I managed to drag him under a small dip in the land and tried to wrap my waterproof sheet around the wound because it was the only material on me at the time. I then proceeded to stab his bayonet into the ground and tied his handkerchief to the butt of the rifle so the tanks wouldn’t run over him. By 10:40 we made it to our second objective and the officers fired off a success signal. Back at the Battalion HQ I heard from our Corporal that he made it out …show more content…

The adrenaline is still pumping through my veins and every time I hear the distant crack of machine gun I always jerk. War does that to you, you know? Anyway, it’s been a long day and apparently we are going to be spending some time here. So I am going to settle down and get comfortable. And as the natives here would say Au

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The sawdust flies by, I can taste it through the breeze. In the afternoon, soldiers take turns practicing their shooting and using their knives to prepare if they get ambushed. I can taste the gunpowder from the huge rifles. The gunpowder's thick, white puffs of smoke smell like burning firewood. Battles may not be here, but soldiers are on the tips of their toes afraid they must fight in their safe place.

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