World War 3: A New War

[Joe]

Chapter 0: Preface
By: Department of State Diplomatic Officer Tuan Anh Nguyen

In truth, this was never supposed to be a book. This was supposed to be a report on Resilience, a collection of ideas of sorts of our soldiers and civilians alike. How were our people preparing for our next conflict, how were they recovering from the last one. That kind of thing. When I first submitted this collection of transcripts to my supervisor, Deputy Secretary of State Tran, it was immediately sent back to me. How much use would a nice feel good story be to the Republic of Vietnam? They wanted hard facts, not individualistic testimonies. I decided to resign the very next day.

Everyone always speaks of war; the hawks in the Senate. The mongers in the Global Assembly. Everyone is keen to build the most bombs, the most tanks, the most guns. They gameplan strategies to dump tons of ordnance in country sides, to bomb cities into oblivion. Yet, they forget to ask themselves; what about the people who are left? It is my true belief that we are not a world of countries, but one world working together. Perhaps I am an idealist, but this book, World War 3, will showcase a new war. A war where there are two belligerents: war itself and the people of a nation reeling from it, suffering from it, and moving on from it.

 

[Joe]

Chapter 1
Interviewing: Lt. Jacob "Jake" Do, Engineer, 1st Division Engineering Battalion, B Company

<Jake Do, as he likes to be known, is American. He's a first-wave immigrant to Vietnam, coming in as part of the Vietnamese diaspora coming home from abroad. He's taller than the average Vietnamese man, towering over me by more than several inches. He's much bigger too, no doubt from the plenitude of Texan nutrition. Despite his intimidating stature, it's belied by an ever-present grin and gentle nature. He's not a warrior, unlike the other ARVN Cavalryman. He's an educated man, an academic.>

(Good morning. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me.)

Really, the pleasure is all mine. This will have to be a bit quick though, I need to do my gear check.

<He's smiling bashfully, toying with his felt cavalry cap on his lap. It took a while to be able to meet with him, what with the busy schedule the engineers have.>

(It won't take alot of time. Can we start with your name and where you're from?)

Sure. My name is Jacob Do, that's spelled D-O and pronounced "doe" for any Americans... I see that look that you're giving me, but back hom-... back in America, I have to explain that all the time. They announce it "do", you know? It's pronounced "doe." Anyways, I'm from Houston, Texas... born and raised. Now, I live in Nha Trang.

(You're American?)

Was.

(Elaborate, please?)

Well, you know... my parents were refugees from the North... ever since that big ol' war, they fled South and eventually made their way to resettle in America. That's where I was born and grew up... but it was never quite home for them, you know? They were always talking to me when I was growing up about waiting for the communists to leave power and returning home to their village. When the Republic came about, they packed their bags... and I followed.

<He doesn't wish to elaborate. I don't want to push him.>

(What is it that you do?)

I'm an Army man! Engineer, 1st Division Engineering Battalion. Armored Cav. We're based here in Tay Ninh. <He gestures around him.> Demining operations.

(Can you talk a little bit more about that? Demining? What is that?)

You know what a mine is right? It's a device that soldiers plant in the ground to basically obstruct the enemy and deny them that area. When you step on it, it activates a pressure sensor, and when that pressure is relieved, it explodes. Really devastating stuff. It's actually not meant to kill you, really, it's meant to take off a leg. Then, when people are sent in to come and get you, they get hurt as well. Really, really, nasty stuff.

(And your job is to...)

Get rid of them. We hike over to sites where they're suspected, based off of old maps and reports... which are a job in themselves to decipher. Once we're at a suspected site, we'll stand in a line with a bunch of metal detectors and march slowly, waving them back and forth, back and forth. Then, if we discover one... usually we don't, because our equipment is so sensitive, we're usually spending 80% of the time digging up shrapnel, but in the case that we do, we mark it and send it ExPo.

(ExPo..?)

Explosives Ordinance Disposal.

(Why is that the government wants to demine areas?)

We want to demine all areas. You know, after the war... when the soldiers pack up and leaves, that mine is still there and waiting... rusting... corroding... ticking away with enough explosives to kill a child. Meanwhile, we forget that it's there... then one day, maybe a farmer wants to graze his water buffalo and he inadveterntly steps on a mine. Boom. There goes his whole livelihood, courtesy of the United States Army, VC, NVA, ARVN, what have you. Worst yet, maybe a child's playing, and he picks up what he thinks is a strange rock, then bam, there goes his arm.

<Suddenly, there's an alarm. Lieutenant Do swears and stands up.>

Apologies, I gotta get moving.

(Where are you going?)

To go make sure my metal detector works.