Vietnam
January 29th, 1968
The Sunrise Before...

TET 1968
© 2014 by Don Poss


Telling it like it was!


Sunrise Before TET 1968, © 2014 by Don Poss


January 29, 1968, The sunrise before TET 1968
, an Air Force Birddog glides quietly over jungle canopy. For a moment, the pilot’s attention is drawn away from the darkness and dangers lurking below, to the heavenly sunrise cresting the horizon.  It is astoundingly beautiful.  He can feel the sun’s warmth and it is easy to circle playfully, enjoying the freedom of flight.  He’s tempted to dance with a rising flock of birds aloft in cool morning air….

The young captain’s attention returns to the jungle below and he knows there is evil within that perpetual darkness. He does not know it is stirring with growing anger, hungry for its own body count and cares not whether that living morsel of flesh is friend or foe. Something seems wrong-- an uneasiness seems to rise from the Hues of green below as if a ghostly sentient-mist flowing over the horizon were drawn to the sun-warming air to snare him.  He cannot quite put his finger on the problem.

He circles in lazy-orbit, without thought as muscle memory flies the aircraft as if on auto pilot, and for a second spots movement below… and then it is gone.  A quick glance toward the flock of birds…and they too are gone…but the sunrise is still inspirational and he banks the small plane toward the light, away from the foreboding haze, and sneaks a peek at the photo of his wife and new daughter taped on the dash.

Both sides have announced a two-days cease-fire for the TET holiday. All is right with the world…for now.


TET 1968: 051 Bunker, 4 KIA, 1968, by Dan McKegney.
McKegney, Dan
TET 1968: 051 Bunker, Sgt Charles Hebron, KIA, 1968, by David Summerfield (RIP), LM 186.
Summerfield, David (RIP)
TET 1968: 30th Anniversary! Biên Hòa Air Base: 1968.
Guardmount
TET 1968: Main Gate Shoot-out, 1968, by Gary Steele (RIP), LM 323.
Steele, Gary (RIP)
Documents / Stories
TET 1968: Showers! Hot and Cold, Phu Bai, 1968, by Doc Bunner.
Bunner (Doc)
TET 1968: 1968 TET, Tan Son Nhut, SSgt Bernie Beldin, Bronze Star/V.
Beldin, Bernie

VSPA.com: We Take Care of Our Own
Click to Report BROKEN LINKS or Photos, or COMMENT
© 1995-2023, Vietnam Security Police Association, Inc. (USAF). All Rights Reserved.