Body Snatch

By David Beakey

Yesterday was bad. We got caught in a perfectly executed ambush. Sometimes I can’t help but be amazed by the talent of our enemy. They cut us to pieces. And amid the shouting, the firing and the mass confusion, we left three men behind. Three comrades who were killed as soon as the shooting started. They were off to the right of the main column. As we retreated, we could see their bodies, but there was a field of fire that was so intense it prevented anyone from approaching them.

Today, our mission is to retrieve those bodies. We are honor bound to bring them back. At the same time, everyone knows that this is a set up. The site where the men fell is an excellent place for us to be hit again. We suspect that the bodies themselves will be booby trapped. The enemy is still active in the area and we know that they’ll be waiting for us, watching as we come back, knowing that we must return. But not one man considers any alternatives. We will go and there is no discussion, other than how best to accomplish this task. We’ve all been on these missions before, “body snatches”. And some of us have seen things go very badly.

Once we lost three men while retrieving one mans’ body. So we use our experience and make a plan. We will first run a feint, send a team in to draw fire and then follow up with a larger force from a different direction. Then we will get close enough so that two men (volunteers) can throw long lines with hooks attached toward the bodies. We will then drag the bodies near us and under covering fire bring them back to the safety of our fire base. Then the chopper will come and they will be on their way home to the States, to their mothers.

We are saddled up now, heavy with firepower and the special equipment. Each man is alone with his thoughts as we leave the fire base. Secretly, we thank God that it is not us that our fellow marines are going to retrieve. Then we enter the jungle and we think only of the mission.