I crept carefully through the jungle toward the little village. It was easy to spot from the plume of smoke rising from the wasted buildings. I could hear a woman screaming from about fifty yards away. I parted the underbrush and looked at the ruin and devastation.
A VC soldier threw a young girl to the ground and ripped off her dress. He dropped his pants and brought his cock around to face her. She screamed louder. He clamped his hand across her throat and she gurgled silently. He produced a knife with his other hand. I raised my M-14 and shot the bastard before he could carve her up or fuck her.
I sprinted out of the brush, not knowing if other VC were in the area. I gathered up the tattered remnants of her clothing, threw her over my shoulder and ran back into the jungle. About a hundred yards in I stopped and sat her on the ground.
She was crying and shaking. She looked at me with fear in her eyes. I knew she thought I was going to rape her. I handed her clothing to her and helped her drape the rags over her nude body. I stood up and offered my hand. She took it and stood up with me. She was very small, about four feet seven or so. From the way she felt when I took off with her over my shoulder I could tell she didn’t weigh more than eighty five pounds.
My Vietnamese wasn’t very good but I managed to ask her name.
“Minh Thuy Huong,” she answered.
“How old are you?”
“Nineteen. Are you going to rape me now?” she sniffled.
“Nobody’s going to rape you. Are you hurt?”
“No. What are you going to do with me?”
“I’m gonna get you out of the hot zone and take you back to Saigon.”
“What is your name?”
“I’m Captain David Green, U.S. Army.”
I took her to a med evac unit and she got in a helicopter. Waving goodbye, she shouted, “I’ll see you again Captain Davey.” Then she was gone.
Three weeks later I was transferred to Saigon. I was taking a little stroll up the street in downtown Saigon when I heard a small voice yelling, “Captain Davey, Captain Davey!”
I looked around and there in a doorway was Minh. She ran to me and threw her arms around my waist. She couldn’t reach my neck because I’m six feet three inches tall.
“Hi Minh, how are you doing?”
“Not good Captain Davey. I couldn’t get into the orphanage because I’m too old. They just turned me out on the street about a week ago.”
“How are you surviving? How do you eat?” I asked looking at her scrawny form.
“I am ashamed to admit that I must steal from the GIs to get food. I may be forced to become a whore!”
“No, no way! I didn’t pull you out of the jungle so you could be a prostitute. Where is your stuff?”
“I’m wearing my stuff. I don’t have anything. Even this shift is the one I repaired from when you rescued me.”
“Come on then. You’re coming home with me.”
I had rented a house in one of the American compounds. It was small by American standards but it was home to me for the next year. I escorted her into the house. There was only one bedroom but there was a maid’s quarters.
“You can stay in the maid’s room for a while,” I said with a smile.
“Captain Davey, I thought you would want to sleep with me and do all the man and woman things.”
“No, I just don’t want you on the streets. It is dangerous out there.”