RATTLESNAKE DREAMS CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE/ TABLE OF CONTENTS/PROLOGUE (3/12/2012) RATTLESNAKE DREAMS An American Warrior’s Story Dean Metcalf This book is dedicated to KRIP who was killed at the US Special Forces camp at Mangbuk, June 18, 1968. He was 18 years old, or so they said… and to TATYANA SAVICHEVA who watched her extended family starve and freeze to death around her during the siege of Leningrad, September 1941 – January 1944. She was eleven years old when her last surviving family member died, leaving her alone. She was evacuated with other children through the blockade in August 1942, and died of disease resulting from the siege on July 1, 1944. and to the Marines who waded the lagoon at Tarawa, November 20-23, 1943. Copyright© 2010 Dean Metcalf All Rights Reserved ISBN 978-0-578-08809-9 CONTENTS I. Prologue 1 Tho An II. Learning War 5 Cowboys and Indians 8 Toys 8 Cartoon 9 Roy Rogers 10 Atomic Stove 12 Mumblypeg 13 K’reans 14 First Blood 15 Hunger 1 17 Rogue River 1 19 Finding Jesus, and Eb Hogue’s Knife 20 A Rifle, A Pistol 24 Dress Blues 1 29 Almost a Cowboy 31 Canal 39 Dogs of Eberlein Street 42 Rogue River 2: Rattlesnake Air 44 Sunset Over Klamath Lake 55 Second Buck 56 Crater Lake 59 Semper Fidelis 67 Gunny Rogers 1: Mama’s Boy 67 Sergeant Vance 69 Man and Rifle Reaching 71 Gunny Rogers 2: The Most Powerful Weapon 74 Dress Blues 2 77 Marine Corps History 80 Adeste Fidelis, Semper Fidelis 84 Banning 87 29 Palms: Ungentle 89 Old Enough to Bleed 91 Footprints 92 Okinawa 94 With God On Our Side 98 Tonkin 100 Olongapo 108 Put Me In, Coach 110 III.War 112 Oakland 113 Going Over 115 Ky Hoa 124 Gunny Rogers 3 126 Phantom Pisser 127 Hunger 2 131 To Kill a Gook 131 Tam Ky 132 “You’re Too Late” 135 An Tan 144 Request Mast 148 Tho An 150 Man and Pistol 167 Rats 169 Marines in Skivvies 175 Howard’s Hill 178 Sergeant of the Guard 181 Wartime Is Wonderful 184 Danang 189 IV. Relearning War 193 Kicking the Leaves 194 Townies 198 Missouri Squirrels 200 Hunger 3 204 Dark-Skinned Warriors 1 205 Packing 206 Seminar 208 Cho Lon 210 Interlude: A Veteran’s Dreams: 215 Dream: Nazi Pursuit 216 Dream: Money Man Pursuit 217 Mangbuk: The Camp 219 Soldier Tin 227 Dream: Bodies of Water 235 Dalat 237 Saigon 1. LA Cop 239 2. Kids 240 3. Dream: Vietnamese Children 242 Spook Hunting in Laos 243 Mark 269 J. Glenn Gray and Kierkegaard and Abraham and Isaac 271 Leningrad, Kiev, Baku, Moscow, Vienna, Prague 278 Samaritan in Los Angeles 308 Chinese Soldiers 309 Dream: A6 and Wolves 311 Tumalo 313 Hauling Anchor in Shelter Cove 320 Triptych The Clubbing 333 Bait 335 Dream: Vietnamese Women 337 Spider and Fly 338 Fear 340 Guard Dog 342 Dream: Panther, Wife, Rifle 343 Zen Warrior Bass Player 345 Sandinistas 346 Missing Man 356 Dark-Skinned Warriors 2 368 Dream: Guts 369 Indians and Cowboys 370 Mercenary 1 370 Rus Rus 1. Maco Stewart’s Letter 375 2. Flaco and Luque 378 3. Babes in James Bondland 380 4. Rus Rus 384 5.The Tape 391 6. Lasa Tinghni 395 7. Red Chief, White Chief 399 8. In Camp 399 9. Border Crossing 402 10. Skulls of Tulin Bila 406 11. Perico’s Garrote, and Other Stories 410 12. Meeting 416 13. Out of the Woods 425 14. Aftermath 428 Dream: Deadribs 437 Mercenary 2 437 Guns in Costa Rica 444 Interview with Bill Gandall 457 Guatemala: La Violencia 465 At the Battered Women’s Shelter 467 Palestinians and Israelis and Americans 469 Ants 488 Dream: Dance of the Arrows 489 The Rattlesnake Dream 491 Dream: Rattlesnake and Pistol 492 The Last Nightmare 494 V.The Web (Essay) 496 APPENDIX: FAVORITE BOOKS AND WRITERS...533 Acknowledgments 535