GI Time

By Terry Johnson

"Three, two, one!" I counted.

The first explosion sent twisted metal projectiles into the air followed by red, orange and white streams of smoke and fire. Seconds later the sound of the explosion reached our ears. The second and third explosions were not as sensational; but then again, no fuel or explosives were involved.

"If you're done with the count down, I suggest we get out of here."

"You think we totally destroyed the plane?"

Brett looked through the mini binoculars. "Yeah, scratch one hangar and one jet fighter!"

He switched the binoculars from normal to night combat vision and pointed the glasses at the other buildings that we had targeted. "The barracks are gone too." He passed the glasses to me and I scanned the area. I had to agree.

We policed the area to make sure we wouldn't accidentally leave something behind. As we did so, sirens began too wail and the smell of burning wood and fuel filled the air. Fire fighters would be engaging the fires now and enemy soldiers would begin their search for us.

Satisfied that we had everything, we started towards our hold up shelter. The shelter was about mile away and dug into the side of a hill. We had stocked the shelter with enough rations to sustain us for a couple of weeks.

We moved through the night as fast as we could using the light of a setting moon. The shelter was only twenty minutes away.

Our evasion plan was simple. We would completely conceal ourselves and the enemy would spend only a short time looking for us in the local area.

Brett felt safe. I didn't.

Our spider hole was dug among a stand of young pines. The entrance was only a couple of square feet and just big enough for us to wiggle through. The entrance cover was made from boards that we had removed from an old barn. When we assembled the cover, we left a crack between a couple of the boards. The crack doubled as an air supply and a peephole. We covered the boards with about four inches of dirt and pine straw, being careful to leave the crack uncovered.

When we arrived, I slid the cover to one side. We took off our gear and dropped each item through the narrow entrance. I squeezed through first and Brett immediately followed. As he entered, he carefully slid the cover back into position and pulled out his cigarette lighter. It only took a few strikes from his thumb before the lighter began to burn. The faint flame provided us with just enough light to get ourselves situated.

The interior of the spider hole measured six foot high, eight foot long and five foot wide. It smelled of freshly dug soil and pine. There was just enough room for our gear and us. We stowed our gear in the corner next to our food supply.

I tried to make myself comfortable on the floor of our temporary home, as Brett prepared to take the first watch. Finally, Brett closed his lighter and moved towards the peephole. I eventually fell asleep.