Tricky Question

CAP
Bravo 3 & 4
By Cpl. Robert M. Bayer
ISO, 1stMarDiv

Submitted by: Ted Zoutis


Da Nang--A slip of the tongue by a suspicious acting Vietnamese confirmed he was a Viet Cong to Marines of Combined Action Platoon Delta 1.

"We were providing security for a civil affairs team while they were discussing with local Buddhist monks plans for restoring historic pagodas around Marble Mountain," said Cpl. Ted C. Zoutis.

"Two patrols had left to encircle the mountain. The Vietnamese man saw our patrol and fled, running smack dab into the other," Zoutis said.

"I began to question him in Vietnamese," Zoutis reported. "When I casually asked him where his weapon was, he pointed to a nearby village and said, 'Over there.'

"When he realized what he had said he began to panic and say, 'No! No! You misunderstand me,' but it was too late," Zoutis said.

The man told him he had been in the area for only three days and was very confused. "But we took him into the village," Zoutis said. "Everyone said he had been there for a year."

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