by: MacSas

Shawna Quinn.

Luke smiled as he recalled the young woman he’d known almost a lifetime ago. She had been so young the first time they’d met; yet they both had felt an instant connection. Luke had just joined the Marines and was about to leave for boot camp. He had to make the hard decision of leaving Shawna behind. They’d had just one summer together, yet it was that one summer that had gotten Luke through his toughest test in Vietnam. He had never spoken of his trials over there, yet he knew Shawna would be the one to understand the best. She had gone on to marry Kane Hardy, a fellow Marine Sergeant whom Luke had worked with a few times. Kane had arrived in Vietnam a few weeks after Luke. Shawna had been married a little over a year before Luke heard that Kane had gone missing. What Shawna didn’t know was that Luke had been with Kane on that last disastrous mission. Luke had been the only one to come out of the jungle that day. It had haunted him that Kane had disappeared while working with Luke’s platoon.

Luke had learned more about Kane’s disappearance than anyone else did however. He still had problems coming to terms with it. He hadn’t told anyone, not even Shawna, that he had found Kane in a POW camp during Luke’s second tour of duty. Luke still found it hard to believe that he had been rescued from one disastrous mission, only to be caught by the VC on the next one. This time only his platoon had been on the assignment, and a combination of grenades and well-placed land mines had bought the platoon to its knees. Luke and three others were captured.

Feeling an onslaught of memories nudging the back of his mind, he walked to his room and closed the door. Bo was out with Jesse doing shopping in town. Daisy was working an extra shift at the Boar’s Nest. Luke knew that he would be safe from concerned relatives. He lay on his bed and closed his eyes, finally allowing the memories to take over.

May 1969

The first thing he recalled about Vietnam was how beautiful it seemed. Sitting in the Huey with six other men getting ready to be briefed on their new assignments, Luke had taken a moment to look out over the terrain. He’d been surprised to see white beaches, a pristine waterfall and vibrant green bush. Of course, he would be come well acquainted with the bush. It would soon become a second home. A place that hid him from trouble but became his own personal hell at the same time. It was both exciting and frightening. After all those months of training and preparing, he was finally in the heart of the battle. Adrenaline pumped his heart, causing goose bumps of anticipation. He could have sworn he knew how Daniel felt going into that lion’s den.

Once he was on solid ground, he and his fellow soldiers were directed to a large tent. Here was where they received their briefing. Basically, Luke thought with a smile, an officer in charge telling them that they were guests of the South Vietnamese government and that they were here to help prevent communism taking over. Luke recalled the excited ripple that had gone through him. ‘These folks really need us’ he recalled thinking. He believed he was on a noble mission. Turned out, it was more a gung-ho thing. But he was 19 and fresh off the farm. What did he know? He didn’t even care when, the following morning, he was assigned KP. Nothing could quell his excitement.

By the second day he had been assigned to a unit under the direction of a Lieutenant that reminded him of a bulldog. And he has met Kane Hardy, a young soldier who had arrived just a few weeks after Luke. The two had hit it off instantly. Both were from small towns and had much in common, like their taste in women. Luke discovered fairly quickly that Shawna hadn’t been pinning over him when he’d left for boot camp. As Kane proudly showed him a wedding photo of the couple, Luke didn’t have to pretend interest. He was darn interested! Especially about how Shawna had met Kane and why she’d decided to wed so soon after they had parted. She sure had made a beautiful bride. Luke felt a sense of anger and resentment as Kane put the photo away. How could she? Why would she? And how amazed she would be when her darling husband wrote her and told her all about the guy he’d met from Hazzard. Luke smiled. Would Shawna reveal she already knew Luke? He doubted it. It wasn’t the kind of thing that came up in conversation between newly weds, especially when one was half a world away fighting a war.

Nonetheless, Uncle Jesse’s good manners deemed that Luke would put resentment behind him and welcome the newcomer; while a sense of chivalry deemed he never told Kane that he knew all about his lovely wife … especially a birthmark she had in a certain place.

The following few weeks passed without incident. There were the daily comings and goings of platoons and the odd groan about KP. But for the first 2 months Luke spent in Vietnam, he was happy.

Of course, he had no idea that was about to change …

He recalled the day that he was deployed on his first disastrous mission. It seemed so simple at the time. A spy had told them that a local village was helping the enemy by hoarding weapons and food. A group of North Vietnamese were supposed to be arriving at the village later that night. Luke and Kane had been chosen to take watch on the right side of the village. They were protected by bush behind them and a slight rise in the terrain in front of them. It should have been a typical mission. It wasn’t until it was too late that they discovered a North Vietnamese spy had deliberately led them to the village.

As his friends lay dead around him, Luke had anxiously made his way back to the predetermined pick up point. He remembered the smell of gunpowder, the smell of smoke, and most of all, the smell of blood. As he waited for the chopper, he looked around anxiously for anyone who may have also made it. He didn’t recall when he had been shot, but the two bullets in his leg were now announcing themselves. He would later discover that one bullet had gone through his thigh, while the other had hit the back of his ankle. Nervous tension made it almost impossible for him to remain still. In the moments before the chopper came, he thought of his beloved family. Jesse, who always ruled the roost with love. Bo, who was so boyish he, could talk his way out of anything. And Daisy, who was a girl desperately trying to shake the dust from her boots.

After what seemed like an eternity, he had seen the chopper and was on his way to base. He scanned the bush, desperate to know if anyone else was there. What had happened to Kane? How would Shawna cope if she lost her husband?

As the chopper came under fire and was directed away by the pilot, Luke looked back to the jungle. In his desperation to see someone, anyone, he thought he saw a man waving …