Slowly, heads begin to rise from foxholes on the sides of the streets. Wide-eyed ARVN rangers look at us in disbelief. Others simply have a thousand-yard stare. We get the picture. This place is in bad trouble.
Gunfire erupts from up the street.
An alarmed aide runs to the general and points toward the tree line. Dao suddenly decides it s time to go. Our jeeps spin around and barrel toward the helicopter landing zone, as the aide barks instructions into a radio. Two Chinooks touch down, filling the air with red dirt. As we begin our sprint toward the helicopters, the ARVN who had followed us from town overtake us in a mad dash for the Chinooks.