They used arm and hand signals to communicate, often stopping and dropping to their knees as their sergeant gave the order when he sensed danger. After a few minutes, they would proceed cautiously again. They peered into the woods - looking to see whether anything was moving among the trees or underbrush. Waiting to be ambushed on a mountain can instill fear and paranoia. The silence can be agony.
Fear feeds on itself.
The soldiers clutched their guns tightly, always keeping them in a position to fire at the first sign of the enemy. The point man on the patrol stayed ahead 20 yards, and the other 16 soldiers in the squad followed, with eight on each side of the trail. Finally, the soldiers reached a flat spot on the mountain, beneath a power line. They stopped, drank water from their canteens and rested for five minutes. More than one mile and an hour into the mission, still no one had spoken, even when they stopped for water and rest.