[일반] 전쟁 속의 또다른 전쟁(베트남전)

[버녁충(winning8714)]

A War within a war.

전쟁 속의 또다른 전쟁

Fire Support Base Turtle, near Long Binh, soon after Tet68. The mission here was to prevent VC Sappers from blowing up the Long Binh ammo dump, again. They did anyway. But that is another story.

때와 장소는 68년 구정 대공세 직후, 롱빈 기지 근처에 있는 화력지원기지 거북이.

북베트남군 새퍼대대가 탄약고를 또다시 폭파하려는걸 막는게 그 곳에서의 우리 임무였어. 걔넨 결국에 폭파시키는데 성공하긴 했지. 그건 또 이야기하자면 길어.

I had rose to a sitting position just a moment before and was still in that twilight state between sleep and waking. I stood up and stepped over the sandbag wall surrounding the PRD-1 site (Radio Direction Finder), intending go and fill my steel pot with water for coffee and a whore’s bath.

암튼 난 조금 전에 깨서 비몽사몽한 상태였고, 이제 막 몸을 일으켜서 앉아있었어. 잠자리에서 일어나서 PRD-1 site (레이더 사이트?)를 둘러싼 샌드백 벽을 넘었지, 난 반합에 물 채워서 커피 만들고 대충 씻을 생각이었어.

As I did so, I glanced down the slope a ways where four Brothers were warming themselves at a fire built inside a 30 gallon oil drum. I had noticed them doing this for several mornings now; all I could think was “in this heat?” CRACK! Almost at the moment my gaze alighted on them the drum exploded violently, flinging all but one of them back and down, the one nearest me was blown upwards. I only saw the beginning of his arc as I dove backwards over the sandbag wall, his scream followed me in.

벽을 넘는 도중 언덕 아래를 내려다봤는데 그 곳엔 흑인 미군 4명이 30갤런짜리 드럼통 안에 불을 피워놓고 옹기종기 모여있었어. 그들은 며칠째 아침마다 이러고 있었어. 그걸 볼 때마다 내 생각은 “이 더위에?”였지.

쾅!

내가 그들을 쳐다보자마자 드럼통이 폭발했어. 폭발은 한명 빼고 모두 다 날려버렸고, 나한테서 제일 근처에 있던 흑인은 위로 날아가버렸지. 난 그가 비명 지르며 날아가는 것만 봤어, 난 몸을 날려서 샌드백 벽 뒤로 숨었거든.

What the hell was that… a single explosion… then nothing? lucky shot with a mortar, not likely? Nothing quite made sense. RPG… naw, I didn’t hear it fire or roar in, grenade, maybe! When I looked again there were troopers running toward the victims and cries of “Medic” were going up from several locations. The brother who had been airborne moments before was now holding his blood soaked crotch and rolling slowly downhill, emitting a stricken moan. Another was attempting to stand up and the other two were just lying there. I stayed put as there was plenty of help forming around those that needed it. I watched as the medics worked in the middle of the crowd that formed, and as stretchers were brought over. Soon, a Medivac chopper was rising through the red clay dust ferrying the wounded troopers to the next echelon of care.

도대체 뭐야…한번의 폭발…그리고 끝? 누가 박격포로 운좋게 맞춘건 아닌거같은데. 상황이 이해가 되지 않았어. RPG…아냐 난 RPG 쏘는 소리나 날아오는 소리 못 들었어. 그러면 아마도 수류탄?

샌드백 벽 너머로 다시 내다봤을땐 피해자들을 향해 군인들이 달려오고 있었고, 의무병을 찾는 외침이 여기저기서 들려왔어. 위로 날아갔었던 흑인은 이제 피투성이된 가랑이를 움켜쥔 채 고통스러운 신음을 내뱉으며 천천히 언덕 아래로 굴러내려가고 있었어. 다른 한명은 일어서려하고 있었고, 나머지 두명은 기척없이 누워만 있었어.

도와주러 온 사람들이 많았기에 난 방해하지 않고 가만히 있었어. 군중 한가운데서 의무병들은 응급처치를 했고, 누군가 들것도 가져왔지. 얼마 지나지않아 붉은 흙먼지를 일으키며 메디백 헬리콥터가 이륙했고, 부상자들을 상급 의료 시설로 후송했어.

By now I had formed a pretty good idea of what had happened. During the night someone had booby-trapped the barrel, and it sure as hell hadn't been the enemy! You see, Martin Luther King had been assassinated in Memphis a couple of days before and feelings among the black troopers were high. Black on white and the reverse, beatings and killings were rampant just now. You had to watch your shit.

그제서야 대충 어떤 일이 일어났는지 알것같았어. 밤사이 누군가가 드럼통에 부비트랩을 설치해놨던거야. 설치한 사람은 적군이 아니었어. 왜냐하면, 마틴 루터 킹이 며칠 전에 멤피스(미국 남부 도시)에서 살해당했었거든. 흑인 군인들은 매우 격앙된 상태였어. 흑인 대 백인, 백인 대 흑인끼리 싸우고 죽이는 일이 비일비재했고, 항상 조심해야했어.

출처:

https://old.reddit.com/r/MilitaryStories/comments/1xrgru/war_within_a_war/