One of the highlights in this week’s reading was when the patrol base was attacked during the night. What stuck out to me was LT McDonough’s apparent calmness in reacting to the situation. Grenade rounds were going off all around inside the patrol base, and his men were taking casualties. The first thing that LT McDonough does is find his most important weapon, his Radio. He realizes that the radio and his RTO are his only lines of communication to higher. He prioritizes getting to the injured Nail to get on the radio and call for reinforcements. If this had not occurred, it is uncertain as to what would have happened to the platoon. Perhaps they would have been overwhelmed if it wasn’t for the Cobra Helicopters or the armor unit that arrived.

During the fight, LT McDonough stopped the helicopters from firing upon the village where the enemy was firing from. As the leading presence on the ground, it was his call to make. This was an important decision because there would have been severe backlash if the Americans had destroyed the village and killed Vietnamese civilians.  This would have undoubtedly hindered the already strained relationship between the American soldiers and the natives. Furthermore, as the platoon leader, he is the moral compass of his men, and must show that they will do the right thing even during difficult and trying times, such as a fire fight.