Starry Night

I don’t remember many other names now, but I was numb from fatigue. So were Foong, Selvam and Ho Yeo as we lay on the top of our Armoured Personnel Carrier.

Foong asked why.

I said I didn’t know. Ask the stars. A lot of them tonight.

I must have been numb from fatigue, because I didn’t feel much else while lying on the top of the APC.

Foong asked again, what happened?

Not sure. APC overturned. Bravo Company. Someone died.

Why must people die like that? Foong asked the stars again.

I thought of many things then. How the accident happened. How unlucky it was for Bravo Company to be switched to point (leading) company instead of Alpha. How dark it was at 8pm when the command for Order of Movement was given. How it had rained the two days before, making the dirt tracks all but muddy slosh pits. How we had always made fun of Bravo’s incompetence. How I had spent the previous two days riding my recce bike behind and between the tanks and armoured carriers. How I had been tasked to mark out directions at track junctions. How I had seen the false track leading up a steep embankment. How I had judged that that false track would be obvious to all. How I realised I had made the assumption that it would be Alpha Company on point. How I realised that if another company had been on point, they might not have deemed the false track so obvious. How I realised what might happen when the Order of Movement was given. How I did not actually see the accident. How I realised exactly what had happened when the radio call came in to inform Battalion HQ personnel to collect the deceased’s personal effects from Bravo Company.

I thought of it all, but I couldn’t tell Foong or the rest why and how. Maybe I was just numb from fatigue. And it was late, and kind of peaceful under the Kanchanaburi sky. It had stopped raining and there sure were a lot of stars that night.

Then we fell asleep, and it must have been a good uninterrupted sleep, because we woke up only when the morning sun shone on our faces and threatened to bake us on the metal deck.


PTE Teo Ho Yeo, CFC Tan, myself, CPL Koh, PTE Sng, SSG Ang, Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 20th Oct 1989

Surf stop: Fluffy Stuff
iTunes’ party shuffle is playing a copy of: Night and Day – Ella Fitzgerald – Lady sings the Blues, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn’t steal music.
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29 responses to “Starry Night”

  1. My RSSs Mr Brown Rockson Roy Ng Stylemywords Scott Adams RSSMiyagi

  2. Jayaxe Avatar

    CFC = corporal first class, right? Wonder why they had such ‘honourable’ naming for the lower ranks in those days…

  3. Jayaxe Avatar

    CFC = corporal first class, right? Wonder why they had such ‘honourable’ naming for the lower ranks in those days…

  4. Ah 9 Avatar

    I heard bout the APC accident thingy in secondary school…amazing u to read about it now. It’s been so long ago..eons ago… 😐

  5. Ah 9 Avatar

    I heard bout the APC accident thingy in secondary school…amazing u to read about it now. It’s been so long ago..eons ago… 😐

  6. jermyn Avatar

    hey
    im a perm-staff at saiyok now,and its nice to know that people actualy write about this god forsaken place…. the armour frame just passed, so was interesting to read about the accident.

  7. jermyn Avatar

    hey
    im a perm-staff at saiyok now,and its nice to know that people actualy write about this god forsaken place…. the armour frame just passed, so was interesting to read about the accident.

  8. nightdescends Avatar

    *sigh* i’ve seen one vehicle overturn in wallaby,fortunately no one was hurt.on a lighter note after seeing those 16 year old pictures; anyone else who’s ever been in an armour battalion realise that the army’s been relying on the same old M113s since…forever.Total defence.

  9. nightdescends Avatar

    *sigh* i’ve seen one vehicle overturn in wallaby,fortunately no one was hurt.on a lighter note after seeing those 16 year old pictures; anyone else who’s ever been in an armour battalion realise that the army’s been relying on the same old M113s since…forever.Total defence.

  10. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    armour tends to be a rather dangerous vocation to be in. i’ve had a number of near-death experiences myself. thank goodness i’ve peacefully ord-ed with nothing more than a lifelong loathing for grease.

    -2/4

  11. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    armour tends to be a rather dangerous vocation to be in. i’ve had a number of near-death experiences myself. thank goodness i’ve peacefully ord-ed with nothing more than a lifelong loathing for grease.

    -2/4

  12. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hi Mr Miyagi. I’ve always been silently supporting your blog until today, when you managed to talk about what happened. I understand the pain you must have gone through all these years. It’s not an easy burden, and I respect you for having managed it all these years.

    I’m sure many people would’ve counselled you about it and told you not to blame yourself. Well, it’s true. Many things happen beyond our control. This includes the judgemental error that you committed.

    I had a similar incident in the past, when I drove overseas. My judgement failed me, and my car turned turtle before bouncing back upright. My friend suffered from a fractured collarbone due to my failure to exercise caution. I was luckier than you in that no one died, and my friend lived to tell me that she didn’t blame me.

    I’m sure nobody blames you, except yourself. I hope you can get over it soon, or that the fact that by being able to write means that you’ve gotten over it. All the best Mr Miyagi. I’d still believe in you and go to battle with you anyday, if we’d ever have the chance, although we all hope not. *fingers crossed*

  13. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hi Mr Miyagi. I’ve always been silently supporting your blog until today, when you managed to talk about what happened. I understand the pain you must have gone through all these years. It’s not an easy burden, and I respect you for having managed it all these years.

    I’m sure many people would’ve counselled you about it and told you not to blame yourself. Well, it’s true. Many things happen beyond our control. This includes the judgemental error that you committed.

    I had a similar incident in the past, when I drove overseas. My judgement failed me, and my car turned turtle before bouncing back upright. My friend suffered from a fractured collarbone due to my failure to exercise caution. I was luckier than you in that no one died, and my friend lived to tell me that she didn’t blame me.

    I’m sure nobody blames you, except yourself. I hope you can get over it soon, or that the fact that by being able to write means that you’ve gotten over it. All the best Mr Miyagi. I’d still believe in you and go to battle with you anyday, if we’d ever have the chance, although we all hope not. *fingers crossed*

  14. Curtis G. Avatar

    You have to feel bad for the guy, but shit happens. On a FEX (field exercise) in 29 Palms, we had a guy run over by an amtrac in the middle of the night. And there’s no shortage of vocational “accidents” in the military. Compared to what the guys are going through now, we had it easy.

    Man, did I love Thailand in ’89, though!

  15. Curtis G. Avatar

    You have to feel bad for the guy, but shit happens. On a FEX (field exercise) in 29 Palms, we had a guy run over by an amtrac in the middle of the night. And there’s no shortage of vocational “accidents” in the military. Compared to what the guys are going through now, we had it easy.

    Man, did I love Thailand in ’89, though!

  16. the spear carrier Avatar

    You have brought back old memories of mine.

    Those that I wished I never had to experience.

    But we all walked out of it, don’t we?

  17. the spear carrier Avatar

    You have brought back old memories of mine.

    Those that I wished I never had to experience.

    But we all walked out of it, don’t we?

  18. speed Avatar

    eh.. tot yr rabbit was in the 19 tin can then?

  19. speed Avatar

    eh.. tot yr rabbit was in the 19 tin can then?

  20. Mr Miyagi Avatar

    My rabbit was in the tin can at the time the radio call came in. But I was on the rabbit in the afternoon. One-Eight Charlie rabbit was in One-Eight tin can in the afternoon, and in One-Two Alpha tin can during the night (I think). This makes as much sense to everyone else as Aramaic. Except mebbe Mel Gibson.

  21. Mr Miyagi Avatar

    My rabbit was in the tin can at the time the radio call came in. But I was on the rabbit in the afternoon. One-Eight Charlie rabbit was in One-Eight tin can in the afternoon, and in One-Two Alpha tin can during the night (I think). This makes as much sense to everyone else as Aramaic. Except mebbe Mel Gibson.

  22. speed Avatar

    haha.. yeah.. this reminds me of the 18 charlie tipping over a pack of KGB incident..

  23. speed Avatar

    haha.. yeah.. this reminds me of the 18 charlie tipping over a pack of KGB incident..

  24. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    itch.itch.itch.knee.. so.liat…

    One Eight Charlie One Eight Charlie, this One Niner Alpha, over!…..
    FOONG: “Encik, boh response…”
    ENCIK: “si tuo tou put”

  25. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    itch.itch.itch.knee.. so.liat…

    One Eight Charlie One Eight Charlie, this One Niner Alpha, over!…..
    FOONG: “Encik, boh response…”
    ENCIK: “si tuo tou put”

  26. speed Avatar

    cpl “BF” Tan:” eh… encik.. we are lost..”
    SSG Ang:” @#JSAQBO@#@^#’”

  27. speed Avatar

    cpl “BF” Tan:” eh… encik.. we are lost..”
    SSG Ang:” @#JSAQBO@#@^#’”

  28. Mr Miyagi Avatar

    “19D to 19C, mike golf romoeo, over!”

    “19C (spoken by CPL Tan Ting Tong) errr… we are LOST, over!”

  29. Mr Miyagi Avatar

    “19D to 19C, mike golf romoeo, over!”

    “19C (spoken by CPL Tan Ting Tong) errr… we are LOST, over!”

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