Getting a full nights sleep was a rare thing. There are several entries in the diary about it. We were tired all the time. Usually you had watch during the night. A three man position meant you could sleep three hours and be awake for an hour-and-a-half. Standing watch had to be the most boring job in the world. Try it some time. Get up at midnight and go out and just sit in the back yard for ninty minutes and then repeat it at 4:30. Do this for, oh about three weeks at a time. For that extra added dimension of reality, turn on the sprinklers.
The 29th of August was about the worst. From August 23rd through the 29th 1st platoon took 40 plus casualities. If you add in the five or six we lost on August 12th it made more than a 100% casuality rate, a pretty hard 17 days. We had several new guys during that time, I don't know if any of them made it.
"bus" an ambush site
"XO" executive officer
