I worked myself into the job of repairing the hulls of the Boston Whalers for the Boat Squad. One of the guys in the motor pool found some Army issue fiberglass repair kits and suggested I tell them I used to fix surfboards in Los Angeles. So I pulled out most of the dinged up boats and was fixing them when I heard about the land mine incident.

   My time at Outpost -1 was pretty much uneventful, except for one incident that occurred when I was outside and heard bullets flying by and plunking into the water nearby. I figured out right away it was A Company test firing their 50 cal. machine guns over the rim of the firing range.

   I had to get the guys at the Tactical Operations Command to call and get them to stop. It's one of the few times I heard the sound of bullets flying over my head. I think I was on my way to the crapper at the time.

   I remember is sitting up nights on radio watch in the watchtower playing solitaire by the light of a kerosene lamp. I can't remember any of the names of the other guys I was there with.

   I do remember occasions when I would walk into the village alone with just my .45 pistol and a camera to take photos of the village children.

   At the end of the month the company wanted to put the Boston Whalers back in the water and I was recalled to the Boat Squad to finish my repairs and start up the "River Rats" again.

   SP/4 Rainer “Hippie” Trappe, B Company, River Patrol Unit, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, March 1968 to March 1969.