My eyes opened after my long night of rest. I knew my grandpa Mike was coming over today.  Every time Mike came over he talked about his service in the Vietnam war.  I decided to get out of bed and get ready for the day.  I looked at my reflection in the window and saw my brown hair and how it never changed with the buzz cut that I have. I was looking out the window and I saw Mike’s black truck, but he didn't get out of the driver’s, door it was my dad.  Mike finally got out of the passenger side.  He was walking slower and slower each time I saw him, I thought.  I was ready to greet them kindly at the door.  All of a sudden, the door swung open. I could see that something was wrong by the look in my dad's eyes.  I didn’t think I missed anything from walking from the window to the door.

“What is wrong dad?” I ask
“I don’t have much time, but Mike is having a  heart attack!”
“What do I need to do to help?” I asked as quick as I could.  We started running out the front door.  Then I saw him laying there.
“This is because in 1965, the mission went wrong and the Vietnamese took me and tortured me.” Mike barely got out. 
I put my hand on him just to comfort him. Little did I know this was going to start my adventure.I could hear the faint sound of helicopter blades chopping the air.  I kept my eyes closed but I started to feel something heavy on my torso.  I opened my eyes as quick as I could.  I looked around and I saw Mike, except he was dressed in uniform and much younger.  I knew it was him because of all the pictures he had shown me over the years.  He had a loaded M4 in his hands.  I looked down to see what was so heavy.  I had on a flak jacket, an M4, six extra mags plus two grenades.  Someone threw me a helmet with  my name on it “Allen”. I lifted the helmet to my head and dropped it on my head.  I looked around in the helicopter and saw six other guys with Mike and me.  The chopper lifted off the ground and tilted forward.  I was wondering which mission we were going on and how was I going to get back home.  All those thoughts left my head when I heard the pilot say through the radio
“ETA two minutes.” He paused, “Do America proud!”  Then he said “lock and load.” Everyone pulled their chamber slide back and we were ready to go.  Then the two gunners on the side that I didn’t even see opened fire.  Between each burst of fire, a guy was yelling “what..are..you..guys..shooting..at!” then the helicopter jerked back and we started to spin.  I knew this was going to be a really bad mission.  When Mike started a story about a mission with a helicopter crash, it was always a bad mission!  I looked out the front and I saw the ground approaching fast.  Everything went in slow motion right before we hit the ground.  I was hanging from my seat pinned.  I looked around to see who was still up
“Is everyone okay?” I asked.   I heard seven yeses back and someone got out of their seat, somehow. Then it really got bad. Bullets ripped through the glass. The sound of the hot metal hitting the side of the helicopter was getting louder and it sound like they were moving in fast. The guy that got out of his seat helped Mike down and then Mike helped me.  I started helping everyone else get down.  Once everyone was down, we decided to head for the tree line,  which was about fifty yards away.
"When I say three I want everyone sprinting to the tree line. Then I want you to clear the woods so we know there is not an enemy around us." Said the squad leader.
"Yes sir!" Everyone said back.
“1..2..3! go go go!” yelled the squad leader. I sprinted out of the helicopter.  I heard someone scream behind me.  I didn’t think about it at the moment, but I heard the bullets go whistling by my head.  I felt the hard ground under my feet.  I held my rifle at an angle as I sprinted to the tree line.  I was ready to fire at anything that came at me.  I made it to the tree line and turned around to see what that scream was.  I saw a guy I didn't even know laying there, still.  His face in the dirt.  I knew he was running about two feet to the left of me.  I felt so bad for the guy.  I heard someone screaming. I went to see who it was.  I heard the scream again and realized it wasn't friendly.  I brought my rifle up, not knowing if it is going to work after the crash.  I also managed to lose everyone after we started running. 
I walked slowly through the woods.  I saw something move up ahead I looked through my sights and started scanning the area.  A guy with an AK-47 came out and pointed it at me.  My M4 was already pointed at him but I was so nervous I could barely hold it on him.  I pulled the trigger and saw the flash from my barrel.  One bullet ripped through his right arm, he turned from the force of the bullet hitting him.  I jerked the trigger back again, this time I was right on target.  I hit the him right in side where it would pass through his heart and he slowly fell to the ground.  I lowered my rifle.  Then I heard a sound behind me.  Without even thinking, I spun around while raising my rifle at the same time.  I was ready to pull the trigger, but I noticed it was Mike, his finger was on the trigger too.
“We need to push up.  While you were over here, everyone besides me got shot.” Mike pulsed. “We need to move now and hold out at the helo for help.”
“Do you know how many there are?” I asked.    
“No but I know there are more Vietnamese around the helo then us.  We need to take out all the Vietnamese in the area but since the helo crashed we need to hold out till we can be rescued.”  I didn’t want to reply so I just nodded my head.
I walked back to the helicopter.  Then twenty or thirty Vietnamese that surrounded me and Mike.  They didn’t fire their AK’S, but they were slowly moving closer so I put a grenade in each hand.  Once I saw  how many enemies there were I realized two things. The first was there was no way this was going to end good.  The second was this was the story that my grandpa told me where he was tortured.  I knew since I put my hand on him it brought me back so I could try and save him.  I looked around one more time and saw no one else appearing.  I pulled the pin on the grenade and chucked it.  Then Mike and I dove into the helicopter.  When  Mike hit the ground he started pulling the trigger on his M4.  I turned around in the helicopter since it was crashed and was almost vertical. I could lay the other way and fire the other direction.  I yanked out the pin in the second grenade and gave it a toss.  Then brought up my M4 and looked around to see if the first grenade went off.  I saw the cloud of dust from the first grenade.  Each time  Mike fired his M4 it would  ring through the small area we were in.  I could not hear the grenade’s.  I saw the second one explode.  It looked as if the grenade took ten or fiffteen of them out.  I started pulling the trigger on my rifle until I heard a click.  I smacked the mag release with my hand and the mag fell out.  I reached down and grabbed another one and loaded the gun.  I pulled back the slide and let go and started to lay into them again, it seemed like every time I pulled the trigger the enemy would fall.  Then Mike stopped firing and I did two. There was nothing else to shot at. Everything that was living outside the helicopter was now dead.
“We did it!” Mike yelled.
I closed my eyes in relief, but all  the weight left my shoulders.  My rifle disappeared from my hands and the weight of my helmet faded off my head.  I opened my eyes when I thought it was all over.  I found myself standing at the front door. With a plane white T-shirt and blue jeans on. Mike opened the door and stepped into the house.  Mike moving faster than normal and just seemed so much healthier.
“Sit down, I’ve got a story to tell you!” Mike said.  He sounded so much better, he was not trying to catch his breath between each sentence “It was in the middle of my deployment.  We were on the way to the drop zone in a helicopter.  We were shot down when we hit the ground we were hanging from our seats.  Somehow we got out of our seats.  We were cornered by the vietnamese.  I thought I was the only one left, but then I found another soldier in the woods.  I told him that we had to hold out at the helo.”  Mike took a minute to let that part of the story sink in.  I smiled when he started the story again.  ”The other guy pulled out two grenades and threw one.  He then jumped into the helicopter and I followed him.  When I hit the ground I opened up with my M4 and the enemy just started dropping.  I heard another pin being pulled and saw the second grenade go flying.  Then he grabbed his M4 and started firing.  He was a great guy to fight with.  When it was all over I looked behind me to say great job, but he was nowhere to be found. Soon the extrac helicopter came. I told Bass about the guy. They said they never had anyone in my squad with that name. I was sure he had fought with me before.” I didn’t know what to tell my grandpa, tell him it was me or just never tell him.
It felt so good to know that I saved my grandpas life. I wondered how many other lives I could save.