Officially, the soldiers were not supposed to cross certain lines on military maps.
Reality did not always respect the lines.
Thomas’s patrol found a temporary medical station treating wounded South Vietnamese soldiers, civilians, and three Americans from another unit.
Enemy fire began before evacuation helicopters arrived.
The first helicopter took damage and left with only part of the wounded.
The second could not land.
Thomas and five other men remained behind while civilians moved toward a safer landing zone.
One was Private James Lowell, nineteen years old and constantly talking about a yellow Ford Mustang waiting at home.
Another was Specialist Harold Gaines, a schoolteacher before the war.
Corporal Anthony Vega carried the radio.
Lieutenant Robert Hale commanded the group.
Two South Vietnamese soldiers stayed with them.
They held their position for nearly three hours.
The explosion that injured Thomas came after dark.
He remembered being lifted from the ground and thrown against a tree.
He remembered trying to breathe and hearing nothing from his right ear.
He remembered blood inside his mouth.
He also remembered James Lowell calling for his mother.
Thomas crawled toward him.
The next blast killed Lowell before Thomas reached him.
Lieutenant Hale died beside the radio.
Vega was wounded in both legs.
Gaines continued firing until the evacuation helicopter appeared above the trees.
Thomas helped drag Vega toward the landing zone despite shrapnel in his back and chest.
When the helicopter lifted, Thomas was still on the ground.
The crew chief leaned out and grabbed his webbing.