A Bodyguard of Lies

Lt. Bellar is leading his squad as they are heading towards a ville.
 
The newbie Rudy spots a skull on a post with dogtags hanging from it, Lt. Beller calls out to his not to touch it , but as he reaches it he falls into a pit filled with Pungi stakes.

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Two others rush forward and trip a booby trap and die in an explosion.
 
In a fit of rage Spec 4 Worthen fires his M60 into the ville.
Lt. Beller orders the squad to ceasefire.
 

Back at base Lt. Bellar is walking with Major Duncan when Lt.Goldman spots Lt. Beller , they went to OCS together.
 

Colonel Brewster is holding a briefing , and tells Lt.Goldman that Lt. Beller's platoon OPCON for the mission.
There are elements of the Fifth Division of the NVA around the city of Tay Ninh, and they are going out to get more information for MACV.
 

Team Viking is taking a guide with them , Thang, who a few weeks ago was a NVA officer,
he's just processed through the Chieu Hoi program.   
 

Beller has a problem with that , and also voices that his platoon is wasted , they just came off a twenty day operation. Col. Brewster tells him that they are the only platoon available and will talk to General Elliot.
 

Lt. Goldman's teams mission is to follow Thang and recover several weapons caches,
with Lt. Beller's platoon blocking and securing the perimeter.
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Elsewhere the guys are showering and reading the newspaper**, Sgt.Anderson has returned and the guys greet him and are happy to see him, except Percell who when Sgt. Anderson asks if "he's hiding your joy at seeing me " replies "I get no joy seeing anyone come back to this place".
 

Later that evening Lt.Goldman meets Lt. Beller for a drink and finds out its even worse for Lt. Beller as Debbie has told him she's leaving him for a doctor.
 

Ruiz, Percell, Taylor and Johnson are walking through the streets hoping from Bar to bar when Worthen and Lorin come out of a bar and Worthen starts to spoil for a fight with Percell, who's not in the mood. Ruiz, Taylor and Johnson tell them to move on and Lorin tells "Man they ain't worth it, Come".
 

After they find a bar to drink in Percell goes of to see a man about a water buffalo, Taylor says "Danny's going over the edge, man".
While in the toilet Percell downs some pills and stares at himself in the mirror and then punches and smashes the mirror.
 

The next day Col. Brewster , Sgt.Anderson and Doc Hock are travelling into town to drop Doc off to re-inoculate the prostitutes,
 
Then Col. Brewster and Sgt. Anderson travel on to Col. Brewster's home , where Sgt. Anderson finds out that Brewster is married to a Vietnamese lady (Ly An) and they have a son Jac-Nho.
 

The guys are relaxing playing cards and Doc Hock returns from helping the girls at the boom boom bars, they have given him a monkey to show their gratitude. Sgt. Anderson arrives asks if anyone has seen Percell, (he was last seen driving the porcelain bus), he tells them they have a briefing at fifteen hundred hours, and they leave at first light.
 

Morning arrives and they guys are waiting to board the chopper, Taylor and Ruiz spot the Bonnie Rats from the night before, Lorin tells Taylor they are there to cover his butt. And Worthen pipes in with "to warn them about that dink". Percell seems to side with the Bonnie Rats.
 

Danny is out on point and isn't himself , ( maybe its drugs) he freaks out and Taylor asks what was it
"Nothing I thought it was a snake".
 

They arrive at a cemetery , the first weapons cache as they start digging them up they come under small arms fire ,
   
 
Percell grabs Thang and pulls him to the ground saving his life.

The two platoons meet up and Worthen aims his weapon at Thang and says "I ought to blow his damn head off" accusing Thang of leading the Gooks straight to them and "Lorin's dead because of him". Lt. Goldman tells Lt. Beller to control his men. Lt. Goldman points out that Thang was in as much danger as all of them and almost died. Lt. Beller orders his guys to move out  Sgt. Anderson tells them all to get back to the LZ.
 

Back at Camp Barnett, Thang catches up with Percell and thanks him for saving his life ,  
 
Percell grabs him and says maybe it was a mistake asking Thang if he killed Americans, Thang replies saying that yes he had and that Percell had killed Vietnamese. He tells Percell he is a man of honor and that he owes Percell his life. Percell says "You Don't owe me squat".
 

Col. Brewster is with General Elliot and tell's him that Beller's platoon are at breaking point and want them kept away from his men, General Elliot says that the mission goes ahead and they move out at first light.
 

Doc Hock is walking with Percell and ask him if he had a nice 'TRIP'? Percell replies "I don't know what your talking about" Doc tells him he knows whats going on and that he's turning his brain in to a brussel sprout,  and is putting himself and the rest of the guys in danger by going out high. Doc Hock says that he's trying to help Percell says "you can start by getting off my back".
 

The next day Goldman's platoon are out in the field and hear the sound of gunfire M16's ,

 
Beller's platoon is the only one in their A-O , he tries calling them on the radio , nothing , so they set off in the direction of the gunfire. 

They reach the river and are about to cross , when Beller and his guys start crossing from the other side, near the ville where Rudy was killed. They are way out of position.
 

Lt. Goldman says that they heard shots and tried calling , Beller says the radio is fritzed and that they thought they say some unfriendlies and his guys lit up the area but its all clear now, and them are moving back into position.

Anderson and the platoon reach the ville and its deserted , it quiet , no movement at all , "its spooky Sarge" Taylor says.
 
As they move into the ville slowly a old village man shout at them and shoots at Percell , Thang takes the bullet and they fall to the ground Johnson return fire and kills the old man.
 
 
 Percell calls Doc over to look at Thang , its to late he's dead.
 

Johnson says it doesn't make sense he old guy shooting at them , Taylor spots he's got dried blood on him , so he's been through something.
 

Sgt. Anderson tells them to sweep the area.

Taylor is out front , "Oh, my God!!" he says , then one by one the rest of the guys see the same thing ,  a pile of dead villagers ,its a massacre bodies piled on bodies.
 
   
 
 

Back at Camp Barnett , Lt. Goldman confronts Lt. Beller , "I don't know what your talking about" he denies it, lt. Goldman calls him a liar saying they killed innocent people. Lt. Beller then argues that there aren't any innocent people in the country , they continue to argue until Lt. Goldman storms out.
 

Doc Hock finds Percell and offers Percell support saying he's there for him.
Percell tells him to stop talking to him as if he has some kind of a problem.

In the barracks Johnson, Ruiz, Doc, Taylor and Percell are talking about what they saw. Until Percell can't take it anymore and walks out.
 

Lt.Goldman goes to Col. Brewster and reports what they found.
   

Percell has made his way to the Paradise bar, where he starts talking with "Stoney" Zammit, who says he's just trying to help Percell and tells him to follow him.
 

Doc Hock is outside the barracks in the pouring rain and cuts of his moustache , Johnson finds him and asks what did he do,
Doc says he just wanted to get clean "It didnt work".
 

Percell followed "Stoney" into the alleyway and "Stoney" rolls a heroin joint, Percell says " It don't mean nothing" and tries heroin for the first time.....
 
 
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WRITER; Brian Herskowitz
Director; Jim Johnston
Songs used in the original airings & the Fabulous films DVD's release.
 

Paint It Black The Rolling Stones

Twenty Five Miles Edwin Starr

Crazy Patsy Cline

Kicks  Paul Revere & The Raiders

What A Wonderful World Louis Armstrong

**They read in the newspaper of Arthur Ashe winning the US Open which was 9th September 1968,
which is inline with the Tour of Duty Timeline

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