(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/American_soldier_in_Vietnam.jpg)<br/><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Randy James "R.J." Johnson<br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Enlisted Mess -<em>USS Tulare</em><br/><br/>*****************************<br/><br/>While this may have been everyone else's third or fourth company meeting, it was a first for R.J.  Apparently, someone had first thought to put him in A-Troop as a medic until he pointed out he had worked as a<em>mechanic</em>prior to joining the Army - not medic as some clerk had hastily scribbled on a form once upon a time.  Then he was assigned to a mortar team until it was determined there were more mortar teams than mortars.  Finally, he found a new home, though he hadn't had the opportunity to meet many people in B Troop yet.<br/><br/>"Yes, Sir, I got a question .... these boats we'll be ridin' in on ... any way we can mount the Ma-deuce on one of them?"<br/><br/>R.J. hadn't seen any guns mounted on any of the boats he saw on the ship.  He didn't relish the thought of lugging the heavy machine gun or anything associated with it (spare barrel, ammunition) around the state of Maryland -- but if they did start taking fire from the shore, one .50-cal would be worth ten M-60's (or a hundred SAW's).  He hoped he wouldn't have to explain that to anyone, but with officers one can never tell so he looked around at some of the senior NCO's to see if any of them thought it might be a good idea.