no civilians live in the area. Courcey befriends some of them despite the language barrier. That evening, the VC attack Muc Wa and Lincoln is wounded. Courcey leads an ambush patrol that kills a VC mortar crew, which included one of the women he spoke to earlier. The next morning, Barker travels to Saigon to meet Colonel Minh, the region's military leader, to request he send at least 300 ARVN troops to Muc Wa. However, Minh refuses claiming he needs the troops in Saigon to prevent a potential coup. Instead he corruptly offers the reinforcements in exchange for 1,500 artillery shells. That evening, Muc Wa is attacked again. After ignoring Oleonozski's warnings, Lt. Hamilton is killed trying to rescue a badly wounded man who was left behind by a combat patrol. An anguished Oleonozski commits suicide the next day. When informed of the deaths, Barker wants to pull his troops out now that they lack an experienced leader, but this request is denied by General Harnitz forcing Barker to send Olivetti to Muc Wa. That night, the outpost is attacked again by a large force of well-armed Viet Cong, not the few dozen predicted by high command. US helicopter gunships arrive just in time to save the outpost from being overrun. The next morning, Harnitz finally orders Barker to withdraw all American troops from Muc Wa, which is now believed to be besieged by the 1,000-strong 507th Viet Cong battalion. However, all the South Vietnamese and the walking wounded are to be left. Barker volunteers to stay and help evacuate these troops. Cowboy kills some Vietnamese civilians that Courcey brought into the base camp after they stole weapons and tried to escape. But a teenage girl, who Courcey tried to befriend, escapes and informs the VC of the Americans' evacuation plans. As night falls, Barker and Courcey begin the retreat from Muc Wa under the cover of friendly artillery fire. However, the group is ambushed and Barker is killed by the waiting VC, who are led by the same teenage girl. A wounded Courcey is hidden in bushes by an elderly militiaman. The next morning, Courcey is the only survivor. He finds that Barker and the South Vietnamese militia soldiers have been stripped of their uniforms and weapons. A dazed Courcey staggers into the French graveyard where he encounters the one-eyed VC scout whom he had seen earlier. The badly