Caught in the Kill Zone

What happens when an ordinary day turns into a fight for survival? For those caught in a sudden attack, there may be little time to understand what is happening, much less decide what to do. The first few seconds can determine who lives, who dies, and who finds a way to fight back.

These four accounts from Soldier of Fortune take readers into those moments, across continents and theaters of war. Each tells a different story of surprise, danger, and the decisions people made when the shooting started.

Massacre at Bien Hoa: These Americans Were the First to Die at War in Vietnam

Eight American advisers were at a compound outside Saigon in July 1959. Two were on the tennis court. The other six were in the mess hall watching a film, and one of them was writing a letter to his wife while another showed photos of his sons. Six guerrillas had already come through the wire, past guards who did not see them. When the reel ended and someone turned on the lights, the room changed in an instant.

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Attack on Hill 950, Vietnam

Hill 950 was a classified radio relay site pushed into enemy-held ground near Khe Sanh. In June 1971 it held 13 Americans and a group of Bru Montagnard fighters. North Vietnamese forces opened with mortars and rockets, then came through the perimeter. Staff Sgt. Jon Cavaiani, 27, moved along the line under fire and guided helicopters in to pull men off the hill. Then a heavy fog settled over the position and the aircraft could not come back.

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Air Rhodesia Flight 825: Ambush in the Sky, Massacre On the Ground

A Vickers Viscount lifted off from Kariba in September 1978 with four crew and 52 passengers, most of them heading home for the weekend. A guerrilla team was waiting about 20 miles away with a Soviet-made Strela-2 missile. It struck while the aircraft was still climbing. Within minutes the pilots were working engine-fire procedures on a plane that was coming apart. The captain told the passengers and crew to brace.

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Dipprasad Pun: The Lone Gurkha Who Fought Off 30 Taliban

Dipprasad Pun was on sentry duty at a British patrol base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, one night in September 2010 when he heard digging outside the gate. The courageous Gurkha understood at once that someone was planting a bomb. He radioed his commander and threw the first grenade. Then the attack came in from irrigation ditches and nearby compounds on several sides. Three other soldiers were inside the compound, and Pun was alone at the checkpoint.