For about two weeks there was no fighting and we had forgotten about the launcher. But a day after fighting resumed, Lt. Khun Lot showed up at the school, smiled at us and said, “Lucky you and lucky me!”
The launcher had been employed in the fighting, but after a couple of rounds he was told by an officer in an urgent radio message from the front line to stop firing on his own troops.
Apparently, we had adjusted the trajectory of the launcher more than necessary without test firing it. The shells now landed too short, dangerously close to the Wa troops.
We were horrified. Had the shells landed on his own comrades Lt. Khun Lot would have had to pay dearly for the mistake— perhaps with his life, he lamented. He told us he didn't know what our fate would be.
A few important lessons were learnt that day. Lt. Khun Lot had discovered the risks of entrusting novices like us with tasks we didn't understand, just because were were considered to be better educated. And Win Maung and I learnt not to mess around with deadly weapons that were new to us—and especially to keep well clear of a rocket launcher of unknown provenance and mounted on a home-made stand.
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