It was like a scene out of a movie. I know other people would say that, but the jungle had taken over parts of the city. When we'd arrived, the smell just hit you. If you'd been to Asia, you say Asia's got a smell. No, nothing smells like this. This was urine, faeces, it was rotten jungle. The city was gloomy. People were still coming back though, just trickling back into the town.
When we first went out, we were allowed out into town, and there was only a handful of places you could really go. One of them was the Cambodiana, which was this massive modern hotel on the river. You went in there and you were drinking with diplomats. It was really very, very edgy. I remember the unit doctor saying to us, "Look, you're going to get sick. Don't come and see me until you've been sick for three days and it's going through you or coming up. I can't do anything for you, but if you're still sick, after three days come and see me."
I got sick. I was sick for two days. When I came good, I remember Maria, I wrote a letter to her saying if I had a gun I'd shoot myself, because it was humanity gone. It was really empty. It was very odd, but we saw it come back while we were there.