Night Encounter

It was 9 p.m., and night shrouded the Southern California coast. There was no sound but the rush of the surf as 80 Camp Pendleton Marines, their faces blackened, huddled in the brush in night ambush position. They kept their weapons at the ready in preparation for a night assault by "aggressors"--fellow Marines engaged in landing exercises.

Suddenly the stillness was broken by deep grunts as silhouettes appeared scaling a nearby fence. The silhouettes advanced, and so did the Marines, blasting away with blanks. Finally a Spanish-speaking sergeant understood the frightened shouts and curses of the ambushed platoon. In fact, it was a band of Mexican migrant workers trying to enter the country illegally for the harvest season. They had made their way close to 80 miles north of the border.

The Marines turned the 20 terrified men over to the border patrol, which shipped them back to Mexico. Noting that 2,261 such immigrants were picked up in a recent week, one border patrolman commented: "If those guys tell their buddies about their experiences, we may see a slight decrease in the number of illegal aliens for a few days."

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