Today, I want to talk about another fear these young men had to endure while living in the jungles. Mother Nature had created many wonderful things over time; some were beautiful and others were downright frightening. The jungles of Vietnam were home to every creature, beast, and insect known to man, and all wanted to cozy up to the warm bodies lying on the ground.
Hey everybody, welcome to my podcast!
What do you say Grunts, did this about cover it? Looking for your comments below…
If you missed part 1, here’s the link: https://cherrieswriter.com/2020/09/12/podcast-what-was-it-like-to-hump-the-boonies-in-vietnam/
CherriesWriter - Vietnam War website 
Our company worked off FB San Juan Hill. We broke up in squads and worked the mountains. On night while pulling guard . I had just awakened the next guy. I looked to my right to see two big eyes staring at us. The eyes were all I could see. My m60 was one the ground pointed in the other direction. Just has I started to reach for the 60 . A big solid black cat jumped a small ditch and moved passed us. Not a sound was made. It had to be a Black Panther. The two of us were the only ones that saw it. Not sure anyone believed us the next morning .
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Even more terrible than many of the bloody combat stories Ive heard.
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It was a daily thing. I was an Artillery Forward Observer with the Infantry. Remember it well.
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I’ll add the domestic water buffalo to your list. We often encountered them loosely tied along the trail. While they seemed comfortable with papason or local kids, most began snorting and became agitated if we were too close. These animals were very large and powerful, and were prized possessions. Too often we had to kill a charging beast to save a comrade.
Rats were everywhere at fortified hamlets, and were very aggressive. At night, they would search us out and lick the skin to anesthetize the site before biting. The treatment was painful shots in the stomach.
John Ellis / Mekong Delta 68/69
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Up on the DMZ, such as Dong Ha remote bases like Charlie 2 and Alpha 4 directly on the DMZ at Con Thien, the rats owned all the bunkers. Even in the hard Monsoon rains, we sat on top of the bunkers. Anyone who got bitten by a rat was given a chopper ride to Medivac to the rear for rabies shots.
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I was walking on a trail solo near the DMZ. Around a bend in the trail I came face to face with a python this size, coming right at me on the same trail. We both froze a minute as we sized each other up. When I pointed my M-16 at it, the did an about face and took off like a ground torpedo. As it disappeared into the trees, I could see the tops of the trees sway vigorously back and forth as it slapped the tree trunks with that huge body. Evidently, it had seen what a M-16 on rock and roll could do. I didn’t have to fire a single round.
John Wood, Scout,
B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry
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My dad died from Agent Orange complications December 30th 2022. I wish you could have known him.
John Lally
506th/101st
10/23/46 – 12/30/22
Currahee
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Anne, I wished I could’ve met your Dad and wished him “Welcome Home.” Something Nam Vet’s never heard. Know this Anne I’m sure his did his duty with honor and diligence. Though I don’t know where he served he was never really out of danger as there was no”rear” in Vietnam. I’m sure all he wanted was to return home safe and did he best to ensure that happened. May a special Peace and Well Being grace your family as your Father earned said Blessing.
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Excellent. Thanks for sharing.
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Great article once again. I had a very safe job at USARV Hqs in Long Binh in 68/69. One of my jobs was to compile lists from Graves Registration. The lists would show the number of KIAs and why they happened. After all this time my memory is cloudy but there was a category for deaths caused by wild animals/beasts. Many times there were details about what happened. Way too many deaths from doing stupid things like drinking and playing russian roulette and riding on the hood of a vehicle while drunk or getting in an argument during a card game and shooting another player.
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Great insite to what many endured. Most have no idea!
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If you had the misfortune to brush against the red ants and get those on you. Happened to our co and have to strip down to get them all off. Had them bite but not in force. Up north saw a few bamboo vipers in the mountains and gave them a wide birth. Black flies all day long get their piece of you. We all paid out tributes to Mother Nature there.
Leaches are my nemesis. Hate them with a passion
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My first encounter were leeches we were dropped off in a swap and I looked down. I didn’t know what the run or try to kill them
IFindly ran to higher ground
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One guy had a leech in the head of his penis
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Bambo Viper, scorpion .
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Great stuff….nailed it ! You have a good memory. 👍
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When I saw the picture of the snake it reminded me of one of more fun or interesting moments of my time in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. My squad while on patrol found a similar snake of about equal length and put a rope around it, drug it back to camp and took pictures of the snake with different individuals. I only wish I had the pictures as I was later wounded and flown out of the bush to Japan and later the states. Thanks for letting me share my story. All this as I have found is part of our healing process
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I was in the 1st Cav Div, based out of Phouc Vinh in 1970. Thankfully I did not spend much time in the bush. Camp Gorvad at Phouc Vinh was built in a rubber plantation. Most of the rubber trees were dead or dying. No birds, no flies, no mosquitoes, very few other insects… the only wildlife I saw (besides rats and cockroaches) were the little ‘fuck you’ lizards…. (Tokay geckos). Even the soil was dead…. hard, dry (red) laterite…..
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use to go phouc vinh alot in 69 to 70s was lucky to stay in rocket ally where u their when base got overrun
lol
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Living out a year in the jungles of the central highlands around Dak To wasn’t fun. All them insects that such your blood n them snakes. Monkeys in the tree tops spooking everybody. Didn’t see elephants, saw their trail n poop. One patrol had n encounter with a tiger. While on patrol with my squad we ran across a wild boar. Monsoon season u would freeze in the morning n b sweating by mid day.
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I thought it was a great tutorial on humping it out in the bush!
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Do you have to be a “grunt” to reply? I was not an 11B. I was a 13E. But I spent my entire tour in the bush with the 11B’s.
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I salute you Sir. With the greatest respect.
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Great article. I was USAF so had it way better than you guys did. We did have to put up with mortars, rockets, mosquitoes, and the anti mosquitoe spraying planes, but it was a cake walk compared to bding out in the bush.
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Crotch rot. Chafing, raw skin each step you take. Burning, stinging pain. The good old days. I remember them well. Thanks for the article.
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Wow! Thanks to all you Hero’s!..You lived a literal nightmare for our safety!💔💕🙏🇺🇸 I had a cousin there I think he did three tours two for sure.. Sadly he died from agent orange at 52 right now he should be 76😭 You wrote to me every day and I tried to write every day while away at school. He told me some of the most horrendous things that I could never repeat the most people. Initials in bodies… I’ll stop there. We came back so different quiet and withdrawn..not him at all normally.. I can’t imagine living through one of those things never mind all of them I wish I could hug you all those that have gone before and those still here. Just know that my heart is full of thankfulness and sadness for all you had to endure!💔💔💔💔💔💔
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Pretty good John! All I’d add is that the damn termites seemed to love to puncture air mattresses. I lost track of how many times I was awakened in the night to the realization that rocks, twigs and roots were poking me where my air mattress had been. This was often made even worse by the annoyed termites biting me as they escaped from beneath the air mattress!
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Thank you for this total.recall of time in the bush.
Brought back some.terrible
Memories.
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Your initial comment about tigers and elephants was correct about the tigers . Working the Cambodian border area we had a tiger trip a claymore and was wounded, it screamed all night and I tracked it down with my scout dog the next day. We found it dead and a Huey came out and lifted it out supposedly on orders from brigade commander that had a rug made from it !
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Very interesting. Flew from an AFB in RVN and met a few of these lovely creatures. Had the base sprayed for mosquitos so they weren’t much of a problem. However, having been sprayed by the mosquito spray, I’m expecting a 3rd ear To pop up sometime in the future. I’m already on the Agent Orange Registrar for Prostate Cancer.
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The things I remember about Mother Nature in Vietnam were not insects or reptiles. I grew up in Texas and was pretty used to those. What I was not prepared for were the endless days of rain during the monsoons and the endless days of heat during the warmer months. Living in the jungle for a year under those conditions really took a toll on me.
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Beetles that looked like turtles, hard shell and all.
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Centipedes and earthworms
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No doubt, the infantry endured the worst but not alone. Some of us did not see base camp until we rotated out.
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