Never thought of this!

[CINDERS]

Learnt through a doco a special ops group in the VN war were inserted miles behind the lines with the task of spying on the NVA in the area covertly but they had already been spotted.
They posted their guard for the night after selecting a well concealed spot they then settled in for the night at some point in the night they were awoken to the blood curdling screams coming from the SGT's spot.
They investigated only finding a bloody patch on the ground where he was to have been sleeping, they waited till dawn then followed the blood trial finally discovering his body.
It had been partially eaten and in the distance they heard and saw the tall grass moving and the growl of a predator not happy with them finding his kill.
A Tiger charged them from the grass they opened fire but missed the tiger tried again but still not hit but beaten off.
The group collected his body and choppered out as the gig was up after shooting at the Tiger.

A latter group was inserted into that area and managed to kill the tiger that took the SGT.
7 GI's lost there lives to the tigers in VN a fact I was not aware of as if mosquito's & other critters with the jungle plus the NVA & their booby traps were not enough to contend with.

Thats what I learnt no doubt in WWII also some fell foul in the African areas as well as India or Sumatra!

Information

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[Singer B]

To quote "Apocalypse Now," "never get out of the boat....."

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

I have often wondered what those statistics were. Also wonder how many snake bight casualties were logged.

[Sunray]

Stories were told about how the FNG's were told that everything in the Vietnamese jungles was out to get you. Everything bit or stung.
Carlos Hathcock was sneaking up on a VC General by crawling through grass when he came literally face to face with a bamboo viper(little fellow at no more than 30" long. Cobras are measured in feet. Sometimes 17 of 'em.), aka the Two Step. One bite from the thing and you were dead in 2 steps. Hathcock's encounter ended in what could be called 'professional courtesy' and the snake slithered off. Supposedly, only 25-50 snakebite incidents occurred annually in US forces.
Oh and a net search for 'tiger attack Vietnam war" turns up 5,770,000 results. Here kitty, kitty. snicker.

[CINDERS]

Jeez Sunray you'd want a bloody big tin of Whiskers cat food if your calling a Tiger to dinner to make sure you dont end up getting chomped!!!!!!!!!!

Yes Carlos's 5 day monumental crawl to kill the target and the one shot he regretted as there was a serious spike in U.S casualties after that target was eliminated, it took Carlos 1/2 an hour to take a sip of water from his canteen such was the dedication of slow movement. The snake encounter happened at a distance of a few inches and shows steel nerves not to flinch or any sudden movement lest be detected.
The crawl out took 2 days and according to Carlos was at light speed in his words apparently it must move a bit slower in his universe, a great marksman and tactician that few could better with selfless disregard for his safety and injuries when the LVT-5 hit that anti-tank mine some say he should have got the MOH for his actions regarding this incident.

[Paul S.]

1968, I killed a bamboo viper that crawled between my feet whilst wearing Ho Chi Minh sandals (a story for another time). A mate killed a cobra with a full auto M16 burst feet from a Sigs Captain from the unit he was attached to. That same year, a grunt with the 173rd got venom sprayed in his face by a cobra as it struck at him as he rolled out of the way. Oh, there was nothing like lying up in a laager or a set ambush in the dead of night and not knowing what was possibly lying next to you. 1969, a number of GIs died from sea snake bites at Vung Tau and Cam Rhan Bay.

Viet Nam was such a fun place, and it's still taking some of us out thanks to Agent Orange.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Viet Nam was such a fun place, and it's still taking some of us out thanks to Agent Orange.

Lost a friend to AO a while back. I think of him often.
Thanks for your service.

[Paul S.]

Lost a friend to AO a while back. I think of him often.
Thanks for your service.

There's a high probability that Agent Orange is the cause of the Melanoma I'm currently dealing with. Side effects from the cancer meds nearly (literally) killed me in June.

I did three tours. I know I was in areas that had been sprayed, were actively being sprayed while I was in them, and down stream from sprayed areas. All our drinking water came from rivers and stream in those no bottled water days. And of course, there was also the chemicals used to make the 'water' safe to drink -- not to mention the little orange bomber anti-malaria tablets that gave you the trots.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

There's a high probability that Agent Orange is the cause of the Melanoma I'm currently dealing with. Side effects from the cancer meds nearly (literally) killed me in June.

Situation sounds very familiar. My friend and his wife were both battling at the same time she made it he did not. Thanks for your service and I am glad you made it also.
Not sure most of us won't end up in the same boat with all the chemicals I the food , water, pharmacuticals etc...

---------- Post added at 05:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 PM ----------

Fate plays a cruel hand sometimes USA

Whole post Very well stated and very sad as well.

[Paul S.]

Situation sounds very familiar. My friend and his wife were both battling at the same time she made it he did not. Thanks for your service and I am glad you made it also.
Not sure most of us won't end up in the same boat with all the chemicals I the food , water, pharmacuticals etc...

---------- Post added at 05:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 PM ----------



Whole post Very well stated and very sad as well.

Not sure most of us won't end up in the same boat with all the chemicals I the food , water, pharmacuticals etc...

We will all end up in Toe Tag City sooner or later. I just prefer later -- a lot later -- than sooner.