WILD TIME WITH WILDLIFE
—Spec 4 Peter Cullen
NUI BA DEN
The Black Virgin Mountain
I have a few short
stories of animal encounters that took place in Vietnam while out on patrol with
my platoon. In the early part of September, 1967, we were on patrol at the base
of the Black Virgin Mountain. Our mission was providing security in that area.
In late afternoon our patrol encountered an Indo-Chinese tiger, (pictured
below), in a pineapple field within a mile or so of the base of the mountain.
The tiger was probably stirred up by our patrol's movement in the field. The soldier next to me was so startled by it that he could hardly speak. The tiger was not looking for a confrontation and fled as soon as he spotted us. He ran off into some elephant grass and we lost sight of him. Not a one of us took a shot at him.
I have spoken to other Infantry units that operated in that area and they too acknowledged that they ran across a tiger while patrolling there too! The World Wildlife Federation estimates that only 200- 300 Indo Chinese tigers survive in the wild in Vietnam today. They are protected and it is illegal to kill them. Poachers kill them for body parts which are used in traditional Chinese medicine and fetch a considerable bounty for the traders.
Click here to learn more: TIGER FACTS
In another incident, in the Summer of 1967, while on an Infantry operation in War Zone C, we encountered a large figure way up in a tree in the triple canopy jungle. Initially we thought it was a Vietcong soldier lying flat on a tree limb, but after focusing on it we discovered that it was a huge lizard that would rival a Komodo Dragon ( pictured right) of the Pacific Islands.
On one occasion, while we were on Operation in War Zone C, we came across a very small deer in a heavy jungle area. It ran away when it spotted us. It was the only deer I ever saw while in Vietnam.
A humorous situation took place outside
of Dau Tieng near the bridge that spanned the Saigon River. It was during the monsoon season when the Saigon River was flooding over it's banks into the surrounding rice paddies. We had just left our base camp and was on operation and as we passed through the rubber trees
Dale 'Shotgun' Gage, (right) one of my buddies from my platoon was confronted by an ornery water buffalo in a farmer's rice paddy. The animal took an instant dislike to Dale for some reason decided to charge the unsuspecting soldier. Dale began a verbal monologue with the animal, lecturing him and making threatening gestures towards his attacker. He warned the water buffalo that he'd best back off and leave him alone if he knew what was good for him. Dale's routine looked real comical and we all burst out in laughter. The story ended happily when the animal got tired of Dale's routine and returned to his rice paddy activity.
Editor's note:
Water buffalo were a familiar site during our tour in Vietnam. Not long after the original A/2/12 men arrived in Vietnam, we were on a Company sized patrol outside of Bear Cat, if my memory serves me correctly. We came across a trail in the jungle, not far from camp and on that trail a water buffalo driven cart was approaching us with a Vietnamese man and lady aboard. As the travelers neared our position there came a burst of small arms fire from the area to their rear. A volley of fire was returned by our men and in the ensuing attack, the water buffalo was killed and the lady in the carriage was also was shot. We (the Company HQ section) rushed forward after this exchange along with a Vietnamese interpreter who was assigned to us. When we arrived we were taken back a bit by the scene. There was this Vietnamese man with his arms wrapped around his dead water buffalo, while his wife was looking blankly at the sky after being hit by the crossfire. Although her wounds didn't seem serious, we were perplexed by her husband's reaction to the attack. We asked our Vietnamese escort for an explanation to such a strange site. Captain Palmer asked him why he was bemoaning the fact that the man's animal was dead while his wife laid to his side with a bullet in her. The interpreter was not at all surprised by the man's actions. He calmly explained, "The man understands the situation with his wife, but realizes that he can replace his wife, but not his water buffalo." There was a collection by the platoon that was involved with that shootout and the man was able to replace his killed animal. His wife was evacuated and we heard recovered. It was the first month in Vietnam for the Company and it was then that we realized that we 'weren't in Kansas anymore'.
Here is another story that I never forgot.
In mid 1967 I had an encounter with two cobras on the berm at base camp. In between operations we were assigned security at Dau Tieng out in front of our Company's bivouac area for a couple of days. This wasn't unusual as this was a short period in between operations that generally lasted two to three days. Operations during this period typically lasted three weeks, before the cycle began again.
If I remember
correctly during this incident, there were three of us in that bunker that
evening. Just before dusk two good sized cobras
decided
to pay us a visit in our bunker. They came in with their hoods flared in a
classic cobra pose. I don't think that they thought that the bunker was
occupied. They both rose in a defensive posture and decided to leave very
quickly slithered to the left rear side of the bunker, where they remained.
There was still plenty of daylight when that took place and we thought that it
may be prudent to do away with these characters lest they return inside after
dark. Unfortunately we were not authorized to fire our weapons in base camp
unless we were engaging Vietcong elements. We used our telephone in the bunker
and reported our situation to the Company HQ. An Company Officer ran down to our
position and when he arrived we pointed out our uninvited guests. He drew out
his .45 pistol and fired a shot at one of the snakes but missed him. The
concussion of the round and the muzzle blast that close knocked that cobra flat
on it's back and stunned it. After this, both snakes sensing the threat became
very aggressive and angry. They stood upright with flared hoods. The Officer
then refired and killed the original snake, quickly followed by a second burst
that took out the last serpent.
From what I was able to learn of cobras when I returned home, cobras like the environment afforded by the rubber plantations. They prefer the cooler shade and the plentiful supply of forage. The Michelin was ideal to these creatures. I remember soldiers who were more afraid of snakes than they were of the Vietcong. I don't blame them.
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Peter Cullen, photo taken at the 2002
A/2/12 reunion