A Snake Story
Trooper Gerald McLain
B Company, 2/12 Cavalry, 1967-1968
I enjoyed reading the story submitted by Don Corbin titled “My Scariest Moment in Vietnam.” Thanks for the snake story Don. I don’t like snakes much either, but I guess anyone who humped the bush for a year in Vietnam, like I did in B Company, has a snake story or two to tell. The following is my Vietnam snake story.
We were someplace in the Central Highlands in Vietnam. I don’t know where we were, but I sure remember what happened that day. It was hot and dry, which was the norm at this time of the year in the Central Highlands. We had been moving along a narrow ridgeline in some really thick trees and brush, cutting our way as we went. The land fell steeply away on both sides of the ridgeline. We came to a well-worn trail that crossed over the ridgeline and disappeared as it went down into the small ravine to our right. Well worn trails are always dangerous and best stayed off of, but for some reason the company commander decided to send our platoon down the trail to check it out while the rest of the company stayed up on the ridge. Our platoon had not gone more than several hundred yards down the trail when suddenly a couple of bursts of automatic weapons fire cracked through the trees over our heads. Some VC or NVA in the ravine must have heard us coming down the trail and decided to slow us down by firing at us while they made their escape. We stopped on the trail and waited while the company commander called for a gun ship, which was in the area, to shoot up the ravine before we continued on.
I was carrying our M-60 machine gun and following me was my assistant gunner, a tall thin guy named Stuart Ferrell. The trail down into the ravine was very steep so we all decided to sit down on the trail and take a short break while waiting for the gun ships. Ferrell was right behind me about ten feet up the trail.
We could hear the gun ships approaching and to our surprise instead of seeing a couple of Huey’s with rocket pods or mini guns we saw and heard two Chinooks coming in low and flying over us making a pass into the ravine. The Chinooks had been converted into gun ships and were really pounding the area with machine guns and rocket fire. The noise from the rotor blades and the exploding ordinance was deafening! After a couple of low level passes into the ravine the Chinooks pulled off and it got quiet.
That is when I heard Ferrell yell SNAKE! He jumped over my M-60 and me as he ran and fell down the trail. I jumped up and turned around. Right where Ferrell had been sitting I saw the biggest snakehead I ever saw sticking straight out of the bushes along side of the trail. I had the M-60 in my hands with my finger on the trigger and could have easily fired into the brush to kill the snake. I didn’t fire because the rest of my platoon was either on the trail or in the bushes close by. I just stood there and watched, as the snake turned its head and went back into the bushes. As the snake turned and moved away from the trail all of its body passed in front of me. It seemed to go on and on forever!
A couple of guys up the trail behind me, who had moved off the trail and into the bushes, wanted to know what was going on. I told them to get out of the bushes that there was a really big snake headed their way. I picked up Ferrell’s rifle and pack, which was still laying on the trail and headed down to where he was standing. He was still shaking as he tried to light a cigarette.
We never saw that snake again as we continued down into the ravine.