McCoy noted our surprise.
“I guess nobody told you, you'll be spending the next two days in the jungle,” he said with matter-of-fact deadpan.
After about a two-hour drive, we were deep in the jungle. We were deposited at a small campground, with a couple of 2-man tents and a campfire.
The on-site instructor gathered us around the campfire, where there was a large pot with something cooking, along with several small skewers with pieces of meat. He handed us each a skewer, and took one himself.
“Here's your dinner,” he said, as he gnawed at the skewer.
I bit off a piece. It was tough, but it wasn't that bad. Tasted like chicken.
“This is pretty good,” I said. “What is it?”
The instructor smiled. “Gecko.”
I managed to keep the food down. Some of the other guys didn't.
After dinner, we were given mosquito netting and told to find somewhere to sleep. The instructors got to stay in the tents. I looked around and found a place that wasn't too wet, wrapped the mosquito netting around myself, and was soon asleep.
Early the next morning I was awakened by the sounds of people rustling around, and the smell of coffee. When I went to the campground, I noticed that, in addition to the instructors, there were about a dozen people who looked like primitive natives.
They were small, perhaps five feet tall, very dark-skinned, and wearing only loincloths.
“These are local negritos,” the instructor announced. “They are indigenous natives to the Philippines, and are the best trackers in the world.”
“During World War II,” he continued, “they were the best weapon we had in the Philippines. They would sneak into Japanese camps at night and slit the throats of every other sleeping soldier. You can imagine the effect that had on the enemy, to wake up and find the guy next to him dead.”
“Today they're going to show you how to survive in the jungle, and how to evade, and tonight you're going to try to hide from them and they're going to find you.”
He didn't say “Try to find you”, he said “Find you.” I was determined to prove him wrong.
We spent the day learning about how to find food and water sources in the jungle, how to avoid dangerous animals, and how to hide. I paid rapt attention.
As night fell, it was time for hide-and-seek. We each went off in different directions, wearing survival vests they had given us. We were simulating being downed aircrew members trying to escape and evade while waiting for rescue.
Along with our survival vests, we were issued three plastic dog tags to put on our dog tag chains. Each tag was really a form of payment. When a negrito would find any of us, he would retrieve one of our plastic dog tags and later redeem it for a bag of rice.
When the siren sounded in the morning to signal the end of the search, I had successfully evaded the searchers. I popped a smoke from my signal flare to show my position, and carefully worked my way out of the thicket. It took about an hour for me to extricate myself.
It turned out I was the only one in our group to have successfully evaded the negritos. Finally, I was a DG again!
When we all gathered at the campsite, we were rewarded with a real breakfast. The instructors had cooked bacon and eggs for us, and we all chowed down like we hadn't eaten in a week.
After breakfast, we piled onto the waiting bus to go back to Clark. Sergeant McCoy was at the front of the bus, talking to someone on a walkie-talkie.
When he finished, he announced, “Gentlemen, your flights to Vietnam will depart tonight. You'll have your Travel Authorizations waiting for you at the VOQ.”
When the bus deposited us at the VOQ, I went into the Billeting Office and got my TA. I would be leaving on a C-130 for DaNang at 2300 hours. I went back to my room and looked at the bed I hadn't slept in since I arrived.
I took a well-needed shower and decided to take a nap. I set the alarm that was in the room, and as I drifted off to sleep if occurred to
“I guess nobody told you, you'll be spending the next two days in the jungle,” he said with matter-of-fact deadpan.
After about a two-hour drive, we were deep in the jungle. We were deposited at a small campground, with a couple of 2-man tents and a campfire.
The on-site instructor gathered us around the campfire, where there was a large pot with something cooking, along with several small skewers with pieces of meat. He handed us each a skewer, and took one himself.
“Here's your dinner,” he said, as he gnawed at the skewer.
I bit off a piece. It was tough, but it wasn't that bad. Tasted like chicken.
“This is pretty good,” I said. “What is it?”
The instructor smiled. “Gecko.”
I managed to keep the food down. Some of the other guys didn't.
After dinner, we were given mosquito netting and told to find somewhere to sleep. The instructors got to stay in the tents. I looked around and found a place that wasn't too wet, wrapped the mosquito netting around myself, and was soon asleep.
Early the next morning I was awakened by the sounds of people rustling around, and the smell of coffee. When I went to the campground, I noticed that, in addition to the instructors, there were about a dozen people who looked like primitive natives.
They were small, perhaps five feet tall, very dark-skinned, and wearing only loincloths.
“These are local negritos,” the instructor announced. “They are indigenous natives to the Philippines, and are the best trackers in the world.”
“During World War II,” he continued, “they were the best weapon we had in the Philippines. They would sneak into Japanese camps at night and slit the throats of every other sleeping soldier. You can imagine the effect that had on the enemy, to wake up and find the guy next to him dead.”
“Today they're going to show you how to survive in the jungle, and how to evade, and tonight you're going to try to hide from them and they're going to find you.”
He didn't say “Try to find you”, he said “Find you.” I was determined to prove him wrong.
We spent the day learning about how to find food and water sources in the jungle, how to avoid dangerous animals, and how to hide. I paid rapt attention.
As night fell, it was time for hide-and-seek. We each went off in different directions, wearing survival vests they had given us. We were simulating being downed aircrew members trying to escape and evade while waiting for rescue.
Along with our survival vests, we were issued three plastic dog tags to put on our dog tag chains. Each tag was really a form of payment. When a negrito would find any of us, he would retrieve one of our plastic dog tags and later redeem it for a bag of rice.
When the siren sounded in the morning to signal the end of the search, I had successfully evaded the searchers. I popped a smoke from my signal flare to show my position, and carefully worked my way out of the thicket. It took about an hour for me to extricate myself.
It turned out I was the only one in our group to have successfully evaded the negritos. Finally, I was a DG again!
When we all gathered at the campsite, we were rewarded with a real breakfast. The instructors had cooked bacon and eggs for us, and we all chowed down like we hadn't eaten in a week.
After breakfast, we piled onto the waiting bus to go back to Clark. Sergeant McCoy was at the front of the bus, talking to someone on a walkie-talkie.
When he finished, he announced, “Gentlemen, your flights to Vietnam will depart tonight. You'll have your Travel Authorizations waiting for you at the VOQ.”
When the bus deposited us at the VOQ, I went into the Billeting Office and got my TA. I would be leaving on a C-130 for DaNang at 2300 hours. I went back to my room and looked at the bed I hadn't slept in since I arrived.
I took a well-needed shower and decided to take a nap. I set the alarm that was in the room, and as I drifted off to sleep if occurred to
Similar Books
