Thorne and the Mountain Adventure
               
    Somewhere around four month before my tour would end I was chosen to be sent to the top of  Nui Ba Den (the mountain it the main Viet Nam page. I was attached to the Fifth Special Forces who were holding the top of that mountain. I was to be there for about ninety days before returning to my home fire base.

    I arrived by chopper and at that time the last of the Montagnard (Mountain people) that had made their home up there were being evacuated. All of their dwellings were torn down including a small Buddhist shrine. The people were not happy at all because of having to leave their homes. That coupled with the shrine being torn down and one of the chopper's door gunners seizing the statue for a souvenir left me to believe that we might pay for it later. The mountain crawled with VC so the chances are good that some of the mountain dwellers if not all could have been VC. A communications bunker had been setup at the very crest of the mountain. Parameter bunkers had been set up all around a lower plateau encircling the crest and it was all of us that were attached  jobs to occupy those bunkers as parameter guards. We were put four or five men per bunker if I remember correctly and for the next three months would take turns at the guard post in the front of the bunker. Sleeping quarters were in the back portion of the bunker.

    There was a large round pool that was in the shape of a giant cone on the east end of a lower part of the crest. This had served as a water supply for the Montagnard people while they were there and was supplied only by the frequent rains. Evidently the water in the pool was unclean as we were not allowed to use it in any way. Drinking water was brought in by chopper in small quantities and there were no shower facilities there. In order to get any type of bath it was either a sponge bath or normally we would use the rain for a shower. When one of the frequent rains would come up we would strip, take a bar of soap and jump out in the rain. Jump back in the bunker after getting good and wet and soap down good. The rain was much too cold to stay in it. Once we were soaped down we would jump back out in the rain and rinse off. Unfortunately sometimes the rain would vanish as soon as it appeared and in that case you had best hope you had time to get rinsed off.

    The mountain had a legendary reputation for its many tunnels and the number of VC that occupied it along with the many fire fights that took place on and around it. I had the occasion to explore some of the tunnels close to the top which were more like small boulders piled on top of  larger ones making a natural path. However we weren't able to go far down the mountain because it had been heavily booby traps starting at probably a hundred feet or so down from the crest. This was done by the berets to serve as a first line of defense against attack. We were the second line of defense. There were no other obstacles like barbed wire to keep the VC from getting to us.

    We had access to large amounts of all sorts of explosives but were never told why. As near as I could figure they might have been used as a last ditch attempt to take as many VC with us as we could in case of  being over run. No doubt they wouldn't have been looking to take prisoners! Some of the explosives we had were Claymore mines, C4 (Plastic explosives), Bangalore torpedos (and BANG GALORE would actually be an understatement!) They were normally used for clearing jungle), Depth cord and others.

    The Bangalore torpedo were tubes of explosives about an inch and 3/4 in diameter and about 3 feet long. They were covered with a metal jacket that was scored in small circles. (Sort of the ultimate pipe bomb) They were built to snap together and the lead peace would have a bullet shaped cone attached to make it easy to push the coupled pieces through heavy undergrowth of the jungle without hanging up. Once they were in place they were detonated and the small scored pieces of the jacket would fly in all directions. The main explosion would splinter small trees and bushes and the fragments would clear all of the foliage around for a good distance. The draw back with such a system could have easily been pushing it into a booby trap which would have likely set it off and I wouldn't want to be the one pushing it or even near it!
     


     
                Martha ( Green Beret ) Raye
                 
    One day we were paid a visit by Martha Raye and several USO Girls. They were flown in by chopper and were there to entertain us. Beautiful ladies they were! Martha Raye had in the past been given an honorary rank of either Major or Colonel in the Special forces and evidently visited us because it was a special forces camp. While she was there the sarge sent a patrol of men down the mountain and at one point ran into to a Booby trap that wasn't set by the berets. Three men were wounded in the blast two of which I heard were sent stateside because of serious injury.

    Anyway the ladies were hurried on to the chopper but the sarge managed to talk Martha out of a kiss before they lifted off. The next Stars and Stripes (military magazine) that cam out said something to the effect that they were evacuated as we were being overrun. This was not the case! After I returned to my home fire base and had been there for a couple of weeks I was told by someone that the people that were at the top of the mountain had been over run and all were killed. I never did find out whether that was true or just something someone read in the Stars and Stripes?
     
    Copyright (C) 1997 By David Thorne Smith
    Side note: 06/10/2007

    I understand that after her death in October 19, 1994 She was buried with full military honors at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (Home of the Green Berets) by special permission.

    For more info about this wonderful woman see Martha Raye

    For more on Nui Ba Den you can visit one of the links below. Just use your browser's return button to return here or visit those sites also.

     Dave's Relm (Nui Ba Den page)
     
      The American Experience Viet Nam Reflections