Photo of a soldier posing with a dead Tiger in Vietnam

[Manchu Warrior]

I went to the flea market this weekend and I picked up a stack of photos from Vietnam. And this one of a soldier posing with a dead tiger is one of the most interesting photos in the pile. Unfortunately only one of the photos has anything written on the back and it is not this one. I don't have a scanner so I had to take a photo of the pic and it did not turn out well and the photo actually looks much better in person. There are also a couple of photos of US soldiers posing with dead Viet Cong.

[gwb123]

There is record of battles stopping due to the arrival of Tigers... neither side wanted to be crawling around in the brush with one of these big cats roaming around.

 

I seem to recall reading about a US unit that was in perimeter that was being assaulted by the Viet Cong. In the middle of the fire fight the firing from the VC suddenly dwindled. The Americans didn't quite understand what was going on... until they heard the roar of a rather upset Tiger coming from the brush. The VC withdrew rather than face two enemies, one with four legs, at the same time.

 

The war of course raised havoc on the animal population of the region. Since then from what I've read most species have recovered and now one of the tourist draws to Vietnam is wild life tours.

[Manchu Warrior]

There is record of battles stopping due to the arrival of Tigers... neither side wanted to be crawling around in the brush with one of these big cats roaming around.

 

I seem to recall reading about a US unit that was in perimeter that was being assaulted by the Viet Cong. In the middle of the fire fight the firing from the VC suddenly dwindled. The Americans didn't quite understand what was going on... until they heard the roar of a rather upset Tiger coming from the brush. The VC withdrew rather than face two enemies, one with four legs, at the same time.

 

The war of course raised havoc on the animal population of the region. Since then from what I've read most species have recovered and now one of the tourist draws to Vietnam is wild life tours.

Since I found the photo I have been reading about tiger attacks during the Vietnam War and it makes for some very interesting reading.

http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/maneating13.html

http://www.ichiban1.org/html/stories/story_46_tiger.htm

 

I also found information on Cpl Gerald Olmstead who was killed by a tiger in Vietnam on January 10, 1969.

http://www.facesfromthewall.com/1969jan.html

[The Meatcan]

wow - that's a neat, if not sad, photo of the dead tiger. Magnificent creatures! And wild stories about the battlefield encounters! If any of the Nam vets on the forum are reading this, did anyone ever imagine a potential encounter with a tiger in the brush? Yikes!

Terry

[USMCRECON]

Here's a picture of another tiger encounter where the tiger eventually lost. I seem to remember this tiger killed a Marine prior to being killed but it's been a ling time and I'm not sure anymore.

 

[LtRGFRANK]

I had a friend tell me about being on a scout mission and wern't suppose to give themselfs away. Until they found out they were being stalked by a BIG snake. It keep after them until they just opened fire and aborted the mission. Robert

[SKIPH]

Hey Gang!- You just reminded me of a story one of my squad leaders related to me in 1971. He was out on patrol checking out a rocky area when he was jumped by what he called a "Rock Ape" (orangatan?)(SP). He said it it scared him so bad he ran off, leaving his M16. Once he came to his senses, he went back, threw a couple of grenades, but only found his blown up M16. It was a great story! SKIP

[USMCRECON]

Hey Gang!- You just reminded me of a story one of my squad leaders related to me in 1971. He was out on patrol checking out a rocky area when he was jumped by what he called a "Rock Ape" (orangatan?)(SP). He said it it scared him so bad he ran off, leaving his M16. Once he came to his senses, he went back, threw a couple of grenades, but only found his blown up M16. It was a great story! SKIP

 

I seem to remember twice going up to the old French Resort at Ba Na. It was on one of the highest peaks on the side of Happy Valley. The area was home to a group of rock apes and they were frequently encountered up there. I remember one occasion where they were throwing rocks at us in the dark. We thought they were NVA (there were plenty of NVA in Happy Valley) throwing grenades and we responded. Nexct morning we found two dead rock apes just down the side of the hill from where we had lagered for the night.

[AK101]

Monkey stories are the best