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Big Snake
Well here it is again... just raining on a dark night like this makes me want to recall another true story. Let's go back to April 1968…
Opening day of Operation Pegasus (Relief of Khe Sahn). My platoon, 3rd plt F Co 2nd Bn 1st Mar 1st Mar Div was the tip of the spear leading out on hwy 9 towards Khe Sahn. I had a tank attached to me also. As we slowly moved out if I saw a possible ambush site I would have the tank fire his 90mm cannon into it. I also had a 106 recoiless rifle mounted on a mule (vehicle not mammal) there is a picture in my display case of my platoon carrying this mule across a stream on hwy 9. About a half mile after this, the mule hit a mine which killed the driver.
Further along we came to a bridge still standing and my platoon was assigned security for the night. We set in and we were all on edge because the NVA had plenty of time to hid mines and booby traps since no allied troops had travelled this road in over a year. About 8 or 9pm my men began to hear noises under the bridge. We first began to throw grenades under the bridge. The noise would stop for awhile then start up again. About 3am I had my M-79 guy fire. More to come now under the bridge. His second round hit a tree and wounded him, not to badly.
It's starting to break daybreak and I decided to take a 45cal pistol and crawl under the bridge. I went slowly under the bridge and could hear rustling noises. All of a sudden I came face to face with a 15 foot phython. Scared the living shit Otta me. I shot it in the head 3 times. Later when my men pulled it out you could not even see bullet holes in it's head.
An Army Duster (tank with dual 40 mms) came by and the Lt asked if he could have it. A Stars and Stripes reporter also wrote a story about me killing it. That was a weekly paper that come out over
there.
Don't look too scary now but to me it scared the life out of me.
Submitted October 27, 2013
Sgt Chuck Thompson
