Hit the Ground

All heads are turned and watching the jet in the center of the image; sounds of its attack caught our attention. This part of Tay Ninh Province is flat as a pancake in all directions. The firebase is located on the edge of the jungle, outside the rice paddies of the densely populated agricultural area and has few trees. Jungle and tunnels were the best places the enemy could hide, even though the tunnels filled with water during the wet season. The jungle was sprayed with the herbicide Agent Orange and its other relatives. After the vegetation died, a group called the Jungle Eaters used large bulldozers to clear away what remained. Tunnels were the enemy’s safest hiding place and our area sat atop hundreds of miles of them. “The Tunnels of Cu Chi” by Tom Mangold and John Penycate is the best book I have read on the subject.