leeches

homer4
Moderator
Posts: 1285
(7/28/01 7:58:52 am)
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Hated them...terribly, and always found it amazing how they could get inside my clothes the way they did.

Lighter fluid made jelly out of em real good like...always thought what a way to die and couldn't happen to a nastier creature. Misserable things.

Just noticed that I must have hit New Topic...I meant for this to be in the Fire Support Base thread as a responce to Dirty's comment on leeches.

This taking up space...hope someone sends it over there...if not ...I'll delete it later.

Edited by: homer4 at: 7/28/01 9:05:09 am

dirty423
Member
Posts: 30
(7/28/01 9:09:37 am)
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Those little fellows could chew through the side of a jungle boot. When bathing in bomb craters only the first half dozen guys had to worry about them. The soap killed them so basically you were washing up with a lot of floating dead leeches.
Being mech I didn't have to deal with them on a day to day basis like the straight legs but having a ten foot whip antenna meant that I got well acquainted with 'Big Red', the tree ants that would bite the end of a lit cigarette. They were just mean.
The point of the spear

dreamcatcher27371
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 134
(7/28/01 9:55:02 am)
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Two creatures I literally hate. We'd get the leeches to drop off by touching them with a lit cigarette then stick a small stick in them and turn them wrong-side-out. Had a nasty looking spot on a private place once and scared the hell out of me. Doc diagnosed it as a leech bite. Guess he didn't care for the taste and dropped off. Whew!!! What a relief.

I sat and watched once when we were on a 2-day ambush...the red ants would crawl over a VN just to get to me. Burshed under a banana leaf once and got a handful down the back of my shirt...that'll make you strip quickly!!

Wonder why God made 'em? Ants, spiders, ticks, fleas, leeches........

LarryJK
Senior Chief Moderator III
Posts: 453
(7/28/01 9:58:46 am)
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'Catch...God made them to feed the birds that weren't there. LOL!

Tac401
Administrator
Posts: 1068
(7/28/01 4:39:21 pm)
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ezSupporter
Leeches
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Homer,

Don't delete the thread, keep it going guy's!

JD
The Firearms Forum Vietnam Memories Bulletin Board Contact Administrator

nighthawk
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 148
(7/28/01 5:57:21 pm)
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you would think in a city they would not be a problem, but even there we had them. Mostly if you got around any wet folage and in any streams(read: open sewers) of course.
Three of us went to the Siagon Zoo and all of us wound up with leeches. One guy did not know what they were and just pulled it off. Needless to say, he got a very bad infection. We were fortunate to have a medical clinic availible.

Then there were the 2-legged kind,,,,

hope6970
Moderator
Posts: 492
(7/29/01 9:17:03 pm)
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Homer,
I remember a lot of those stories of leeches. A lot of the guys would come in from the field all wet and gooey and would tell about those slimy little monsters and the encounters they would have with them.

nighthawk, where was the zoo located in Saigon? For some odd reason I don't remember it.

nighthawk
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 153
(7/29/01 11:13:47 pm)
| Del Re: Leeches at the Zoo
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Hope,,re; the Saigon Zoo
First, you catch a cab downtown, have a couple of beers, then hire a 'cyclo for a tour of the city,,

sorry,,,,seriously, we found the zoo about that way,,2 friends and I were just out sightseeing,,I will tell the rest of the story on the VN memories page,,even though it ain't a combat story

The zoo was near (maybe 3 blocks) the cathedral with the 2 tall steeples (Duc Ba, I think) Most called it Norte Dame I believe. Catty corner from the main entrance was a pretty big Pagoda. I posted the few pics I have left, they were taken in the garden out in front of the zoo, and a little kiosk across the street from it. See "More Saigon"
Wasn't a hell of a lot at the zoo. But it was a hell of a day.


Edited by: nighthawk at: 7/30/01 2:08:13 pm

hope6970
Moderator
Posts: 496
(7/30/01 3:01:53 pm)
| Del Re: Leeches at the Zoo
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nighthawk, Thanks I think I remember now. I was there when all of us WACs went to Saigon to visit the Vietnam Womens Army. That was interesting, they were trying so hard to show us a good time and at the same time trying to watch and act like the American Army women. Very proud women.

BTW, enjoyed your story. - Hope