ELEPHANT TROUBLES
This page actually contains four episodes regarding elephants found in I Corps. The first story is the main one, while three shorter recollections help round out some of the events concerning these lovable animals.
THE ELEPHANT HUNT
It must have been somewhere around July of 1968. (In other words,
Quang Tri, the I Corps).
One evening, our sister unit, Alpha Troop, 1st of the 9th Cavalry, came flying over LZ's Sharon and Betty trailing smoke grenades in
celebration. Someone who had been on the radio at the time said that 1-9th Cav had shot up an elephant.
The next morning, First Light was covered by The Flying Circus, as usual. John Hewitt (Wild Thing) was team lead, I was flying wing.
First Light didn't turn up anything unusual, so we headed out for the morning's list of missions.
On the way back for fuel, we got the call to divert and help out Alpha 1-9th. After
fuelling up, we found out what for -- 1-9th had
"lost"' the elephant they had supposedly killed.
As soon as we switched to the common frequency while enroute to the area, Hewitt started in on them, as only Hewitt could:
"What'sa matter, bunky, you lose yer widdle elephant? (Pause) How
the hell do you manage to lose an elephant???? You call yourselves Scouts, and you can't find an elephant?"
As we flew in at our customary altitude, 1-9th's team did try and explain about the heavy brush, but Hewitt wasn't hearing any of it.
About the time we picked up a streambed to follow into the area, Hewitt came out with a "Whoops!", and banked sharply to the
right. As luck would have it, Hewitt flew right over the carcass, not two minutes into the area. (1-9th had been searching for close to two
hours.)
"Hey, guys, we found your elephant."
two beats later....
"That's how you Scout."
Rub it in? For the next ten minutes, Hewitt was a running commentary. Pack-strap markings, as the 1-9th claimed? Dust and the usual
elephant skin wrinkles. No fetters, or fetter marks on the animal's
feet. Conclusion? Wild elephant, not a pack animal.
Sadly, the juvenile that they shot had apparently lived long enough
to make it to the stream. From the tracks, the rest of the herd had followed. I say
"herd", because there was a known herd that frequented the area between LZ Sharon and LZ Ann. (They slept in the
low hills and jungle during the heat of the day, and grazed the grasslands in the morning and evenings.)
Both of us were ticked off. It's one thing to be killing one's fellow man, but the animals should be left alone. (No matter how illogical
that may sound to some.) I'd have said something, but Hewitt's razzing wouldn't let anyone get a word in edgewise. Hot? Yes, then,
and for a couple of days afterward.
So ended the Great Elephant Hunt.
I tried going hunting when I got back to the World. For some reason, it just didn't have the same appeal it once did. I haven't been
hunting since.
Written by W. Sullivan (GAUCHO).
HIDE and SEEK
Frank Vanatta was flying team lead on a scout mission one morning when the pair of helicopters crossed over a small ravine. Frank happened to spot a young elephant and turned back to have a better look. As he did so, he told the other scout ship what he had seen. As the pair flew slowly along the ravine again, the elephant was nowhere to be seen. Of course this resulted in the expected comments from the other machine -- "Yeah, sure - an elephant huh!?" After a couple of minutes, the pair spotted the elephant standing in the shadows of some trees watching these strange flying machines above him. It was amazing how something as large as an elephant could stand in just the right place in the shadows and become almost invisible at a glance.
The outcome of this story had one big difference -- the elephant was sent on its way with the best wishes of the Flying Circus scouts.
Written by Frank Vanatta (PHANTOM).
PROOF POSITIVE
When the 1st Brigade moved up to the northern part of I Corps, the first troops that were sent into the foothills inland of Quang Tri reported at the afternoon briefings that there were signs of elephants in the area . The "experts" told these troops that there were no elephants that far south in Vietnam. This discussion was repeated at subsequent briefings for a few days, with the same stalemate. One day, as the briefing was about to start, a bag containing a large amount of elephant droppings was placed on the table. It was reported that this belonged to "the elephants that were not in the area". Needless to say, that bit of indisputable proof closed the matter - at least for the time being.
Written by Frank Vanatta (PHANTOM).
AND YET MORE PROOF
It seems that the bag of elephant droppings (reportedly produced by LTC French) was still not enough proof for a few sceptics. Finally, one day while flying in the AO, a bull elephant was spotted either by the Colonel, one of his staff, one of my crew members, or maybe even by one of our scouts (I'm not sure which) as the animal was running through some elephant grass. The Colonel wanted it shot, so that's what we did. A little later, with some scouts flying cover, we landed as close as we could to the dead animal, and the Colonel and a couple of his staff got out and cut the tusks off of the elephant. That evening he carried the tusks into the Brigade briefing, placed them on a table and asked, "Now do you believe me"? The tusks were later cut up, and pieces were given to the 1/12 folks that were on the aircraft, and me and my crew. Here's a picture of my chunk that I've kept all these years.
Written by Dave Gray