There’s a reason why James Cameron based the movie Aliens on the Vietnam War. He wanted to depict an
incredibly bloody conflict between a ferocious local force and an advanced fighting squad. In
the movie, almost all of the human characters, who represent the US soldiers, meet an incredibly gory
end at the hands of the aliens. And in Vietnam, over 58,000 American soldiers were killed over the
course of the conflict. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. At least 250,000 South Vietnamese
soldiers, 849,000 North Vietnamese soldiers and an unknown number of Vietnamese civilians died.
Estimates of the total civilian casualties range from 225,000 to over 610,000. Clearly, anyone who
spent a significant amount of time in Vietnam during the 60s or 70s who then saw the final
US withdrawal was lucky to have survived. Some of these survival stories are hard to believe.
But they show how humans can overcome some of the worst conditions the world has ever known
in weird, ingenious and extremely lucky ways. For instance, one of the survival stories ahead
features a pilot who had to parachute to the ground while his helmet melted into his skull.
Another soldier got shot three times while attempting to rescue wounded men
who could not walk and somehow lived to see another day. Here are some survival stories
from the Vietnam War that show just how extreme the fighting conditions truly were:
When Bruce DeYoung was nearing the end of his high school years, he knew what he wanted to do with
his life. He wanted to enlist with the US Marine Corps. But his parents told him that that was
impossible. They said that there was no way that he could become a part of an elite military force,
or any military force, as he would always suffer from the after-effects of rheumatic fever,
which he had contracted three times at that point. Despite this, DeYoung pushed his body
to the limit, somehow making himself fit enough to enlist. A few weeks after graduation, DeYoung
entered basic training, not revealing his medical history or pre-existing conditions to anyone.
He passed this training with flying colors. Soon, he was on a plane to Vietnam. When he arrived,
a Marine doctor worked out that DeYoung had suffered from rheumatic fever in the past
and that he was still coping with the disease’s damage. The doctor told DeYoung to return home,
as the condition would surely lead to his death on the field. But DeYoung refused outright and
insisted on joining the fight. DeYoung’s tour of duty initially kept him away from the battlefield,
but in early 1968, that changed. He and 67 other marines were to take part in the Battle of Khe
Sanh. It started when the North Vietnamese forces conducted a huge bombardment of a marine garrison,
but not the one where DeYoung was based. When President Johnson heard about the bombardment,
he ordered that under no circumstances should it be abandoned. So the US and South Vietnamese
forces struck back, destroying as many North Vietnamese bases as they could. Naturally,
the North Vietnamese tried to attack again, and DeYoung the 67 others were flown in to defend the
base. The marines saw the North Vietnamese approach and braced to defend themselves.
Hundreds of soldiers began attacking the marines, tearing them apart with guns and grenades.
DeYoung was standing next to a fellow officer and saw him get riddled with bullets.
Somehow, DeYoung did not get hit once. He dived into nearby bushes and looked around.
Explosions littered the area. Fellow marines lost arms and legs and tried to crawl to safety.
DeYoung, who was a devout Mormon, prayed to God to make his death quick. Then, according to DeYoung,
he heard a voice say, “No. It’s not your time yet.” DeYoung looked around and noticed an
enemy trench. He realized that this would be his only chance of survival and dived inside.
To his surprise, DeYoung saw that five other marines had also hidden in the trench. They looked
up and saw North Vietnamese soldiers approaching fast. The marines had no choice but to flee.
That was when they reached a cliff edge with a river at the base. The only options were to
jump or to get shot. DeYoung and the five others jumped. Luckily, the river was deep enough for the
men to land without breaking their bones. They let the stream carry them away from the battlefield.
When the sounds of battle had died down, DeYoung and the others swam ashore. They radioed in for
help, and soon a helicopter had recovered them. Back at base, DeYoung learned that he was one of
only 10 survivors. 58 of the men in his unit had died. DeYoung knew that he could use his medical
condition to return home. But he felt guilty about leaving the battlefield and was determined to
prove himself. So he volunteered to go deep behind enemy lines and provide reconnaissance work.
DeYoung was then given charge of five men, who boarded a helicopter and headed for what seemed
like certain death. As they flew into enemy territory, the rain started lashing down.
DeYoung and the others had no way of knowing this, but the enemy soldiers were even more determined
to kill them than they usually would have been, as the North Vietnamese military was offering a
reward of a year’s pay for any American that one of their soldiers shot. The helicopter made a
terrible mistake. It flew too close to an enemy base. The pilot, without realizing his mistake,
then dropped the men off and flew away. Soon, North Vietnamese soldiers were marching through
the seven-foot-tall grass that the marines had landed within. DeYoung heard the approaching
soldiers and ordered his men to stay put. They were all heavily camouflaged. So they stayed as
still as statues as the rain beat down, waiting for death. Then he saw a rifle emerge through
the grass. DeYoung’s heart pounded against his chest. But he remained as still as a statue,
as did the other men. The enemy soldier was just feet from the Americans. But thanks to the
camouflage and the storm, the soldier would not make them out. He turned around at the last second
and marched away, investigating another area. The soldiers slowly breathed a sigh of relief, when
they saw another rifle poke through the grass. Once more, the men braced themselves for action,
and the enemy soldier moved on, following the same path as the last one. A third rifle appeared from
the grass. Once more, the soldier failed to see them and marched on. DeYoung’s military radio,
which was connected to headphones that he was wearing, relayed a message. The military base told
DeYoung to click once if they were safe and click twice if they were in danger. DeYoung clicked
twice. Soon a heavily armored American plane began flying above them. The North Vietnamese
soldiers knew that if they shot at any Americans, the plane would know where they were and rain a
hail of gunfire upon them. Still, DeYoung and the men waited, knowing that if they moved, they
risked death. When the dawn broke, six American helicopters flew above them. The helicopters
started pouring machine gun fire in front of the marines, ensuring that the area was clear.
One of these helicopters landed. DeYoung and the others climbed aboard. They flew back to safety.
DeYoung continued to serve, somehow surviving the war. He returned home and kept his survival story
to himself until 2014, when a local journalist in his hometown finally interviewed him.
When Gary Rodgers signed up for the Marine Corps in 1966, he ended up becoming a combat
engineer and demolitions expert. Those who were unfamiliar with the Vietnamese battlefield
couldn’t believe that someone as short as him had been selected for the job. But Rodgers’s
shortness was perfect for one reason: he was able to crawl into incredibly narrow tunnels.
While the taller marines waited, Rodgers would have to scramble inside a hole as fast as possible
and make his way deep under the ground to find and deactivate mines. And it wasn’t just explosive
that threatened him. The North Vietnamese often booby-trapped these tunnels, meaning that Rodgers
had to carefully yet rapidly examine every inch of space. One of the most common forms of booby
trap was to tie tiny bamboo viper snakes to walls. These vipers were so venomous that if
Rodgers had been bitten by one of them, then he would have been dead in approximately 15 seconds.
Because of this rapid death time, the soldiers called them “three steppers,” as most people,
after being bitten, would only be able to manage to walk three incredibly painful steps
before dropping down dead. The fact that Rodgers managed to continually clear tunnels without
being exploded, poisoned or otherwise killed is miraculous enough in itself. But would his luck
run out.. Rodgers and his unit had been sent to secure what the military was terming Hill 41,
approximately 13 miles southeast of Da Nang. He and his fellow soldiers approached the hill and
were shocked to see that it appeared to be empty. So they cautiously walked across the meadow in
front of the hill when they heard machine gun fire. The men ducked and looked around.
Three heavy machine gunners had been hidden on one side of this meadow.
Rodgers then looked on the opposite side. There were another three heavily camouflaged
machine gun units firing at them. The men all ran for the nearest cover. Amazingly,
Rodgers made it to safety. Then he looked back out at the meadow and saw that one of his fellow
soldiers had been hit and was bleeding out on the ground. Without pausing for thought, Rodgers ran
back into the crossfire, determined to rescue the fallen soldier. Rodgers made it to the soldier,
grabbed his collar and dragged him, knowing that a bullet could down him at any moment.
Rodgers knew that he couldn’t drag this person all the way back to where the other men were.
Instead, their only hope was a small bomb crater that was just about deep enough to hide them from
the shooters. Rodgers was just a couple of feet away and was beginning to think he was going to
make it when he felt a stinging pain in his knee. A bullet had torn right through his kneecap.
Rodgers fell but kept ahold of the downed soldier. With all his might, he pulled his own body along
the ground with one arm and kept his grip fim on the wounded solider with his other.
He reached the crater’s edge and through himself and the wounded man over the edge. Rodgers was
now in excruciating pain. Still, he crawled up to the edge of the crater to monitor the situation.
He saw that another American soldier was on the ground and didn’t have the strength to move. He
took one look back at the man he had just dragged to safety to make sure he was all right and threw
himself back above the crater once more. Rodgers then hobbled as fast as he could to the other
soldier. He picked up this second wounded soldier and made his way back to the crater. Again,
when he was just a few feet away from the crater’s edge, he felt another surge of pain. This bullet
hit his other kneee. He screamed out in pain. And then a third bullet hit. Losing strength,
Rodgers wrapped his arms around the other soldier and dived backwards, falling into the crater.
Soon, Rodgers passed out. He thought that he was never going to regain consciousness. But then
he heard the sounds of people talking frantically. He was able to open his eyes and see that he was
in a US army field hospital. His wounds had been treated but he was still somehow alive.
The doctors said that he was incredibly lucky to be alive. The first thing out of Rodgers’s mouth
was to ask about the two men he had dragged out of harm’s way. The doctors had good news and bad
news. One of the men was currently recovering in the hospital. The other had succumbed to
his wounds. Rodgers would have nightmares about this experience for over 10 years.
On August 12, 1972, US Air Force pilot Joseph Tallon was flying a OV-1 Mohawk plane
over enemy territory, performing reconnaissance work with technical observer Daniel Richards.
To ensure that they could observe the terrain effectively, the plane lowered altitude to just
200 feet. A North Vietnamese unit spotted the plane, Unfortunately for the Americans,
this unit was outfitted with anti-aircraft missile launchers. The unit sent missiles into
the air. Tallon rushed into evasive maneurvers, but the sky was filled with the missiles. One
of them struck the plane’s wing right where one of the engines was, tearing this engine
to shreds. Tallon looked to the wing and saw flames. He tried to keep the plane straight, but
he couldn’t stop it from slowly losing altitude. Tallon did what he could to get the plane higher,
constantly fighting against gravity. Then the pilot spotted an allied airfield in the distance.
He told Richards to hang on. As Tallon approached the airfield, the wing started falling apart. The
plane was turning upside down. Now Tallon had to fight to get the plane upright before he reached
the airfield. With the plane half upside down, Tallon saw a bright light and felt intense heat.
What was left of the engine had just exploded. Tallon realized that if he and Richards remained
in the cockpit, they would both burn to death before they reached the ground. So he tried
his hardest to pull the plane upright, and they both ejected. Tallon pulled the string, and his
parachute opened. He looked over to Richards, who appeared to fall even more rapidly to the ground,
an optical illusion caused by Richards falling at the same speed as Tallon slowed
under the parachute. Tallon looked down and saw Richards struggling to open the parachute cord.
But Tallon couldn’t focus. He was feeling more and more pain in his head. He reached for his helmet,
attempting to pull it off. His hands burned at this touch. He realized that the helmet
was melting through his skin and fusing into his skull. The chin strap was also slowly oozing into
his face skin, making it even more impossible for him to tear the helmet off. Then Tallon landed. He
screamed in pain until the heat from the helmet died down. But it was still fused to his head.
He looked around and saw the body of Richards. Sadly he passed after his parachute failed.
Tallon tried to work out where he was. For a moment, he was confused. He saw that many spots
on the ground had been disturbed. That was when it all made horrifying sense. Tallon was lying in
the middle of a minefield. Tallon attempted to stand, but the pain in his head made him fall.
He realized that if he tried to walk, he would almost definitely end up landing on a mine.
So he slowly dragged himself to the perimeter fence of the air base that he had been unable
to land in. He kept on pausing, with the burns on top of his skull constantly threatening to
make him lose focus. Somehow, Tallon managed to avoid every single mine and get to the perimeter
fence. He reached out to the fence, immediately struck his finger on barbed wire and jerked back.
Soon, soldiers spotted him and did their best to reach him safely. Eventually, a medical
unit reached him and slowly carried him on a stretcher out of the minefield. At the hospital,
the doctors worked tirelessly to remove all of the pieces of the helmet from Tallon’s skull. They
told Tallon that parts of the helmet had reached 7,000 degrees. They could not believe that he had
maintained consciousness long enough to open his parachute and drag himself throug a minefield.
Tallon went on to become a history teacher. Eventually, he petitioned for the US army
to award the soldier that didn’t make it out of the crash alive, Richards,
a post-houmous Purple Heart. The army granted that request. Well that’s all we have for you. Thank
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