One of the things I liked least about the jungle was being exposed to leeches. There was one particular mission in mid- '69 working southwest of Kontum when we ran into lots of these creatures. I happened to be walking point and the bushes along the trail were alive with these little guys ready to pounce on us. I looked down at my boots to see dozens of the little fellows working their way towards my legs. I applied some more bug juice to my trousers, near my boot tops, and moved on. When it was time for a break, we all lit up cigarettes and started searching our bodies for leeches to burn off. In fact I started smoking as a way to combat the parasites, as I found salt too slow.
- posted
17 years ago