Hello to everyone here, my name is Britt Jones, also a big shot out to the devs for hooking me with this website and community, as a cherry civilian I have always heard crazy stories about the jungles of Vietnam and also this one story has been with my family ever since my uncle's made it back state side, I was born in December of 74 so the war was on its last legs when I broke my mama's mold( I was born 15 lbs & 3oz lol TMI lol.
So when I was growing up, my childhood was about the Marine Corps an everything military life had to offer, but life has a way of changing one's path in one's own life, like so many before myself, thing's didn't really ever go to as planned.
So my story begins with my uncle Jim or James ( he didn't like James, preferred Jimmy or Jim ) so one day I was hearing a film that my older cousins were talking about and when I asked if I could go they both looked over and said sure but if uncle Jim's there be prepared for a story that we every time it's on, whatever you do, just go with it.
At the time I had no idea what they were talking about until the movie came on, and the movie was the 60's - 70's classic "KELLY'S HEROES" and for the first time in my puny existence on this little blue marble, I was overly excited because it was the first time I had been seen as an equal and not a punching bag for my cousins, so I was sheepishly nervous and ready for the smack down that never came, at least not from them! It came from my uncle Jimmy and how is team " DID IT WAY BETTER THAN THAT MOVIE; IF ONLY THAT G** D*** BRIDGE HAD HELD UP; THE FAMILY WOULD'VE BEEN TAKING CARE OF FINANCIALLY! " it was almost like Tourette syndrome with my uncle Jimmy and that movie.
But the story goes that him and my blood uncle went out to help out with a team for security purposes, never got clarification on exactly the details but uncle Jimmy said that they were supposedly backing up another team that did or was going on a LARP or LRRP? So they ended up across some borders and never got engaged by the enemy, but they were plenty of monkeys and orangutans ( big ones ) and snakes and tiger's and insects and spider's, uncle J said that they were looking for Ho Chi trail, and never came across anyone while out, both of my uncle's thought that was the strangest thing, there was nobody in the jungle apparently that week; they were wondering if the enemy had gone to a big meeting for the North, but on the way back, they came across a temple that was built into a mountain and the temple was described looking more like a temple in India from a National Geographic magazine, it was huge,.there were trees that were looking like the old school Lincoln Logs in the shape of a 60ft tall 60ft wide and apparently this was an abandoned temple, there had been no sings of life so my uncle's and the other team held the temple and when they got done searching the place, in the middle of this wooden was base made up of rocks and dirt which was eye level except maybe tunnel rats, anyway in the middle of the temple was this huge 40ft x 3 Golden statue of Buddha smiling down on my uncle's team's and then they got a plan, it was voted by everyone that they would break it up into equal shares and bring back home and mail it back or something, bit when they finally made it back to the base they were given a 5 days on/off pass, (have no idea what that even means ), they slept hard, and immediately got up and had five days to get back, my uncle's said that it took that one day to go make some deals with some other people and the split was getting smaller by this day, but they ended up with four - 4 gun trucks and a Vietnamese flat bed truck that was a breaking down P.O.S., so they got overloaded with a blowtorch and explosives and ammo and had the gun trucks overloaded for what my uncle's said " WE WERE READY FOR WORLD WAR 6!!!" so they got everything including an air support if needed.
So off my uncle's go into the jungle ( SHANANANA KNEES KNEES in the jungle! G&R sry lol ) and now instead of walking back through the jungle apparently now they were riding in trucks, and not any trucks, but gun trucks, not exactly subtle in the jungle, so as they made they're way back they encountered bridges; and that's putting it mildly, the bridge's were being held by luck or magic, every time they came across a bridge they would have to walk a truck across which was eating up the time they had, they had to do this four more times but every time it got worse.
So after the FUBAR BRIDGES they're back at the temple, again on the entire way up, no encounters with the enemy in there own backyard no less, not a single round was ever fired at my uncle's team, so they get into the temple and then began setting up a defensive perimeter and then they all took turns sleeping until they or one figured out how to move Buddha, well they that first night at the temple was scary because of noise the jungle made, my uncle's didn't care as long as it wasn't quite, but then the next day (2 down 3 left) came and one guy was using the blowtorch but that was making a mess and my uncle said that it was stinking real bad so they didn't want the smell to get noticed, so they began messing with the doors of the temple and then the base of the statue and one guy had figured it out, it took the entire day (4 down 1 left), what he did was use small amounts of explosives and used that to chip away the base in the front of Buddha's feet, and he had also backed up the Vietnamese flat bed to the feet and as he began to blow little chunks out the Buddha bowed down and began to lean a little off but eventually he used the whole weight of the statue to slide it on the back of the truck, and then began the long ride home, well they were completely elated and extremely happy with the mission and now here comes those stupid G** D*** BRIDGE'S!
So now the question becomes - if they came back on they're way back it begins to dawn on them of exactly how the F*** were they supposed to just stroll on to an American military base with a 40ft Golden Buddha statue , so they began to come up with stories and after everyone had come up with the version that sounded plausible was agreed to. So on they're last day they make it close back to the base but there was one more bridge to walk across, needless to say it feel in the river where it remains today, before my blood uncle passed away he went to a reunion and brought some Navy seal operators and they confirmed and saw the top of Buddha's Golden bald head under the river and according to them the Buddha must be sinking in his own weight. But it was confirmed by my family, I honestly have no idea if this even true, I have no idea if this is some Agent Orange delusions of grander, but apparently this is a families little secret but but between the 28 guys who supposedly went, I would like to have actual confirmation from someone I don't know or have ties to.
I want to believe this but like I said it's a story, crazy ass one for sure.
Everyone I know that told me about this is long and gone.
But til this day, every time "KELLY'S HEROES" comes on; boy do the memories come flooding back.
I would love to know if this IS TRUE? But hell if anything I think it would make one hell of a game level, fun loving criminals who are just on patrol for some Scooby snacks!
So I would love to submit this for a game level or a game stage.
Thank you for time and your service!!!!