I had the day off from my medical duties and was asked if I would like to do some manual labor. One of the team needed some help in cutting a new helicopter landing zone closer to the plane crash site near the Vietnam Border. The pilot had failed to clear the Vietnam/Laos border ridgeline in 1969 and crashed into a very steep mountainside. We took a large Russian MI-17 helicopter to a clearing approximately 2k from the crash site. It was fairly overcast and cool morning, but nevertheless a spectacular ride up into the mountains. HMC Mabile and myself hiked through a recently cut trail to the proposed new LZ for the Squirrel helicopter. We carried our rucksacks and two chainsaws each along the ridgeline trail gazing at the valley of Vietnam below. We stopped for a quick picture straddling the border with our chainsaws held high. Upon reaching the site, I carefully walked down the steep mountainside to view the wreckage and work that had been done thus far. We visualized a casing for the rocket of a missile from the airplane as well as its engine block. There were about 25 Lao Thien (mountain tribal Laotians) there for labor and they had already built up forts under the tree canopy out of bamboo. I joined Chief Mabile back up at the proposed area for clearing and we got to work cutting down trees and clearing brush. I’ve never really used a chainsaw before, but I learned how to handle it well today. It provides quite the workout. I was sweating and fighting those trees all morning. The Lao workers were beating me in chopping down trees using their machetes! We broke for lunch around noon and I stumbled down the hill covered in wood chips and my clothes soaked with sweat and dirt. The Lao chief invited me and the other officers to their bamboo hut to eat with them. We enjoyed some of the best beef and pork I think I’ve ever had. We consumed it in the customary Lao style with balls of sticky rice, hot pepper sauce, and vegetables. I handed out some raisins and some canned pears, which the Lao people dubiously sampled after a little while. The afternoon sun was beating down in the clearing that we had created. We continued to clear trees and cut the stumps down to as low as possible, in order that the helicopter could make a safe landing. One area was teeming with fire ants and after fighting them off of my trousers, HMC Mabile and I quickly introduced them to gasoline and a match. It was quite fun. After some more clearing we had ourselves another surprise, as a huge tarantula came scrambling out of a tree. A Lao border guard shouldered his AK-47 rifle, and picked the tarantula up like it was no big deal. We were able to take some up close and personal photographs of the wiggling creature. The thunderclouds rolled in around 1500 and signaled our time to get out of their quick. We gathered our chainsaws and rucksacks up and headed up to the ridgeline trail and did double time in getting back to the helicopters. I had the opportunity to ride back in the smaller helicopter with the anthropologist, and team captain. They thanked me for my help out there, away from my doctor duties. The ride back was incredible navigating around thunderhead clouds and we even saw some magnificent waterfalls on the way. We landed safely at base camp and after showering up I had some time to reflect on the day and write this piece.
