Patrol Report

Ice Bound 

January 6th-10th, 1968 #014-68

Patrol Report # 030-68

Jim's 3th patrol Hill 868/Dong Den Mountain 142 Hours 2 sightings

Jim Southall

1947-2012

Dong Den Mountain

Dong Den mountain about five miles northwest of Da Nang. Rising nearly 2900 feet above sea level, the summit afforded sweeping views of the highlands and coastal plain around Da Nang.

Dong Den’s summit and a short way down the other side. Standing there on the opposite slope looking east was like entering a world of tranquility. A sweet jungle scented breeze wafted over the crest. Deep green jungle canopy spread down the slope to the winding river valley below. In the distance, the city of Dang with its old French villas arced around Da Nang bay and beyond it the high outcropping we called Monkey Mountain, jutted into the South China Sea. I took a deep breath and just stood there, taking it all in. Then sounds of popping rotors and turbine engines broke the spell. Our wingman was approaching to land and take us back to Marble and the war.

Dong Den Mountain

The Jim Southall Story, Over 100 Patrol Reports.

Click the link at the bottom of this page for the next patrol report.

Members of PFC Jim Southall's 3rd patrol were:

GySgt Austin Only worked with Jim Southall on this patrol.

LCpl Dye will work with Jim Southall on three more patrols. 

PFC Jeffery Scott Patterson will work with Jim one more time on patrol before he was killed on hill 200 on June 3rd, 1968. Click Here

PFC  J.P. Martin has worked with Jim Southall twice on patrols. Patrols 2 & 3

LCpl James A. Martin has worked with Jim Southall twice on patrols. Patrols 2 & 3 Jim Martin lives in Hogansville, Georgia Cick here Jim's a member of 1st Recon Battalion Association.

PFC B.E. Oiler has worked with Jim Southall twice on patrols. Patrols 2 & 3

PFC  Darell Edward Campencllo will work on four more patrols with Jim Southall before he was killed on hill 200 on June 3rd, 1968. Click Here

PFC Morris will work on nine more patrols with Jim Southall.

LCpl Richard A Everhard will work with Jim Southall one more time on patrol. Patrol #5 

PFC  Whiting will work with Jim Southall five more times on patrols before being wounded on Hill 200 June 3rd, 1968. 

The Jim Southall Story

Over 100 Patrol Reports.

Click the link at the bottom of this page for the next patrol report. 

Hill 868

Hill 868

Dong Den Mountain

Rock Apes

Looking west into Laos from Dong Den.

Multiple Eyewitness Accounts of Rock Apes

Tom Cline

My dad was over there 67/68 with the Marines,they were up north. He said there were places they went that their grenades were collected so they wouldn't throw them! They were given back after passing through the areas. Dad finally asked about it,and the older guys said the rock apes would throw the grenades back at them,so no grenades! He has several different stories about the rock apes.

Craig Roberts

Actually, when we Marines landed on Red Beach and China Beach at Da Nang in 1965, Monkey Mountain already had its name. It is the large mountain at the Northeast peninsula of Da Nang Bay. We had a HAWK missile battery and small radar section of there by April of '65. Then, if you go South along the coast you come to Marble Mountain, which is actually 3 separate steep rock mountains and it was well known about the Rock Apes on top that threw rocks. I landed with Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment on July 7th, 1965 on China Beach just North of Marble Mountain.

Another incident occurred in 1966, in a location known as Hill 868 in Quang Nam Province, the home of several Rock Ape sightings throughout the war. In this account, a Marine unit was reporting to their captain that they had spotted movement in the brush, which they assumed was being caused by Viet Cong. The captain told his unit over the radio not to fire. Not long after, the unit reported back that, rather than Viet Cong, they were being surrounded by hairy, bipedal humanoid creatures.

The captain told the unit that rather than firing on the creatures, they should instead throw rocks. However, this backfired, as the creatures began throwing the rocks back at them. At this point, the Marines guessed there were hundreds of these creatures, far too overwhelming an amount to stick with their current plan.

The Marines were told to change tactics and use their bayonets to fight the creatures. Soon after the order was given, the captain heard over the radio what sounded to him like an epic battle. Afterwards, men were sent out to investigate. The location was covered with injured—but not dead—Marines as might be expected, but also allegedly the bodies of several Rock Apes. This became known as the Battle of Dong Den, though the only evidence of the event and the dead Rock Ape bodies littering the battlefield seems to be eyewitness accounts, as with most alleged cryptid sightings.

Hill 868

Dong Den Mountain

Hill 868

Dong Den Mountain

Small

Rock Apes

KIA

Yet another account comes from an unnamed GI. This man gives a description of the Rock Ape he encountered, which like the other accounts, was recorded in Jorgenson’s book. The GI said, “An oblong head framed the hair-covered face. Dark, deep-set eyes lay beneath a prominent brow, and they did nothing to complement the heavy jowls and angry mouth.”

Gunsmoke

Many Vietnam Vets came home from their service telling tales of this aggressive and prolific being Click Here for more on Rock Apes.

ROCK APES OF VIETNAM

Antenna Valley