We used to say the rats left at daybreak and woke up the flies on the way out.  We kept score on the wall of the number of rats and Viet Cong that met their maker via HMM-364 sharpshooters.  It was too dangerous to shoot at the rats in such close quarters, so it got down to home made flame throwers made out lighter fuel cans and bayonets.  The rats liked to hide behind locker boxes next to the walls, so we would position the flame thrower at one end and a riflemen with a fixed bayonet at the other.  The flame thrower drove them to the bayonets.

Mosquitoes were something to be feared. We took our malaria pills and slept under netting.  Each night the bug fighter would roll up in front of the barracks door and fog the inside with insecticide till you wondered who was going to survive.

It was a sin and sure trip to hell if you killed a chameleon.  These little lizards were always a welcome sight crawling around on the walls and ceiling.  You could keep one inside the mosquito netting of your rack during the day and they would eat all the insects.  It also helped to use a piece of string to make some temporary hand cuffs for yourself at night.  If your arm fell down next to the netting at night it would be red with bites in the  morning. The little airborne blood sucker could get their drilling equipment through the net to your arm if the fabric lay next to the skin.  Many times yet today I sleep with my hands tucked into the bands of my shorts.  My wife just gives me that queer look when I tell her it keeps the mosquitoes from biting me.

Submitted by:
    Warren R. Smith, former Cpl. USMC