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Night on Black Widow Mountain
by Jean d'Isle

was attending a cocktail party in 1985, welcoming new people to the organization. In the sea of people, I caught sight of a face that took me back over 15 years to Vietnam. Ron and I were assigned to an organization whose presence in Vietnam at that time was classified (and may still be, so I wont name it). The last time I'd seen Ron was in Saigon, the day they brought him back from Black Widow Mountain.

In the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, near the city of Tay Ninh, a solitary peak juts above the flat plains. Considered a holy place by the inhabitants of the area, Nui Ba Den (Black Widow Mountain) was a strategically important piece of real estate to U.S. military troops tasked with pacifying the countryside. Before American forces occupied this high ground, a solitary Buddhist temple sat atop the mountain. With the arrival of a U.S. Army element on the peak, several temporary structures were erected to shelter the troops and their equipment. The main "building", a four-room structure, housed the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer, and served as a command post for the unit. Enemy forces in the area had shown no particular interest in Black Widow Mountain and its occupying force-they owned the night and seemed to accept the limitations on their daytime activities.

Ron was given the task of determining the suitability of the old temple on the peak for certain specialized surveillance operations. He had made several visits to the site and developed a strong rapport with the military unit there. He was housed in the four-room command post with the CO and XO and enjoyed watching TV and sharing rations with them when the long work days ended.

One dark night, while Ron and his comrades were sitting around watching TV and making the best of their isolated situation, enemy forces were moving up the sides of the mountain, intent on destroying the U.S. enclave. The decision to attack the peak was probably related to the recent shellacking the enemy had taken in the Tet Offensive of January 1968, just a few months prior. When small arms fire erupted around the perimeter, the CO and XO grabbed their weapons and rushed outside, only to be cut down by machine gun fire. Before Ron could exit the building, a satchel charge came flying through the door, forcing him to retreat to another room. As the room exploded behind him, a second charge sailed through a window, then another, eventually demolishing the entire structure. As Ron lay in the rubble, he could hear the enemy moving around the compound, systematically shooting all the survivors. The nightmare continued until the approach of first light when U.S. helicopters arrived to assess the damage and search for survivors.

Ron crawled from the rubble and made his way to a helicopter; but as it lifted off the mountain, enemy gunners riddled it with gunfire. Fortunately, the steep slope of the mountain allowed the pilot enough altitude to manage a controlled crash at the nearby Tay Ninh airfield. Only later did Ron learn that he was the only one to get off Black Widow Mountain alive. He eventually made his way to Saigon where I saw him shortly before he boarded a plane for Japan. Over the years I often thought about Ron but never came across him again until the cocktail party in Hawaii in 1985.

Ron's story is unusual not only for the harrowing night on Black Widow mountain, but , as I later learned, for the long term effect it had on his life. The military medical system was just beginning to understand and develop procedures for dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome; but ironically, Ron's organization did not anticipate its personnel undergoing battlefield stress and was not prepared to direct him to the counseling that would have helped him through several rough years. Suicidal depression and self-destructive behavior characterized the years following his Vietnam experience. Without understanding and counseling, he could not get over the feeling that he should not have survived; and in fact had delusions that he did not survive. He went through periods believing he might be immortal, taking risks that could have easily have ended his life.

The story has a happy ending. Ron was fortunate to have a very understanding and supportive wife who helped him through those rough times; and he had three fine children who helped him focus on the importance of the things he had to live for.

The last time I talked to Ron, only a couple of months ago, he had not yet been able to face a visit to the Vietnam Memorial Wall, less than an hour's drive from his home. He feels that when he is able to go to the wall and see the names and grieve for the comrades he left on Black Widow Mountain, he will have finally put the nightmare behind him.

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Jean d'Isle is a retired naval officer living in Hawaii.During his military career he served in a number of overseas assignments, including Germany, England, Spain, Viet Nam and Puerto Rico. Following his retirement, he was an adjunct faculty member of Hawaii Pacific University and is currently under contract with the U.S. Navy at the submarine base in Pearl Harbor.

Jean's column, View From d'Isle, is a regular feature of VegSource On-Line Magazine.