July 1972-1973 DA Nang, Viet Nam

I was part of a Recovery Team based in Da Nang, Viet Nam in 1972. We were responsible for recovering 'special equipment' on certain downed aircraft. We were escorted by a Marine LRP squad to get us to the crash site. On one mission to retrieve stuff from a downed F4D we found the aircraft surrounded with hairy 'men'. The Marines formed a line and used a 'run 'n gun' to draw these things away from the aircraft long enough for us to get the needed equipment. I was 3/4s the way done when on the sills of the cockpit one was standing directly above me looking down. I quickly undid the last few cannon plugs and with great effort I hit 'him' as hard as I could with the equipment in the left ankle. Nothing happened! I was done for. Then this 'man' started to receive M60 fire from 180 (his back). He just jumped off and was gone. In total none of us were injured and the defending force totalled 20-25 with no dead or injured left behind. The LPR Lt. said outside of some minor injuries his team was good to go. He called for extraction and with in minutes we were on our way back to Da Nang. During Debriefing us AF guys waited outside of the room where the LT. was in quite a loud debrief. We all then were flown to Monkey Mountain just outside Da Nang. Within two days we were out again to a An Loc during a large tank battle going on...