USMC, 1st Radio Battalion, Vietnam Veterans

Stories - FSB Ross

Dave Ekardt - Rat Ammo - January, 1970
Those rat traps were useless, we trapped one in our bunker at Ross, threw the trap in our fighting hole that was full of water, and it still escaped the trap and swam out of the hole. Houdini. We took to the sport of shooting them in Metro's big tent. The tent was protected with wood ammo boxes full of dirt all around the perimeter. We would set a candle and food at the far end of the tent, pull the bullet out of some M-16 rounds, pour out half the powder put in chunks of solder, and wax them shut. Made for some good rat-shot. We nailed our share of them that way. Before leaving Nam, I tripped over one at night in Danang, that was half the size of a German Sheppard.