November 16, 2025 • 18 mins
The Rock Ape War - Hill 868
THE JUNGLE THAT BREATHES
The jungle of Vietnam has a heartbeat.
It pulses through the roots, the vines, the humidity that hangs like wet blankets from the canopy.
www.bigfootswilderness.com
bigfootswilderness@gmail.com
THE JUNGLE THAT BREATHES
The jungle of Vietnam has a heartbeat.
It pulses through the roots, the vines, the humidity that hangs like wet blankets from the canopy.
www.bigfootswilderness.com
bigfootswilderness@gmail.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
The jungle of Vietnam has a heartbeat. It pulses through
the roots, the vines, the humidity that hangs like wet
blankets from the canopy. It hums like insects, cicadas, and
the faint rumble of distant artillery. At night, it becomes
something entirely different, a living organism that stalks, whispers, and
(00:46):
hides things that daylight refuses to admit. Hill eight sixty
eight rises like a broken knuckle above the quang Nam Province,
a steep, fog drenched ridge claimed by both the Marines
and the jungle. Up there, the air changes colder, heavier,
(01:08):
and the silence grows thick enough to choke on. Locals
refused to climb at after dusk. They called it Nui
Kuwah Nawi Zung translation Hill of the forest People. Most
(01:29):
American soldiers didn't know the name, but they learned its
meaning soon enough. June nineteen sixty eight, the rainy season,
mud leeches, and a monsoon sky that never seemed to clear.
A squad from third Battalion, fifth Marines made their slow
(01:50):
push upward, boots sinking into wet clay, rifles slung but ready,
radio chatter fizzled with static as the platoon crept along
the ridge. The fog was so thick it seemed to
swallow each man whole. Corporal Michael mac mc allister marched
at point, a solid kid from Ohio, built like a
(02:14):
full back, with the eyes of someone who had slept
a full night in months. Behind him, Private Danny Ruiz,
barely nineteen rosary beads hanging from his M sixteen stock,
scanned the tree line with jittery precision. Feels wrong up here,
mac Ruis muttered, Everything in this damned country feels wrong.
(02:40):
Mack replied. The squad set up near a cluster of
moss covered boulders, forming a natural defensive position. Hill eight
sixty eight gave them elevation, visibility and the sense, however false,
of safety. But the jungle didn't like intruders, not here,
(03:04):
and the Marines weren't alone. Nights slapped down like a curtain,
No stars, no moon, just the dark. The men sat
in a semicircle of dim red lights, cleaning rifles, whispering jokes,
and trying to ignore the heavy breathing of the jungle.
(03:27):
The radio hissed as Corporate Ellis adjusted the dial Then somewhere,
just beyond their perimeter, a branch snapped. The men froze.
No one breathed. Another crack, heavy, deliberate halt. Mac whispered,
(03:47):
raising his arm. The squad lifted their rifles in silent unison.
Rus' breath hitched. Something large moved beyond the fog. Sound
not a gunshot, not a grenade, A rock, a big one.
(04:08):
It bounced across the ground, skidding to a stop near
their fire pit. Ruis swallowed the hell you hear that, VC,
don't throw rocks, Alice murmured. But something did. A low, chest,
deep hoo ha echoed from the trees. It was no
(04:33):
animal that they could recognize, not a tiger, not a boar,
not a gibbon. The sound felt almost human. Then another
rock sailed overhead, slamming into a tree trunk with a
deep thump. Bark exploded into the air. The marines scrambled
(04:57):
behind cover shapes dark upright, silhouettes appeared at the edge
of the fog. One, then two, then six. Their glowing
eyes shine flickered like embers in the mist. Jesus, they're standing.
(05:18):
Someone whispered, like like men. The fog thinned for just
a moment long enough for the Marines to see what
was stalking them. Tall shapes five to six feet, broad shouldered,
covered in shaggy, reddish brown hair. Their arms hung long,
(05:39):
almost to the knees. Their chests rose and fell with slow,
angry breaths. The creatures stepped closer, bare feet, crackling twigs
beneath them. Ruis's rosary beads shook in his fingers. Mac whispered,
what what are the The creature in front, the largest,
(06:03):
let out a deep grunt and hurled a stone the
size of a cantalope. It smashed against a boulder inches
from Ellis's head. The Marines opened fire, not at the creatures,
but overhead, trying to scare them off. The creatures didn't retreat.
(06:23):
They roared, screamed deep resonant bellows that vibrated the men's
rib cages. Then they began to throw rocks, rained down
like primitive artillery, sharp heavy projectiles that slammed into trees, helmets,
and gear packs. One rock clipped Private Iverson's shoulder, knocking
(06:48):
him onto his back. Whole fire, Mac shouted, knowing that
bullets ringing through fog could ricochet or hit their own
men just keep their distance, but the creatures circled them,
moving in coordinated arcs. Something primal and intelligent pulsed in
(07:11):
their actions. Not random violence, but tactics, territory warnings. What
doll we do? Mac whois whispered, voice crackling, Hold the line.
The jungle erupted. One creature rushed forward, roaring so loud
(07:32):
it drowned out the sound of gunfire. It slammed both
fists into a tree trunk, splintering it. Leaves and dust
rained down. A second creature leaped onto a boulder, chest,
heaving as if calling the others to advance. The marines
unloaded rounds into the air. Tracer fire illuminated the fog,
(07:57):
red white, and gold streaks slicing through the night. Through
that flickering light, the creatures became monstrous silhouettes, their hair
whipping with their movements, their arms raised as they hurled
more rocks from the shadows. Another left flank, Ella shouted
(08:20):
mac spun, firing a three round burst into the dark
to force the creature's back. Mac Ruiz cried. He pointed upward,
directly above their position. A creature perched on a rock
ledge crouched like a gargoyle. Its eyes glowed amber, its
(08:41):
lips peeled back, revealing square, humanlike teeth. Ruis fired a
warning round at its feet. The creature didn't flinch. It
lifted a massive stone and threw it with terrifying accuracy,
striking Ruiz's helmet with a metallic clang that sent him
(09:01):
spinning into the mud. Danny Mack scrambled a shield him,
dragging him behind a fallen log. Ruis groaned, dazed but alive.
The ridge shook with the thunder of the creature's roars,
not just one, but a chorus. It sounded like ten,
(09:22):
maybe fifteen of them, maybe more. This wasn't harassment. This
was a territorial charge, and the Marines were deep inside
their domain. Mac we gotta pull out, Ellis shouted, reloading,
we stay, we die. He wasn't wrong. The creatures moved
(09:44):
with unnerving coordination, flanking both sides of the ridge. Rocks
smashed into the bowlders around them like mortar fire. The
Marines were pinned down by completely unconventional warfare. Primitive, yes,
but overwhelming. Fall back point. Charlie mac ordered the men
(10:07):
fired suppressing shots into the trees, not aiming to kill,
but to create distance. The creatures backed off for the
first time. Startled by the concentrated fire, Move, Move Move,
the squad fled down slope, boots sliding in the mud,
(10:28):
helmets rattling. The creatures followed at the distance, howling through
the fog. Ruiz limped beside Mac, still dazed. Are they
Are they chasing us? No, Mac said, breathless. There escorting.
(10:50):
The creatures trailed them only so far until the Marines
passed a line of ancient moss covered stones that formed
a strange natural boundary in the terrain. As soon as
they crossed it, the jungle fell silent. The roarers stopped,
the rocks stopped flying. The creatures vanished back into the mist,
(11:14):
like ghosts. It was their territory, their hill always had been.
At dawn, the Marines returned to base camp bruised, scraped
and shaken. Ruiz had a concussion. Iverson's arm was in
a sling helmet dense and smashed gear told the story
(11:39):
better than any words. They fled into the commandant, exhausted
and covered in jungle debris. Colonel Harrington, a hard nosed
officer who hated superstition, listened to their report with a
neutral expression. You are telling me, the colonel said, slowly,
(12:02):
that a group of what apes attacked you on a
ridge with no documented primate species larger than a macaque.
Mac stared back, jaw tight, Yes, sir, and they walked upright,
(12:22):
Harrington added, and threw rocks. Yes, sir. The colonel folded
his arms. Marines, you engaged in a firefight with shadows,
stress animals. Nothing more, but the dented helmets on the
(12:43):
table said otherwise. Ruis reached into his pocket and tossed
a strange object onto the desk, a stone, polished smooth
as river glass, but with deep, finer grooves set into
its side, too deep, too wide. Harrison picked it up, frowning,
(13:07):
where did you get this? Ruis whispered. One of them
dropped it, silence soaked the tent. Finally, Harrington placed the
stone down, as if it were radioactive. This incident, he said, quietly,
did not happen. Understood. The Marines nodded, but none of
(13:30):
them believed it. Because they had seen the eyes, heard
the roars, felt the rocks smash around them. They knew
exactly what they encountered on the hill. Eight sixty eight.
Years after the war, veterans gathered in bars, VFW halls
(13:54):
and reunions. The topic always came up. Eventually, someone would
goli glants over their shoulder, lower their voice, and say,
you remember those damn rock apes, and every man who'd
been there, truly been there, would nod slowly, eyes distant.
(14:15):
Some swore the creatures were relic commends. Others believed they
were undiscovered primates. Some thought they were something in between.
Most simply said they were real. I don't care what
anyone says. In Vietnam, the jungle hides things. Even today,
(14:37):
the locals still whisper about Nui Kua Nui Zung, the
Hill of the forest People. But on one fog drenched
ridge in nineteen sixty eight, that hill, with those forest people,
they didn't hide. They fought. The Marines who survived that
(15:02):
night carried the memory forever. The night the creatures stepped
from myth into reality, roaring from the shadows and hurling
stones with the strength of ten men. The night the
Marines of three five fought a battle they were never
allowed to report. The rock Ape Boar of sixty eight,
(15:28):
Hill Ate sixty eight never gave up its secrets, not
to the scientists, not to the brass, and certainly not
to the men who tried to leave it behind. Long
after the war ended, the jungle reclaimed the ridge, vines
swallowed the foxholes, moss blanketed the boulders, and the fog
(15:52):
rolled in just as thick as it did in sixty eight.
Locals still avoid that place, and those who live near
it say the nights are never truly quiet. Every so
often a hiker reports strange echoes, heavy footsteps where no
(16:12):
trail exists, or the crack of a rock hitting stone
in the dark. Some say it's just the jungle playing tricks.
Others believe the forest people still guard that hill, just
as they did the night those marines crossed the wrong boundary.
(16:35):
Whatever the truth is, the men who survived carried one
certainty home with them. Something was there, something powerful, something alive,
and the jungle has never been quick to forget. Here
(17:00):
we are again, at the end of another journey through
the strange and the unexplained. To Day's dive into the
rock apes of Hill eight sixty eight reminds us that
some mysteries don't fade with time. They just wait for
the right story teller, Thanks so much for spending part
of your day or night here at Bigfoot's wilderness. If
(17:23):
you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out my
friend Dave over at We're Bigfoot Roams. He's got some
great stories worth your time. Until next time, keep your
eyes open, your mind curious, and wanders safely. He
The jungle of Vietnam has a heartbeat. It pulses through
the roots, the vines, the humidity that hangs like wet
blankets from the canopy. It hums like insects, cicadas, and
the faint rumble of distant artillery. At night, it becomes
something entirely different, a living organism that stalks, whispers, and
(00:46):
hides things that daylight refuses to admit. Hill eight sixty
eight rises like a broken knuckle above the quang Nam Province,
a steep, fog drenched ridge claimed by both the Marines
and the jungle. Up there, the air changes colder, heavier,
(01:08):
and the silence grows thick enough to choke on. Locals
refused to climb at after dusk. They called it Nui
Kuwah Nawi Zung translation Hill of the forest People. Most
(01:29):
American soldiers didn't know the name, but they learned its
meaning soon enough. June nineteen sixty eight, the rainy season,
mud leeches, and a monsoon sky that never seemed to clear.
A squad from third Battalion, fifth Marines made their slow
(01:50):
push upward, boots sinking into wet clay, rifles slung but ready,
radio chatter fizzled with static as the platoon crept along
the ridge. The fog was so thick it seemed to
swallow each man whole. Corporal Michael mac mc allister marched
at point, a solid kid from Ohio, built like a
(02:14):
full back, with the eyes of someone who had slept
a full night in months. Behind him, Private Danny Ruiz,
barely nineteen rosary beads hanging from his M sixteen stock,
scanned the tree line with jittery precision. Feels wrong up here,
mac Ruis muttered, Everything in this damned country feels wrong.
(02:40):
Mack replied. The squad set up near a cluster of
moss covered boulders, forming a natural defensive position. Hill eight
sixty eight gave them elevation, visibility and the sense, however false,
of safety. But the jungle didn't like intruders, not here,
(03:04):
and the Marines weren't alone. Nights slapped down like a curtain,
No stars, no moon, just the dark. The men sat
in a semicircle of dim red lights, cleaning rifles, whispering jokes,
and trying to ignore the heavy breathing of the jungle.
(03:27):
The radio hissed as Corporate Ellis adjusted the dial Then somewhere,
just beyond their perimeter, a branch snapped. The men froze.
No one breathed. Another crack, heavy, deliberate halt. Mac whispered,
(03:47):
raising his arm. The squad lifted their rifles in silent unison.
Rus' breath hitched. Something large moved beyond the fog. Sound
not a gunshot, not a grenade, A rock, a big one.
(04:08):
It bounced across the ground, skidding to a stop near
their fire pit. Ruis swallowed the hell you hear that, VC,
don't throw rocks, Alice murmured. But something did. A low, chest,
deep hoo ha echoed from the trees. It was no
(04:33):
animal that they could recognize, not a tiger, not a boar,
not a gibbon. The sound felt almost human. Then another
rock sailed overhead, slamming into a tree trunk with a
deep thump. Bark exploded into the air. The marines scrambled
(04:57):
behind cover shapes dark upright, silhouettes appeared at the edge
of the fog. One, then two, then six. Their glowing
eyes shine flickered like embers in the mist. Jesus, they're standing.
(05:18):
Someone whispered, like like men. The fog thinned for just
a moment long enough for the Marines to see what
was stalking them. Tall shapes five to six feet, broad shouldered,
covered in shaggy, reddish brown hair. Their arms hung long,
(05:39):
almost to the knees. Their chests rose and fell with slow,
angry breaths. The creatures stepped closer, bare feet, crackling twigs
beneath them. Ruis's rosary beads shook in his fingers. Mac whispered,
what what are the The creature in front, the largest,
(06:03):
let out a deep grunt and hurled a stone the
size of a cantalope. It smashed against a boulder inches
from Ellis's head. The Marines opened fire, not at the creatures,
but overhead, trying to scare them off. The creatures didn't retreat.
(06:23):
They roared, screamed deep resonant bellows that vibrated the men's
rib cages. Then they began to throw rocks, rained down
like primitive artillery, sharp heavy projectiles that slammed into trees, helmets,
and gear packs. One rock clipped Private Iverson's shoulder, knocking
(06:48):
him onto his back. Whole fire, Mac shouted, knowing that
bullets ringing through fog could ricochet or hit their own
men just keep their distance, but the creatures circled them,
moving in coordinated arcs. Something primal and intelligent pulsed in
(07:11):
their actions. Not random violence, but tactics, territory warnings. What
doll we do? Mac whois whispered, voice crackling, Hold the line.
The jungle erupted. One creature rushed forward, roaring so loud
(07:32):
it drowned out the sound of gunfire. It slammed both
fists into a tree trunk, splintering it. Leaves and dust
rained down. A second creature leaped onto a boulder, chest,
heaving as if calling the others to advance. The marines
unloaded rounds into the air. Tracer fire illuminated the fog,
(07:57):
red white, and gold streaks slicing through the night. Through
that flickering light, the creatures became monstrous silhouettes, their hair
whipping with their movements, their arms raised as they hurled
more rocks from the shadows. Another left flank, Ella shouted
(08:20):
mac spun, firing a three round burst into the dark
to force the creature's back. Mac Ruiz cried. He pointed upward,
directly above their position. A creature perched on a rock
ledge crouched like a gargoyle. Its eyes glowed amber, its
(08:41):
lips peeled back, revealing square, humanlike teeth. Ruis fired a
warning round at its feet. The creature didn't flinch. It
lifted a massive stone and threw it with terrifying accuracy,
striking Ruiz's helmet with a metallic clang that sent him
(09:01):
spinning into the mud. Danny Mack scrambled a shield him,
dragging him behind a fallen log. Ruis groaned, dazed but alive.
The ridge shook with the thunder of the creature's roars,
not just one, but a chorus. It sounded like ten,
(09:22):
maybe fifteen of them, maybe more. This wasn't harassment. This
was a territorial charge, and the Marines were deep inside
their domain. Mac we gotta pull out, Ellis shouted, reloading,
we stay, we die. He wasn't wrong. The creatures moved
(09:44):
with unnerving coordination, flanking both sides of the ridge. Rocks
smashed into the bowlders around them like mortar fire. The
Marines were pinned down by completely unconventional warfare. Primitive, yes,
but overwhelming. Fall back point. Charlie mac ordered the men
(10:07):
fired suppressing shots into the trees, not aiming to kill,
but to create distance. The creatures backed off for the
first time. Startled by the concentrated fire, Move, Move Move,
the squad fled down slope, boots sliding in the mud,
(10:28):
helmets rattling. The creatures followed at the distance, howling through
the fog. Ruiz limped beside Mac, still dazed. Are they
Are they chasing us? No, Mac said, breathless. There escorting.
(10:50):
The creatures trailed them only so far until the Marines
passed a line of ancient moss covered stones that formed
a strange natural boundary in the terrain. As soon as
they crossed it, the jungle fell silent. The roarers stopped,
the rocks stopped flying. The creatures vanished back into the mist,
(11:14):
like ghosts. It was their territory, their hill always had been.
At dawn, the Marines returned to base camp bruised, scraped
and shaken. Ruiz had a concussion. Iverson's arm was in
a sling helmet dense and smashed gear told the story
(11:39):
better than any words. They fled into the commandant, exhausted
and covered in jungle debris. Colonel Harrington, a hard nosed
officer who hated superstition, listened to their report with a
neutral expression. You are telling me, the colonel said, slowly,
(12:02):
that a group of what apes attacked you on a
ridge with no documented primate species larger than a macaque.
Mac stared back, jaw tight, Yes, sir, and they walked upright,
(12:22):
Harrington added, and threw rocks. Yes, sir. The colonel folded
his arms. Marines, you engaged in a firefight with shadows,
stress animals. Nothing more, but the dented helmets on the
(12:43):
table said otherwise. Ruis reached into his pocket and tossed
a strange object onto the desk, a stone, polished smooth
as river glass, but with deep, finer grooves set into
its side, too deep, too wide. Harrison picked it up, frowning,
(13:07):
where did you get this? Ruis whispered. One of them
dropped it, silence soaked the tent. Finally, Harrington placed the
stone down, as if it were radioactive. This incident, he said, quietly,
did not happen. Understood. The Marines nodded, but none of
(13:30):
them believed it. Because they had seen the eyes, heard
the roars, felt the rocks smash around them. They knew
exactly what they encountered on the hill. Eight sixty eight.
Years after the war, veterans gathered in bars, VFW halls
(13:54):
and reunions. The topic always came up. Eventually, someone would
goli glants over their shoulder, lower their voice, and say,
you remember those damn rock apes, and every man who'd
been there, truly been there, would nod slowly, eyes distant.
(14:15):
Some swore the creatures were relic commends. Others believed they
were undiscovered primates. Some thought they were something in between.
Most simply said they were real. I don't care what
anyone says. In Vietnam, the jungle hides things. Even today,
(14:37):
the locals still whisper about Nui Kua Nui Zung, the
Hill of the forest People. But on one fog drenched
ridge in nineteen sixty eight, that hill, with those forest people,
they didn't hide. They fought. The Marines who survived that
(15:02):
night carried the memory forever. The night the creatures stepped
from myth into reality, roaring from the shadows and hurling
stones with the strength of ten men. The night the
Marines of three five fought a battle they were never
allowed to report. The rock Ape Boar of sixty eight,
(15:28):
Hill Ate sixty eight never gave up its secrets, not
to the scientists, not to the brass, and certainly not
to the men who tried to leave it behind. Long
after the war ended, the jungle reclaimed the ridge, vines
swallowed the foxholes, moss blanketed the boulders, and the fog
(15:52):
rolled in just as thick as it did in sixty eight.
Locals still avoid that place, and those who live near
it say the nights are never truly quiet. Every so
often a hiker reports strange echoes, heavy footsteps where no
(16:12):
trail exists, or the crack of a rock hitting stone
in the dark. Some say it's just the jungle playing tricks.
Others believe the forest people still guard that hill, just
as they did the night those marines crossed the wrong boundary.
(16:35):
Whatever the truth is, the men who survived carried one
certainty home with them. Something was there, something powerful, something alive,
and the jungle has never been quick to forget. Here
(17:00):
we are again, at the end of another journey through
the strange and the unexplained. To Day's dive into the
rock apes of Hill eight sixty eight reminds us that
some mysteries don't fade with time. They just wait for
the right story teller, Thanks so much for spending part
of your day or night here at Bigfoot's wilderness. If
(17:23):
you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out my
friend Dave over at We're Bigfoot Roams. He's got some
great stories worth your time. Until next time, keep your
eyes open, your mind curious, and wanders safely. He
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