BBQ Deer

I Just finished reading the poem by Jay Tate. It and some of the pictures
reminded me about the deer barbecue. I think somebody shot that huge Asian
deer while it was drinking out of a bomb crater & they rigged a sling on the
belly hook & brought it home. I was there when it came in & somehow myself
and Pfc. Fred Hypes, since we were both hillbillies and had done a lot of this
type of stuff, were elected to skin and clean it. While a crowd was gathered
round we used the forklift from the hanger to tie it's rear legs to & we
would skin a ways & lift a little and skin some more until it was skinned.
Then we placed a 55-gallon barrel under it to catch the entrails when we
split it open. We made grills out of 55 Gallon barrels and the cooks fixed it
outside at the barbecue. I was 18 years old, 130lbs. And had the thickest
hillbilly accent in the company.
I just thought I'd send this remembrance as this is the only place I can do
it with people who were there and share some of these memories.
Thanks
Gary Lee

In reference to the deer BBQ. The day "that" deer was shot I was crewing
252 and witnessed the whole thing. Unfortunately, I can't recall the crew
of the other bird who actually shot the buck. But I do remember watching
them land (out in the bush) after they shot the critter while we (252)
circled overhead for security reasons. I have told this "war story" several
times to my wife (poor woman) and my children because I will forever
visualize that huge buck, with a big rack, being tied to a skid because the
Crewmembers couldn't place the animal in the helicopter's cargo well. The
dead critter weighed too much!!! I recall all of us on 252 laughing our
butts off as we observed our fellow Comancheros attempting to wrestle the
huge buck onto their bird. Finally, it was tied to the skid and as they
lifted off it was hilarious to watch this critter swing to and fro
underneath the helicopter. The pilots should have been given a medal for
maintaining the helicopter in the air because the animal underneath the huey
was swaying like a pendulum. We flew ahead to the Hideout and landed prior
to "Comanchero Big Buck" landing and we helped out untying the buck. I
recall Gary Lee Stamey and someone else doing the skinning and dressing out. I still
smile when I think about the whole thing. It was a light-hearted moment in
the history of the Comancheros.
Gil Alvarado CE 252

I was the door gunner who shot the 'deer'.  Except it wasn't a deer it was an elk.  Other aspects of the story are true.

Scott Optenberg.

All Stories are under copyright to the authors and may not be copied or used in any matter without the permission of Author.

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