"JUNGLE EATERS ~ ROME PLOW OPERATORS"

Angela Baker's 2 stirring video tributes to the Veterans

God Bless The USA

A Stirring Tribute

My name is William "Bill" Kimbrell,

I served with the 60th Engineer Company, 62nd Engineer Battalion, 159th Group in Vietnam from Dec 1970 to Dec 1971 when the company deactiviated to Fort Carson, Colorado. Lately I can't seem to get a lot of the guys out of my mind and am trying to locate as many of them as possible.

Unfortuantly, time and P.T.S.D. has jumbled my memory, I can't remember all of them and that is bothering me. They all were special people, for without them I would not have made it home to my wife and daughter nor have made it to the point of having five grandchildren. If not for the "Jungle Eaters" working, living, playing and fighting the enemy TOGETHER as one, we, the ones who made it home, would not be alive and I want to get with as many as possibe to say "THANK YOU", and I salute you each and everyone.

Names I remember, some are full names with some ranks of that time, nicknames, or last names only: Alvin B. Bush (found), Marty (Martin) Wilkins, Edwin P. Waterman (found), Joe "POP" Faulkenbury (found), Mike "Spaghetti" Vetovich, Dennis Bok (found), Raul Medrano, Frank "Alphabet" Kowalczyk, Dave Landreth, James C. Young, Charles H. Roye, Ralph Vest, SSGT Howard W. Vincent, SGT "Rock" Leslie Hornsby, SGT Chris Hiltz (found), SFC Richard Bivens, SP-4 Bill Clapper, SP-4 Fred Deaton, 1SGT Glenn H. Layton, SSGT James Sellars, SGT Sammy "Gunner" Melton, SP-5 Mark W. Wolfe, SP-4 Robert McClure, SP-5 Jim (James) Hull, Dale Zwiesel or "Onion", "Birdman", Glenn Dosh, Bernson, Henderson,and Chamberlin.

These are the only ones I can remember at this time, so if you have found this page and are one of the "Jungle Eaters" listed above, or your not in the list, maybe you even know one who was with the unit during this time, or anytime period, "PLEASE" notify me at the e-mail below.

Ones I have found: Walter "Mop" Blake in NM, Carroll Newman in SC, Kenneth "Batch" Greatbatch in NH, John Moore in ALaska, Ron "Ski" Jaworski in WI, Richard Vincent in WA, Kenneth P. Desselle in TX, Ettore "Zero" Svizzero in Ill, and Dietrick "Bart" Denton in AZ.

This is the patch we wore, as you can see it signifies the "JUNGLE EATERS" After we returned to the states we were allowed to continue wearing this on our uniforms as it was issued in combat.

The mission of The Jungle Eaters

The mission of The Jungle Eaters and other Landclearing units was to knock down the jungle growth and uncover as many enemy strong holds as possible. Not all terrain was trees, especially after the spraying of Agent Orange, some was nothing more than scrub-brush and hedgerows, but the enemy lived in the hedgerows, inside bunkers, tunnels and spider holes, and they were not going to give up without a fight.
After the area was secured the "ROME PLOWS" would cover all possible entrances to the enemy hidding places. Some of the trees they knocked down with the "ROME PLOWS" would measure as big as 40 feet in diameter, however the plows and the operators would just chew them up and spit them out, all the while keeping alert to the enemy attacks. The plows moving in groups of 20 to 30 abreast, hit an average of twenty land mines and booby traps a day (though most were to small to damage the plows) and enemy contact.
Most of the guys were wounded at least one time, yet most would return to the field the next day. They seemed to rather be out there than in Long Behn or someother place. One stated that after you got drunk and then sobered up it was a boring place with nothing to do so he had rather be in the field with the rest of the guys. They were really one big family in a very bad situation that stood together through the bad and good times of VIETNAM.

This is the Rome Plow.

The "ROME PLOW" is a Tank Heavy diesel tractor or D7E dozer and D9 dozers equipped with an extra-sharp blade for cutting the jungles of Vietnam. The "ROME PLOW" was made specifically for the Army to be used in the Jungles of VIETNAM by a company in Rome, Georgia, hence the name "ROME PLOW". When fully dressed (equipped) with the cage, blade, and guard shields, the "ROME PLOW" would weigh about 36,000 pds. or more, and was the driving force behind the LANDCLEARING operations of the "JUNGLE EATERS" and other units in Vietnam.

Please visit these sections

Some links Bill enjoys:

Mom's Vietnam Vet Message Board and Buddy Search

Angel Fire Memorial

Mop & Billy's Hooch - More of The Jungle Eaters

The Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall Page

Home of the 86th Engineer Battalion(Combat Engineers)

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