Prop Wash, Saltpeter and a Python With a Purple Heart: 14 Rumors and Pranks of the Vietnam War

The word moved from bunker to bunker faster than any radio message. They're putting something in the eggs. The M16 is made by Mattel. Bob Hope is coming to our base. And somewhere, a new guy was walking across a landing zone with an empty bucket, looking for prop wash. In this countdown we check 14 rumors and pranks of the Vietnam War, with an old GI remembering which ones he fell for: saltpeter in the chow, the "communist ants", water buffalo that hated American smell, ice cream in Vietnam, the "Mattel" M16, prop wash and frequency grease, the Navy's mail buoy watch, the bicycles of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the Paris peace talks stuck on a table, George the python with a Purple Heart, "three Purple Hearts and you go home", the troop charter forced down by Soviet MiGs, the early out, and the rumor everyone hoped was true: Bob Hope is coming. What was the craziest rumor in your outfit? Did they ever send you for prop wash, or did you send someone? And did you ever see a Bob Hope show? Tell us below. Chapters 0:00 The word from bunker to bunker 1:16 #14 Something in the chow 4:07 #13 The communist ants 6:49 #12 The buffalo can smell you 9:34 #11 There's ice cream in Vietnam 11:55 #10 Made by Mattel 14:32 #9 A five-gallon pail of prop wash 17:18 #8 The mail buoy 19:24 For veterans: Agent Orange presumption + who fell for what 20:16 #7 The bicycles 23:09 #6 The war waits for a table 25:32 #5 The python with a Purple Heart 27:45 #4 Three Purple Hearts and you go home 30:33 #3 The Freedom Bird and the MiGs 33:08 #2 The early out 35:46 #1 Bob Hope is coming 38:33 Back to the Radio 39:45 Did you see Bob Hope? For veterans: the VA presumes Agent Orange exposure for anyone who served on the ground in Vietnam. Under the PACT Act (2022), hypertension and MGUS were added to the presumptive list. https://www.va.gov/disability/eligibi... (Not affiliated with the VA.) Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1. About the veteran's voice: his memories are a composite drawn from many published veterans' accounts. The facts, names and figures in the narration come from the sources below. Sources Military Times (2021), Snopes, McGill University: saltpeter Wikipedia (C-ration); Popasmoke; We Are The Mighty HistoryNet, We Are The Mighty, Cherries Writer: weaver ants and jungle hazards LSU oral history collection; 327th Infantry veterans: water buffalo U.S. Army / DeCA "Commissaries in a war zone"; Vinamilk history; NZ Vietnam War archive: dairies and ice cream Sandboxx, National Interest, Warrior Maven: the "Mattel" M16 myth Military.com Vietnam slang list; veterans' accounts: fool's errands USC Folklore Archive; USS Indianapolis photo (1943): mail buoy watch HistoryNet, "Pedal Power": Ho Chi Minh Trail bicycles Defence-in-Depth (King's College London); AFSA; LBJ Library: the Paris peace table N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences; Our State magazine: George the python UPI (1968); Strategy Page: three-wound rotation Wikipedia, Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A; seaboardairlines.org Army Board for Correction of Military Records cases (AR 635-200 para. 5-14): early release HistoryNet, USO, Library of Congress, Stars and Stripes: Bob Hope's Vietnam Christmas tours Footage: U.S. National Archives, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and Department of Defense films (public domain). Some scenes are AI-generated illustrations.