Cliff Barackman's Vietnam Bigfoot story as relayed through his father

Larry Wilson's account of Vietnam Bigfoot sighting
(One of the many reported sightings from American soldiers in Vietnam)

We've heard many stories from Viet Nam veterans about their encounter with Nguoi Rung, a 7 feet tall hairy hominid with reddish brown hair covering most of its body. Reports of 'wildman' vary from large to small, with body hair from grey to brown or black and may be alone or with others. But always they are said to walk bipedally. From northern Vietnam to the central highlands, they go by many names among the highlands minority people, most are terms of respect. The Vietnamese name is Nguoi Rung or "Forest People".

Here's a few accounts of Nguoi Rung sightings from American soldiers during the Viet Nam war, including one story from Cliff Barackman's father.

Notice Cliff's use of the word "bigfooty" when referring to anything Bigfoot. This article predates the Finding Bigfoot show (where he's been heard using the word "bigfooty" on several occasions):

Posted: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2009
By Cliff Barackman

I spoke to my father today, and he told me about an interesting thing that happened to him. I gave him a bigfoot t-shirt as a gift a while back, and he wore it to the gym for his workout. A man approached him and struck up a conversation about the t-shirt, and confided in my father that the man had seen a bigfoot a couple decades ago. This sort of thing happens in my bigfooty life all the time, but it was a new one for my dad. The incredibly interesting thing about this man's encounter is that it occurred in Vietnam while he was fighting in the Vietnam War.

The story, as relayed through my dad, is more or less that the man's platoon was exchanging fire with the enemy in the jungles of Vietnam. At one point on the adjacent hill, a bigfoot-type animal walked through a clearing, went back the way it came, and then went straight up a steep embankment or cliff before disappearing into the thick jungle. The creature apparently showed no difficulty in scaling the steep incline, which impressed the man greatly.

This man told my father that he doesn't talk about it much because he doesn't want people to think that he's crazy. Unfortunately, this fear is far too common among witnesses. It makes me wonder about the information that is still out there, yet remains hidden due to the fear of ridicule.

I had read of Vietnam veterans seeing bigfoot-like creatures in the jungles of Southeast Asia before, but this is as close to the source as I have ever come to one of these witnesses. Sightings from Vietnam are significant considering gigantopithecus fossils have been found there.

Nguoi Rung or "Forest People"

Stan Courtney also posted an interesting letter from a Viet Nam veteran on his website. Click here to read the full letter.

Here is a portion of that letter:

It was 1969; I was on patrol one evening, just before dark in the North Two Corp in North Vietnam. We were returning to the hill, when we encountered hostile fire, the squad was caught off guard so we used what cover was available. The fight had been going on for only a few minutes when movement caught my eye. Through the thick vegetation I saw what I thought was a large man breaking cover from behind my left side. As the thing ran past me I realized it wasn’t a man, and was not really sure of what I was seeing. The thing was about 7 feet tall and had an enormous build, though not completely covered with hair, the thing had reddish brown hair covering a good portion of its body. It had covered about 30 yards very quickly passing within just yards of my position, when it got hit in the crossfire. The thing stumbled once or twice but never fell.