Vietnam tunnel rat

Hi, my dad just passed away and an ex cop partner of his told us my dad was a "Tunnel Rat" during the war. My dad only mentioned a couple of vague hand to hand combat situations he and his guys got into but never mentioned anything about being a Tunnel Rat, vietnam tunnel rat.

The Army faced two different threats in the Vietnam War, preventing it from focusing on exceptional performance in either conventional or unconventional warfare. The conventional forces of the North Vietnamese Army demanded respect from the U. At the same time, the unconventional insurgency of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam known as the Viet Cong presented a very real threat to Soldiers throughout the conflict. Tunnels were particularly useful in the insurgency and a series of tunnel networks provided the Viet Cong with manufacturing, resupply, and planning space within easy striking distance of their targets. Few Soldiers could fit into the tunnels and follow the guerillas into their lairs. While ordinary Soldiers occasionally went into the tunnels the Army recognized the need for a select group of experts to solve this unique problem. Aside from helicopter pilots and Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols, few conventional non-special operations Soldiers would place themselves so consistently in danger in Vietnam.

Vietnam tunnel rat

The film is based on the factual duties of tunnel rats during the Vietnam War. In a documentary for the film, Boll revealed the film did not have a script, and instead the actors improvised their lines. A group of US Army soldiers, trained in underground warfare , arrive at base camp in the jungle of South Vietnam. The soldiers spend the first day and night getting to know each other. Armed with nothing more than bayonets , pistols, grenades and flashlights, the US soldiers take to the tunnels in search and destroy operations, and begin to encounter dangers including primitive but lethal booby traps , such as punji sticks , grenades rigged with tripwire , as well as roving Viet Cong troops. Meanwhile, Garraty and Johnson are killed first, and later Sergeant Heaney and Verano are both killed as Green escapes, and up on the surface Harris and Lidford escape to the bottom of the tunnel, and Lidford is killed later on, Porterson successfully escapes through the tunnels. On the surface, the Viet Cong also attack the US base. As things escalate above and below the ground, soldiers for both sides are pushed to the limits of their humanity. Miller and Graybridge try to escape, with the former barely making it, but Graybridge is killed. The events implicate that all or almost all the protagonists are killed by each other, by boobytraps, or by the airstrike ordered by the wounded US commanding officer Hollowborn, who called on it when everything seemed to have been lost. Green dies in the tunnels. Harris convinces Vo Mai Jane Le that he isn't a threat to her or her family.

The communists began digging these tunnels vietnam tunnel rat the jungles of South Vietnam in the late s while fighting the French. The Army initially had trouble figuring out how to deal with the tunnels. Brodbeck and Preece concluded that the Australians were located in the very midst of the enemy forces.

The tunnel rats were American , Australian , New Zealander , and South Vietnamese soldiers who performed underground search and destroy missions during the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, "tunnel rat" became an unofficial specialty for volunteer combat engineers [1] and infantrymen from the Australian Army and the U. Army who cleared and destroyed enemy tunnel complexes. In the early stages of the war against the French colonial forces , the Viet Minh created an extensive underground system of tunnels, which was later expanded and improved by the Viet Cong. By the s, the tunnel complexes included hospitals, training areas, storage facilities, headquarters, and barracks. These diverse facilities, coupled with sophisticated ventilation systems, allowed VC guerrillas to remain hidden underground for months at a time. The men of the 3 Field Troop, an Australian combat engineering unit that served in Vietnam from to , have made a convincing argument that they were the first allied troops to enter the tunnels.

The Army faced two different threats in the Vietnam War, preventing it from focusing on exceptional performance in either conventional or unconventional warfare. The conventional forces of the North Vietnamese Army demanded respect from the U. At the same time, the unconventional insurgency of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam known as the Viet Cong presented a very real threat to Soldiers throughout the conflict. Tunnels were particularly useful in the insurgency and a series of tunnel networks provided the Viet Cong with manufacturing, resupply, and planning space within easy striking distance of their targets. Few Soldiers could fit into the tunnels and follow the guerillas into their lairs. While ordinary Soldiers occasionally went into the tunnels the Army recognized the need for a select group of experts to solve this unique problem. Aside from helicopter pilots and Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols, few conventional non-special operations Soldiers would place themselves so consistently in danger in Vietnam. III Corps estimated one such tunnel network had been made over the course of up to 20 years and had small, well-camouflaged entrances.

Vietnam tunnel rat

These American, Australian and New Zealander soldiers infiltrated and sabotaged the intensely-claustrophobic labyrinth of underground tunnels used by the Vietcong to launch surprise attacks and set up ambushes. Most of these subterranean tunnels were dug by hand and only covered a short distance, but over the course of the war which lasted until , when the French were defeated and expelled from the region the network of tunnels was greatly expanded. The tunnels were used to covertly transport troops and supplies, launch surprise attacks, and set booby traps. During the s, the Vietcong greatly expanded the network of tunnels, which eventually covered a distance of almost miles and linked Vietcong bases from around Saigon to as far away as the Cambodian border. The tunnel network gave the North Vietnamese a distinct advantage over their American and South Vietnamese adversaries. The entrances to the tunnels were extremely well-hidden and very difficult to find, which meant that Vietcong troops could pop up anywhere for surprise attacks and ambushes, and lay savage and lethal bobby traps throughout the jungle. The Americans were determined to level the playing field, and this was where the Tunnel Rats came in: to neutralize the advantage that the subterranean tunnel system offered the Vietcong. Because the tunnels were so narrow and cramped, only men of a smaller stature could be effective as Tunnel Rats. Generally, these troops, who mostly hailed from America, New Zealand and Australia, were under five foot six tall and slim in build. The missions assigned to them usually searched and destroy: they had to go into the dark, claustrophobic tunnels alone, kill any enemy personnel they found down there, and demolish the tunnel — while trying to get out alive.

Reyrey

Leaders speculated that the enemy had fled in the face of the initial allied advance. This method was too slow, inefficient, and cumbersome to use unless the area was completely secure. The latter option also tended to solve the problem of booby-trapped doors and both meant that the rat could at least enter the tunnel unopposed, which some rats preferred despite alerting anyone below to their presence. They organized makeshift units made up of volunteers, necessarily men of small stature, to go into the tunnels to confront the enemy. The hard-packed, layered clay of the tunnels made such an operation very difficult. Soldiers sent down the tunnels disrupted the Viet Cong and found information their units could exploit. Jonathan O. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while browsing our site. Once in the tunnel network, the real dangers began. Brodbeck and Preece concluded that the Australians were located in the very midst of the enemy forces. The U. Once artillery shelling and airstrikes ended, the rd was supposed to initiate an airmobile attack from both the north and west, while the 3rd Brigade sealed off the area to the south, in preparation for a sweep designed to force enemy combatants to flee east toward the Saigon River where they would be annihilated. This was the first American engagement fought at divisional level and, despite significant casualties, most leaders viewed it as a success. While in the tunnels, soldiers were breathing air heavily saturated with Agent Orange. The "Diehards" of the U.

The Viet Cong were well known for their devious jungle ambushes and cruelly ingenious booby traps. Operation Crimp, undertaken by U.

Yet the planners had no idea what ghastly surprises awaited their troops below ground. Release date. Enemy snipers and small units targeted these forces. Tragedy struck on the afternoon of the 12th. Skip to content. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Bunkers, spider holes, and small cavernous openings often led to deadly underground mazes where Viet Cong fighters lurked in ambush. After becoming a naturalized citizen while recovering from injuries sustained in combat, he immediately returned to the tunnels and was one of the few rats to survive the deadly game of cat and mouse. Germany Canada. Viet Cong codebreakers had been intercepting, decoding, and translating every transmission from the 1st and 25th Infantry Divisions; the sudden loss of information immediately made both divisions more effective and safer from deliberate ambushes. Commanders opted to land at a less exposed location. Two medics attending the wounded were killed. Eventually the general convinced leaders in Washington to go on the offensive. While early tunnel rats entered the tunnels with a M