Tunnel rats were generally men of smaller stature 56 and under, who were able to maneuver more comfortably in the narrow tunnels. A harrowing account of americas tunnel rats in the underground battlefields of. His hunt for a motive takes him to the vietnam, where the american tunnel rats fought the dirtiest battle of the war against the viet cong. Chops and i were some of the original tunnel rats and all our training was ojt. He served in the 5th special forces group in vietnam in 196970 and subsequently in airborne infantry, longrange patrol and intelligence assignments until retiring after 26 years. The pistols that were carried by the tunnel rats were varied, the. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the tunnels of cu chi. Tunnel rats were us, australian and newzelander soldiers who went inside viet cong vc tunnels to kill any vc inside, gather any intel, recover arms and finally demolish the tunnels by planting explosives. American officers in vietnam viewed the short, wiry combat engineers as swat teams to be summoned whenever a suspicious hole was found in. American, australian, and new zealander soldiers who performed underground search missions. Other soldiers frequently referred to tunnel rats as insanebecause you had to be crazy to take those risks. Dc wings over vietnam the missions 5of8 spookies spectres and shadows duration. Wikipedia commons in 1946, the viet minh were the viet cong resistance fighters who began digging the tunnels and bunkers to combat the french, whom they would eventually defeat.
Tunnel rats one specialized weapon they used was the snw quiet special purpose qsp 1 revolver, a modified. From the story of the vietnamese stealing an m48 tank and burying it, to the birth of the tunnel rats, this book keeps coming with information that kept me fully. The tunnels also hosted armament workshops, training depots, headquarters, and a variety of other facilities. Sorry to say i havent read it, but its author did serve in vietnam. Opinion my life as a tunnel rat the new york times.
The most brilliant book and i rate him the best author. What was the mortality rate of the vietnam era tunnel rats. Feb 20, 2012 buy tunnel rat in vietnam warrior by gordon l rottman isbn. Communist forces preyed upon this, rallying support from the local population and building a guerrilla army, recruiting heavily from farming villages. Small villages dot this land, worked by peasants, who have lived there for centuries. Buy tunnel rat in vietnam warrior by gordon l rottman isbn. A graduate of the royal military college, duntroon, as a young captain sandy macgregor commanded 3 field troop in vietnam, where he won the military cross. The tunnel rats, those who survived, did not tell their own story. Payne, a tunnel rat, bravely searches a tunnels entrance during vietnam war.
I share the full movie for those willing to watch it. Feb 20, 2012 gordon l rottman entered the us army in 1967, volunteered for special forces and completed training as a weapons specialist. One of the most feared assignments in the vietnam war for allied troops was that of neutralizing the extensive network of tunnels utilized by nva and viet cong forces in the war. Their unofficial moto was non gratum anus rodentum in latin. The fighting in vietnam dated back to the 1940s when corrupt democratic officials turned the population largely against it. Most of us who served as tunnel rats during the vietnam war quickly realized that crawling through underground enemy bunkers would be the. Vietnams littleknown underground war and the men and women who fought it. A harrowing account of americas tunnel rats in the underground battlefields of vietnam by tom mangold at barnes due to covid19, orders may be delayed.
Sapper jim marett outside the ruins of a rubber plantation mansion in vietnam in 1970. If it was tall enough, then sure they could probably squat but my guess is that mostly they crawled. Gordon l rottman entered the us army in 1967, volunteered for special forces and completed training as a weapons specialist. If the tunnels were the secret weapon of the viet cong, the tunnel rats were the unsung heroes of the american forces. Share article recent release rat six from page publishing author jack flowers is an edifying opus that delves into a soldiers perspective, showing the pressure and influence of ethics, heritage, and. For a soldier during the vietnam war, one of the most dangerous of obstacles was faced by a select few soldiers known as tunnel rats. When the vietnam war began on 1 november 1955, the united states involvement was a relatively lowkey affair. His hunt for a motive takes him to the tunnels in vietnam, where the american tunnel rats fought the dirtiest battle of the war against the viet cong.
Pete rejoruiz, a cubanborn tunnel rat, is shown popping out of a north vietnamese tunnel. The vietcong had been using tunnel systems for many years against the chinese, japanese and french invaders. Oct 02, 2015 american, australian, and new zealander soldiers who performed underground search missions. The tunnel rats were american, south vietnamese, new zealand, and australian soldiers who performed underground search and destroy missions during the vietnam war. While tracking down specific statistics on fatality rates among the tunnel rats is not easy, it is not a stretch to venture that. With michael pare, wilson bethel, mitch eakins, erik eidem. Another short osprey book that i read quickly for a section of my dissertation. A second murder in bangkok links the deaths to a group of vietnam veterans who worked as tunnel rats, one of whom is about to become vicepresident of the usa and cannot have their secret revealed, so he sends a mercenary to take care of any revelations. Jimmy thomson is a journalist, author and screenwriter whose credits include the abctv series rain shadow. Later, similar teams were used by the soviet army during the sovietafghan war and by the israel defense forces in campaigns in the middle east. How our sappers in afghanistan took the fight to the insurgents using the lessons learned from vietnam jimmy thomson 4. We will use this occasion to honour our 36 comrades who lost their lives while serving as tunnel rats with 1 troop, 2 troop and 3 troop of 1 field squadron 35 kia and with 3 field troop 1 kia. The tunnel rats in the vietnam war the military history blog.
Simple history merchandise get the simple history vietnam war book. This led to the reluctant rise of the tunnel rats, american. One of these was master sgt flo rivera who acquired and used a 9mm german luger. Those were the guys who wriggled their way through the ridiculously narrow tunnels the viet cong used to transport personnel and weapons, set boobytraps, and all that. Vo hoang letunnel surgeon, psychological operations, fighting science, rat six and batman, vo thi mothe girl guerrilla, tunnel rat squad, winners and losers. How aussie sappers led the way in the war on terror. Most of us who served as tunnel rats during the vietnam war quickly realized that crawling through. The vietnam tunnel rats association has reserved the australian war memorial last post ceremony for 18 february next year. Tunnel rats were us, australian and newzelander soldiers who went inside viet congvc tunnels to kill any vc inside, gather any intel, recover arms and finally demolish the tunnels by planting. These were the terrifying dangers of being a tunnel rat in. Crooked cops and kings cross crims by the man who saw it all. Jack flowerss new book rat six is a riveting novel based his true story as the leader of the tunnel rats during the vietnam war. The viet cong amassed around 250 kilometres of underground tunnels.
A sappers war, published in 2012 and reprinted in pocket format in 2014, tells the story of the entire sapper involvement in vietnam, from before the tunnel rats arrival until the. Note the australia badge and the name written on the bush hat. Why the viet congs tunnels were so effective in vietnam. Being in a tunnel like that is very claustrophobic and on top of that there was th. Those reports and the vivid memory of the missions guided me in the accounting of my year in vietnam.
May 26, 2019 the tunnel rats used a host of specialized weapons that helped them to be effective at their job. Feb 09, 2018 sapper jim marett outside the ruins of a rubber plantation mansion in vietnam in 1970. Aug 06, 2017 vietnams littleknown underground war and the men and women who fought it. The tunnel systems could often be huge, and would be filled with all kinds of tricks and traps, not to mention people trying to kill you. I would never have done it myself for all the tea in china. While the book has lots of photos of tunnel rats in vietnam and while rottman describes what the men went through, he never mentions the name of any individual who served as a tunnel rat. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. A network of enemy tunnels viet minh forces initially developed a complex system of underground tunnels to combat the french colonial invasion of vietnam known as the cu chi tunnels.
A harrowing account of americas tunnel rats in the underground battlefields of vietnam mass market paperback november 29, 2005 by. This network connected villages, cities, and districts. A harrowing account of americas tunnel rats in the underground battlefields of vietnam by tom mangold at barnes. These were the terrifying dangers of being a tunnel rat.
In 1965, soon after the first us combat troops had arrived in vietnam, it was realized that in some areas the viet cong had developed vast tunnel complexes in which to hide from the enemy. But his search places him in grave danger with a killer determined to protect the secrets of the tunnels. Jan 14, 2016 tunnel rats were us, australian and newzelander soldiers who went inside viet congvc tunnels to kill any vc inside, gather any intel, recover arms and finally demolish the tunnels by planting explosives. Their unofficial motto was non gratum anus rodentum. A harrowing account of americas tunnel rats in the underground battlefields of vietnam kindle edition by mangold, tom. It really didnt interview the tunnel rats nor the enemy that used the tunnels. Other tunnel rats procured their own personal firearms to suit their own needs. Further reading, i would recommend the tunnels of cu chi, which is one of the very few books to cover this topic with real depth, as well as viet cong and nva tunnels and fortifications of the vietnam war and tunnel rat in vietnam, both from osprey publishing. During the vietnam war 19591975 a special us combat unit is sent out to hunt and kill the viet cong soldiers in a mantoman combat in the endless tunnels underneath the jungle of vietnam. War underground, chu chi district, operation crimp, the guerillas of the viet cong, the tunnels, survival underground, born in a tunnel, the tunnel rats, not worth a rats ass, stop the americans. Jan 01, 2012 another short osprey book that i read quickly for a section of my dissertation. A harrowing account of americas tunnel rats in the underground battlefields of vietnam 9780891418696.
Named after the tunnel rats in the vietnam war, the mixedgender, multiracial collective consists of some seventeen individual members and incorporates four affiliated groups, lpg, future shock, foundation, and new breed, which have recorded both within tunnel rats and independently. Payne, a tunnel rat, bravely searches a tunnel s entrance during vietnam war. Eightyfive percent rural, the few large cities and towns. They helped conduct military operations on behalf of communist forces. Rottman, served in vietnam with the 1st cavalry division in the late1960s, and witnessed some of what tunnel rats did personally. A sappers war, published in 2012 and reprinted in pocket format in 2014, tells the story of the entire sapper involvement in vietnam, from before the tunnel rats arrival until the very last convoy out of the country in 1975. Feb 20, 2012 tunnel rat in vietnam ebook written by gordon l. Special us soldiers called tunnel rats would crawl through the systems to find the enemy. It was long known that such complexes existed, but it was not realized just how extensive they were in some areas, how important they were to the viet cong, and how difficult it was to detect and neutralize. The latter two are more cursory overviews, but both drawn heavily from tunnels of cu. Tunnel rats in vietnam cherrieswriter vietnam war website. Jun 28, 1985 american officers in vietnam viewed the short, wiry combat engineers as swat teams to be summoned whenever a suspicious hole was found in the ground. The tunnel rats faced trap doors which contained deadly spikes underneath, snakes were hung from the ceiling so they would hang down ready to attack anyone passing by and some also contained holes in the side of the tunnel wall, on the other side would be a viet cong soldier holding a spear ready to impale any intruders. Living up to their motto of we make and we break, they created the legend of the tunnel rats.
These unsung heroes of the vietnam war were american, australian, and new zealand soldiers specially trained as combat engineers, who carefully crawled through the cramped viet cong underground to perform perilous covert search and destroy missions. The tunnel rats of viet nam bill an aussie tunnel rat emerging from a tunnel. We would like to thank all for their support whilst we transition to virtual operations. Small villages dot this land, worked by peasants, who have lived there. Auburn author recounts life in vietnams harrowing tunnels. I believee alot of those guys are bothered by it today. The tunnel rats used a host of specialized weapons that helped them to be effective at their job. The tunnel rats gently prodded for potentially armed mines in order to disarm them and prayed that they survived with both their legs. What specialized weapons were used by the, tunnel rats in. Tunnel rats, as american soldiers who worked in the cu chi tunnels during the vietnam war were known, used the evocative term black echo to describe the experience of being in the tunnels.
Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read tunnel rat in vietnam. What specialized weapons were used by the, tunnel rats. Most of us who served as tunnel rats during the vietnam war quickly realized that crawling through underground enemy bunkers would be the least of our worries. The story of the tunnel rats the americans and australians were continuously plagued with small scale surprise attacks by the viet cong as they advanced deep into the woods. We will use this occasion to honour our 36 comrades who lost their lives while serving as tunnel rats with 1 troop, 2 troop and 3 troop of 1. Tom mangold and john penycate, authors of one of the definitive accounts of tunnel warfare in the vietnam war, reported that u. This is an odd omission in a book that showcases the unique, extremely dangerous, tensionfilled job that tunnel rats did in the war. Sep 03, 2018 the description of that final descent into a viet cong tunnel is the climax of the book rat six, written by flowers, that documents his service in vietnam and the littleknown story about. You can read the book from cover to cover in an hour or so. Tunnel rats is a west coast underground hip hop collective founded in 1993 in whittier, california.
I seem to remember a book my friend read in high school about 20 years ago that was about or had a section on the tunnel rats, i can picture the cover but i cant see the name in my minds eye. In their 1985 book, the tunnels of cu chi, bbc reporters tom mangold and john penycate told the story of the american tunnel rats, a saga they learned about for the first time from the viet cong, who admired the tunnel rats as the best soldiers among the american forces. The life of the tunnel rat was not to be envied, unless you are the most committed of adrenaline junkies and have a death wish. There were numerous underground guerilla bases in south vietnam that had been built and supplied by forced labor from the surrounding villages. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Tunnel rats ofvietnam vietnams littleknown underground war and the men and women who fought it sgt. Since it was in chronological order and contained numerous after action reports of which many i had authored describing the missions of the tunnel rats since i was the commanding officer of the unit.
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