A story about the “Tunnel rats”
One of the biggest problems that the American troops had during the fighting in Vietnam was the enemy’s secret network of tunnels. These tunnels could stretch for miles and were used as the Viet Cong as their base of operations in certain regions, hospitals, weapon storage’s and places in which they could effectively hide.
One of the most important network of tunnels were the Cu Chi tunnels under Saigon. These tunnels were used by Viet Cong as a base in this region and allowed them free movement. Thanks to these tunnels, the Viet Cong could move undetected from one place to another, launch surprise attacks on the American troops and quickly retreat back to them.
A lot of effort was taken by the American command to try and stop this threat. Two operations are of greater importance. The first was Operation Crimp which began on January lasted from January 8th to January 14th 1966. Also known as the Battle of Ho Bo woods it was a joint American-Australian effort to destroy the Viet Cong’s headquarters in Binh Duong Province some 12 miles from Saigon. This operation revealed a more than 100 miles of secret tunnels.
The other operation was Operation Cedar Falls. This massive operation in which 30000 mostly US troops took part was an effort to eradicate the area called “Iron Triangle”. This area, which was close to Saigon was one of the largest strong points of the enemy. The Operation Cedar Falls started on January 8th 1967 and ended on January 28th same year. This was the largest ground operation of the US army in the Vietnam war. The Viet Cong, however mostly avoided fighting, choosing instead to fall back to Cambodia or to hide in the tunnels and secret passages.
Fighting in tunnels such as Cu Chi tunnels was left to specially trained American, Australian and New Zeland troops. These men would be called to action whenever a tunnel was discovered to search and destroy the enemy, plant charges in order to destroy the tunnels and map the area. Armed only with hand held pistols, knives and flashlights, “Tunnel rats” were fighting not just the enemy, but also various booby traps, poisonous scorpions and scorpions.
The “Tunnel rats” would normally be issued a .45 caliber gun, but since it was very noisy, a perk not wanted when you are in a tunnel, were allowed to choose their own gun. A lot of men asked for simple revolvers back from home, but Soviet-made guns that the enemy sometimes held was the favorite. Those guns were, however rare and usually held by Viet Cong officers.
Due to the confined space in these tunnels, most “Tunnel rats” were men of smaller stature. This was not exclusive, but allowed them to move much more freely in the narrow tunnels like Cu Chi tunnels. Most American “Tunnel rats” , or “Tunnel ferrets” as they were also called came from the Mexican, Puerto Rican and other American Latino minorities.
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