ipl-logo

American Tunnel Rat Essay

1001 Words5 Pages

Tunnel rat- A specially trained Soldier who entered into man made tunnels in Vietnam to search for equipment, documents and prisoners. The American tunnel rat had to crawl or slide through long, narrow and most of the time pitch black tunnels. They faced death every time they entered a tunnel. The tunnels contained various items such as booby traps, mines, snakes and rats. In damp black holes made for slim Vietnamese Soldiers, most American tunnel rats found the tunnels to be claustrophobic panic almost uncontrollable (Bykofsky, 1985, April 30) Being this was a volunteer mission, anyone who had volunteered their services could also un-volunteer their services could walk away at any time (Rotmman, 2012). The tunnel rat conducted anywhere …show more content…

Military Assistance Commander in Vietnam (MACV) had decided to launch what was described as the largest and most destructive operation (Operation Cedar Falls) in the conflict. MACV had incorporated lessons learned during Operation CRIMP in a document that spelled out recommended techniques to detect and destroy tunnel complexes, especially those found in the war zones and Viet Cong bases.(Traas, 2010) The Cu Chi district was known as the Iron Triangle. The Iron Triangle was 60 square miles of wooded area. The American, Australians and South Vietnamese forces controlled the area during the day but the Viet Cong owned the area at night. On January 9th, 1967 Operation Cedar Falls was launched. It was designed to attack the Communist stronghold of Binh Duong province north of Saigon near the Cambodian border after hearing reports of a network of tunnels. (History, n.d.) The sweeps uncovered many tunnel systems. Over the next three weeks the tunnel rats worked daily to clear these sophisticated tunnels, some even under allied bases. On 18 January 1967, the tunnel rats had discovered a tunnel complex that had over half a million enemy documents. When the operation was complete, there were 750 confirmed enemy kills, as opposed to 72 American casualties. The U.S. Army destroyed over 525 tunnels and knocked out all of the Viet Cong’s medical facilities. (Mangold, 1985) These Soldiers earned the respect of the Viet

Show More
Related

Vang Poo's Involvement In The Vietnam War

282 Words | 2 Pages

During the Vietnam War, the Unitied States ' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruited General Vang Pao and trained about 35,000 Hmong soldiers to fight communist forces in the mountains of Laos in what is known as the "Secret War." Vang Pao 's involvement in the war divided many Hmong people, but he believed that it would lead to a better life for his people. Under Vang Pao 's leadership, Hmong soldiers stopped the North Vietnamese from bringing supplies into Laos through the Ho Chi Minh Trail, helped identify targets for American bombs, and saved the lives of many American pilots, When the Americans pulled out of the war in 1975, they abandoned General Vang Pao and all of the Hmong people who were now enemies to the communist Pathet Lao.

Read More

Truong's A Viet Cong Memoir

937 Words | 4 Pages

In A Viet Cong Memoir, we receive excellent first hands accounts of events that unfolded in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from the author of this autobiography: Truong Nhu Tang. Truong was Vietnamese at heart, growing up in Saigon, but he studied in Paris for a time where he met and learned from the future leader Ho Chi Minh. Truong was able to learn from Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary ideas and gain a great political perspective of the conflicts arising in Vietnam during the war. His autobiography shows the readers the perspective of the average Vietnamese citizen (especially those involved with the NLF) and the attitudes towards war with the United States. In the book, Truong exclaims that although many people may say the Americans never lost on the battlefield in Vietnam — it is irrelevant.

Read More

The Forgotten Patriots Summary

1016 Words | 5 Pages

The author researched the hidden details of the sacrifice and pain that the American prisoners had been through. The bravery that the American people utilized to face the cruel British enemy was demonstrated in the book. Edwin G.burrows relied on credible and descriptive resources to deliver a better message to the readers. The book is inspirable and it used different methods to trigger the attention of the reader. Altogether, I enjoyed reading this book and I am looking to read more publications from the same

Read More

Hmong Involvement In The Vietnam War

1218 Words | 5 Pages

During the Vietnam War, another war broke out known as the Laotian Civil War. An organization and communist political movement called “Pathet Lao” from North Vietnam was trying to overthrow the Royal Lao Government. While this was happening the CIA recruited the Hmong led by general Vang Pao, (who were an ancient hill-tribe from the mountains of Laos) as a secret alliance, to help aid the Royal Lao Government. (Batson, 1991, “Birth of Pathet Lao” Para. 16) The United States and Hmongs involvement in this are now what is known as the Secret War, for it was kept a secret by the United States government.

Read More

Richard Wright's Allegory Of The Cave And The Man Who Lived Underground

744 Words | 3 Pages

Is there a truer higher reality than what most people experience? This question can best be answered by examining the protagonist in both Allegory of the Cave by Plato and The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright. The answer to this question, is very complex as it includes the definition of reality, how to measure the terms truer and higher, and the consensus of people’s experiences. because there is no way to prove that there is a truer higher reality beyond what most people experience, this statement is false. While there are multiple definitions of reality, the most accurate is the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.

Read More

How Did Al Capone Contribute To Crime

503 Words | 3 Pages

The hole is an underground cell that isolates prisoners from others. You can get sent to the hole for a long time depending on what you do. Capone was sent to the hole a lot because he talked and tried to bribe

Read More

Upton Sinclair's The Jungle And The Meatpacking Industry

601 Words | 3 Pages

The rats were one of the main reasons for an unhealthy factory. Rats carried germs and diseases, however workers had to deal with that. They were exposed to being contaminated. “There was no place for men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, and so they

Read More

Spin By Tim O Brien Rhetorical Analysis

791 Words | 4 Pages

In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the author retells the chilling, and oftentimes gruesome, experiences of the Vietnam war. He utilizes many anecdotes and other rhetorical devices in his stories to paint the image of what war is really like to people who have never experienced it. In the short stories “Spin,” “The Man I Killed,” and “ ,” O’Brien gives reader the perfect understanding of the Vietnam by placing them directly into the war itself. In “Spin,” O’Brien expresses the general theme of war being boring and unpredictable, as well as the soldiers being young and unpredictable.

Read More

Technology's Role In The Vietnam War

1019 Words | 5 Pages

One such challenge of using technology during the Vietnam War was that the US could not fully utilise the tanks to their advantage as the terrain in the Vietnam jungle was too muddy and soft that hinder the movement of their tanks.3 Thus, the tanks were not fully employed and hardly played a huge role in combat during the war. The US were also overconfident and underestimated the capabilities of the well-trained VC in guerrilla warfare who were very familiar and knowledgeable with the terrains and challenging environmental conditions that caused challenges for the US to engage them. VC forces were very effective and elusive by hiding underground through their extensive network of Cu Chi tunnels to evade the US forces and air bombardment.

Read More

Operation Anaconda Essay

850 Words | 4 Pages

Joint Planning for Operation Anaconda SFC Spurlock, Matthew MLC Class 005-18 Joint Planning for Operation Anaconda Since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, there have been numerous battles. One of the most important battles that shaped future joint planning of operations was Operation Anaconda. The outcome of this operation was ultimately successful, however, the original intent from the commanders were not met due to errors in the joint planning process. Joint planning during Operation Anaconda proved ineffective because of inaccurate intelligence about the terrain and weather, the exemption of Air Force and Navy during the initial planning phase, and false assumptions about the enemy. Intelligence Intelligence Preparation

Read More

PTSD In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

1504 Words | 7 Pages

In November of 1955, the United States entered arguably one of the most horrific and violent wars in history. The Vietnam War is documented as having claimed about 58,000 American lives and more than 3 million Vietnamese lives. Soldiers and innocent civilians alike were brutally slain and tortured. The atrocities of such a war are near incomprehensible to those who didn’t experience it firsthand. For this reason, Tim O’Brien, Vietnam War veteran, tries to bring to light the true horrors of war in his fiction novel The Things They Carried.

Read More

Pros And Cons Of The Vietnam War

992 Words | 4 Pages

The big failure America in the Vietnam War is the shameful history of tragic scene for arrogant American, whose pain is still difficult to ease. The crucial event also had a profound impact on today 's international situation. It is believed that the failure included political, economic, military and cultural background and other aspects, which are that common. When it comes to the controversial subject, I hope to put forward some fresh views from where I stand. 1.

Read More

Mental Illness In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

1091 Words | 5 Pages

Even when Americans were victorious they had to be careful. In the victory people are tempted to rip down flags and steal the remaining useful supplies, but the Vietnamese wouldn’t let them get valuables that easily. They added explosives to flag poles, and supplies, even ballpoint pens could be rigged. The soldiers always had to be focused and ready for any kind of situations. These traps could be anywhere so the people first in line, or leading the group, always had to be extremely observant and gained a huge symptom of paranoia.

Read More

Explain What Problems Did The Us Face In The Vietnam War

1059 Words | 5 Pages

In August 1964, North Vietnam allegedly attached American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. Congress authorized he president to use force. In 1965 President Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam. The U.S. increase the number of forces in South Vietnam.

Read More

Essay On Rat King

1013 Words | 5 Pages

The term was not originally used in reference to actual rats, but for persons who lived off others. Konrad Gesner in Historia animalium (1551–58) stated: "Some would have it that the rat waxes mighty in its old age and is fed by its young: this is called the rat king." Martin Luther stated: "finally, there is the Pope, the king of rats right at the top." Later, the term referred to a king sitting on a throne of knotted tails.[2] An alternative theory states that the name in French was rouet de rats (or a spinning wheel of rats, the knotted tails being wheel spokes), with the term transforming over time into roi des rats.[3] History[edit] Rat king

Read More

More about American Tunnel Rat Essay

Open Document