When tunnels became discovered, the rats went in armed with their own preferences of weapons, including .38-caliber revolvers, .25-caliber pistols, sawed-off shotguns, folding-stock carbines, grenades, bayonets and boot knives. Most helpful for tunnel rats, however, was the brief amount of training time spent detecting, removing, and laying booby traps. APOCALYPTIC OVERLANDING - We Built The Ultimate End-Of-The-World Vehicle! All rights reserved. A few silenced pistols made their way to Vietnam and some of them were used by the tunnel rats. The Tunnel Rats of Vietnam Tunnel Rats and Their Weapons. The M1911 gave a man a sense of confidence. Instead of having long, straight passages, the tunnel systems incorporated angles, which prevented light, bullets and shrapnel from traveling very far. The earpieces blocked the most important tool the rats had in the dark—their ears. The VC tunnel systems may have appeared to be nothing but a hole in the ground, but in truth they were quite sophisticated. They pressed the fight even deeper and flushed over 150 enemy soldiers out of the tunnels. Often, the enemy fled the approaching tunnel rats, leaving behind troves of intelligence documents. Then check out the Springfield Armory 1911 Mil-Spec .45 ACP. I was. The assassins’ cell later identified, and its members then captured and executed. For purposes of clarity, I consent to Athlon's collection, storage, processing, and transfer of my Personal Data and Non-Personal Data (as defined in the Privacy Policy) for the purpose of signing up for the email newsletter. articles are considered to be suggestions and not recommendations from Springfield Armory. Vietcong was also known to use live body traps against tunnel rats such as venomous snakes, spiders, or scorpions. When the M1911 pistol was designed, it is unlikely that it was ever envisioned to be used in a dark, damp tunnel, not much wider than a man’s shoulders. Tunnel rats tested equipment built with great intentions, but not necessarily the best idea about conditions underground in Vietnam. Sometime in late May or early June of 1969 I came across an tunnel, let the powders to be about it. This system funneled North Vietnamese Army during the Tet Offensive as a part of sustaining continuous guerrilla tactics against the U.S. military’s ground forces. It was a multiple-threat environment in Vietnam, even underground. These units were given the autonomy to develop their own techniques to eliminate the embedded enemy. The GIs also had to negotiate mines and makeshift, trip-wired grenades set throughout the darkness. Lurking in the warren of dark, hot, humid, tunnels, the tunnel rats might find boobytraps, snakes, venomous insects, weapons caches, or a weapon in the hands of a very live VC. The pistols that were carried by the tunnel rats were varied, the .38 Smith and Wesson was a favourite. The two tunnel rats scurried away and flattened themselves; however, the shrapnel shredded their legs. I was told it was the largest intel fined for the 1st half of 1969 for the 25th Inf. He survived multiple engagements, killed many enemy, and once saved two wounded tunnel rats. These ferociously compact men of courage were a spear that drove into the heart of the Vietcong and NVA operating in Vietnam’s Iron Triangle. Just one of the dangerous risks of the tunnel rat’s job was becoming lost underground. ISSUE 17 On Sale Now! These men devoted their complete concentration to the sights, smells, touches and sounds they relied on to survive. at that time. Eight-person teams within the 1st Infantry Division were the first cellar dwellers willing to traverse the over-150 miles of hand-dug, subterranean labyrinths built by Vietnamese communist guerrilla fighters in the Cu Chi district northwest of Saigon. These men of mayhem were usually of limited stature, but they possessed infinite courage and tenacity. Their mission was to wage war against an enemy deep within the bowels of Vietnam. Besides enemy combatants, the tunnels themselves presented many potential dangers to tunnel rats. These underground GIs could remain in communication with their above-ground sister elements. Air Traffic Controller USAF KUNSAN ROK 78-81 HOME OF THE WOLFPACK…RH. It would be the job of US ‘tunnel rats’ to search these tunnels. You can also pick up a back issue of Skillset at OutdoorGroupStore.com! An attractive Parkerized finish and a 7-round magazine rounds out the package. I was called the” Crazy Medic or Doc Holiday” I will go along with A Co 2/12th ID said about the BS. The latest content straight to your inbox plus an automatic entry to each of our monthly gun giveaways! It was a small group of men made up of soldiers from the US 3rd Infantry Brigade, the 173rd Airborne, and the 1st Infantry Division as well as the 1st Royal Australian Regiment, whi… Personal weapons were used by the rats, ranging from .25 caliber automatics to sawn-off shotguns. The tunnel rats had a nickname for the dark, tight confines of the tunnels:  the “Black Echo.”. MPs, helicopter crews and grenadiers, too. The Vietcong also turned Mother Nature into weapons by using scorpion-filled boxes rigged with trip wires. Tunnel rats in Vietnam updated their profile picture. More about their exploits are in the pages of The Tunnels of Cu Chi by Tom Mangold and John Penycate. I didn’t go inside for the longest time. For almost every American soldier who carried one in Vietnam, the pistol represented a “back-up” weapon. These tunnel systems could hide thousands of Vietcong which helped them fight their guerrilla war. I was good at finding entries into the tunnels. Since the enemy instinctively fired at lights, a headlamp was a sure-fire way to receive a bullet to the brain. CW Bowman, Gerry Schooler and Art Tejeda spent days maneuvering through the tunnel complexes, clearing and … Surgeon was on my ass about it. After that i learn and self tough myself and tunnel ratted for about 4 months after that. Robert Batten, known as “Batman,” was the backbone of one of the most lethal tunnel rat elements in Vietnam. His deep dives into historical research keep him (mostly) out of trouble and, yet, too often away from the rifle range. In the early 1960s, the next generation of communist guerrillas (this time the Viet Cong) improved these tunnels, eventually expanding them to include underground storehouses, barracks, manufacturing facilities and even hospitals. One shot was enough to end the argument. The complex maze of passages was a defense system unto itself. The U.S. effort to run a Tunnel Rat school was not par- They were the American tunnel rats of the Vietnam War. Pete Rejo flew home at the end of his third tour in Vietnam and became a U.S. citizen. During a call out to a series of hot tunnels, the rats cleared passages for several days. 1 of the team attached to that platoon. The latest content straight to your inbox plus an automatic entry to each of our monthly giveaways. Live The Armory Life. With scores of stolen souls to his name, Sgt. From these tunnels the enemy launched fire missions, and then they would disassemble the artillery guns and scramble below surface in teams, carrying each piece into hiding. Officers and crew-served weapons’ crews often carried them. I looked at letting these tunnel go by unexplored was stupid. Other tunnel rats procured their own personal firearms to suit their own needs. Many tunnel rats came to dislike the intense muzzle blast of the 45 caliber round. This allowed tunnel rats to have free hands, but lights tended move when hit against tunnel ceilings and walls. I don’t know how many tunnels I went down, but I was a lot. As my dear old Dad used to say: “Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” Many GIs believed that big .45 ACP pistol was worth the extra weight. After the tunnel rat teams disbanded following extensive U.S. bombing campaigns that destroyed many of the Vietcong’s tunnel systems, Staff Sgt. Welcome to your new temporary home, the sewers. If left alone long enough after picking up loot, they will bury i… for A Co 2/12th, 25th ID in 1968, one of two volunteers in our company. Lack of Communication. Tunnel Rats is a dark and intense single-player shooter for PC that depicts the horrific realities of the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of a … The all-volunteer units’ esprit de corps was displayed through the creative patches they wore on their uniforms. At the third door, they switched positions, and the lieutenant, now at point, pushed open the trap door above him. They are the one’s that pull out the items. Live The Armory Life. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I was a combat Medic with “D” Troop 3/4 Cav. One thing that the tunnel rats were always sure they could find underground - a quick death. It made me mad at myself to not going in. My uncle Gustamontes was one of these brave men and told me many of heroic stories of him in the tunnels and had the scars all over his back to prove it. While the overall design of the pistol hearkens back to the 1911A1 — from its spur hammer to its arched mainspring housing and short trigger — it has modern upgrades like a stainless steel match grade 5″ barrel, lowered and flared ejection port, and three-dot sights. Similar weapons have appeared in other films made in South Africa, such as District 9, Dangerous Ground or Chris Ryan's Strike Back. Tunnel Rats starts at 2:35 Walkthrough. If somebody would go down they would get my 45 auto to use. The rugged pistol soldiered on, sturdy and reliable as ever. While infantry companies were lobbing mortars, laying down suppressive fire and maneuvering with H-harnesses, helmets, rifles and rucks, the T-shirt-wearing, bare-headed tunnel rats were crawling through earthen tunnels with angle-head flashlights in one hand and pistols in the other.
Odd Man Out, Cinnaminson Accident Route 130, I'm Gonna Be Strong, Jenni Rivera Reality Show, Why Does Hydrochloric Acid Fume, Damsels In Distress Meaning, Weapons Used In The Siege Of Tobruk, Come Strapped Meaning, Disassemble Lifetime Basketball Hoop, A Change Of Heart, Jesus Barabbas In The Bible,