What was the life expectancy of a tunnel rat in Vietnam?

The life expectancy of a tunnel rat is about two seconds." Garza described the underground tunnels as treacherous. "You would go into a hole and come out 10 or 15 miles away. There were houses down there and hospitals," Garza noted.

What was the survival rate of a tunnel rat?

Our tunnel rat unit was small, with at most 120 men in the country at any time, and a total of around 700 who served from 1965 to 1972. During that period 36 of us were killed and around 200 were wounded, giving us a casualty rate of 33 percent, high even by Vietnam War standards.

What was the average height of a tunnel rat in Vietnam?

Tunnel rats were generally men of smaller stature (165 cm (5 ft 5 in) and under), who were able to maneuver more comfortably in the narrow tunnels.

How many tunnel rats died in the Vietnam War?

There were never more than 100 Tunnel Rats in country at any one time and around 700 in total. There were 36 killed and 200 wounded. A rate of 1 in 3.

How many soldiers were bitten by snakes in Vietnam?

The United States Archives and other sources suggest that between 25 and 50 American soldiers a year were bitten by snakes during the war in Vietnam. Some 10,786 American soldiers died of non-combat causes, including 9,107 by accidents and 938 due to illness. Snake bites were not specified.

Why Vietnam War TUNNEL RAT Job Was so DEADLY

Do the tunnels in Vietnam still exist?

Now part of a Vietnam War memorial park in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), the Cu Chi tunnels have become a popular tourist attraction.

Who is the most famous tunnel rat?

One of the American "Tunnel Rats" in Vietnam, Garza was chosen, because of his slight stature, to venture into the narrow, pitch-black passageways of the tunnels. Garza's unit was stationed near Parrot Peak in Cambodia during the Vietnam War in 1969.

Are there any Tunnel Rats still alive?

Today, some of the tunnels used in the war still exist, preserved and maintained by the Vietnamese government. Visitors can crawl through sections of the tunnels used by Vietcong troops and Tunnel Rats alike – but now, at least, there are no mines, booby traps or poisonous snakes to contend with!

How long were the Viet Cong tunnels?

Tourist destinations

The 75-mile (121 km)-long complex of tunnels at Củ Chi has been preserved by the government of Vietnam, and turned into a war memorial park with two different tunnel display sites, Ben Dinh and Ben Duoc.

What was it like to be a tunnel rat in Vietnam?

To fellow GIs, these ''Tunnel Rats'' were cocky members of a spit-and-polish clique who kept to themselves, ridiculed rank, disdained drugs and self-doubts, and exulted in jobs that no sane man would do. --chased them through stinking ratholes to oblivion.

What were spider holes in Vietnam?

"Spider hole," the phrase used to describe Hussein's hiding place, is a term from the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong created networks of tunnels with well-camouflaged holes. When fighting began, they could pop out of these holes or disappear into them.

How many North Vietnamese were killed during the war?

In 1995 Vietnam released its official estimate of the number of people killed during the Vietnam War: as many as 2,000,000 civilians on both sides and some 1,100,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters.

Why did Viet Cong use booby traps?

Many were designed to maim instead of kill – not only did this mean other soldiers were required to remove their wounded colleagues which hampered operations, but it also meant the traps were a psychological weapon as word about them spread.

What was fragging in the Vietnam War?

In the Vietnam War, the threat of fragging caused many officers and NCOs to go armed in rear areas and to change their sleeping arrangements as fragging often consisted of throwing a grenade into a tent where the target was sleeping.

What division were Tunnel Rats in Vietnam?

"The most dangerous part would be psyching up to get into the tunnel," Carl Cory says, a former 25th Infantry Div Tunnel Rat. "That was the part that was most frightening because you didn't what you were getting into."

Where did the most casualties take place in the Vietnam War?

The war persisted from 1955 to 1975 and most of the fighting took place in South Vietnam; accordingly it suffered the most casualties. The war also spilled over into the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos which also endured casualties from aerial and ground fighting.

How did Vietnam tunnels not collapse?

Once the US forces stopped bombing North Vietnam in 1969 the B-52s turned to full-scale carpet bombing of the Cu Chi and Iron Triangle area (Figure 2). The resilient soil tunnels cemented with iron oxide could withstand the 1966 to 1968 US bombing onslaught and any damage was quickly repaired.

What was the life expectancy of a helicopter door gunner in Vietnam?

Over 10% of Vietnam casualties were helicopter crew members, and most of those were the door gunners that protected the helicopter, its crew, and its transports, from their exposed position. The average lifespan of a door gunner on a Huey in Vietnam was just two weeks.

What is a two step snake in Vietnam?

During the Vietnam War, American soldiers referred to the many-banded krait as the "two-step snake," in the mistaken belief that its venom was lethal enough to kill within two steps. The many-banded krait gathered worldwide attention after a juvenile individual bit Joe Slowinski on 11 September 2001 in Myanmar.

What was the life expectancy of a helicopter pilot in Vietnam?

“They were short of gunners on helicopters, because the life expectancy was somewhere between 13 and 30 days,” he said. “I had no experience behind a . 60 caliber machine gun.”

How many US soldiers died in Vietnam?

The Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files contains records of 58,220 U.S. military fatal casualties of the Vietnam War. These records were transferred into the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration in 2008.