During the Vietnam war the Viet Cong used a 200 KM long network of underground tunnels to combat the Southern Vietnamese and America.

My visit to these tunnels was really facinating.

Here is what I learned . . .

The tunnels were 80 cm wide by 1.5 meters high. I went into the expanded for western bodies section and it was still very clostrophobic and hot.

The tunnels were built over 20 years of warfare witht he occupying French.

16K people lived in the tunnels during the day and 20% were women.

The ground was made of clay so when America dropped Nelpalm the heat only served to strengthen the tunnel network.

The network was vast and difficult to navigate. It actually went right under an American base.

They had air holes every 30 meters that looked just like natural holes from tree roots and were often made by animals.

The south/Americans tried to use fire and water to get the V.C. out but that didn't work because they had ventilation and plumbing systems. They also tried to use dogs to sniff them out. The V.C. responded to this by using American soap and picking up american waste so that they smelled friendly to the dogs. They also put chili powder on the ventilation holes so that the dog's sense of smell would be impaired.

Finally, the American's sent soldiers called tunnel rats into the tunnels. I can not imagine how it is possible to psychologically prepare one self for this mission. Their job was to go into a dark network of booby trapped tunnels that they did not know how to navigate and be attacked by scorprions and cobras let loose by the VC as well as engage in hand to hand combat of the VC themselves. I have no idea what the casualty rate was for the tunnel rats but I would imagine it was very high.

The VC used bomb casings and unexploded bombs to make weapons and traps. They had 7 very painful looking traps that basically invovled stepping in the wrong place and falling into some sort of trap of metal spikes. Very Indiana Jones.

Because of their ability to squat and shoot, the VC had an advantage over the Americans who had to stand behind a tree or lay on the ground to shoot a gun.

Because of the type of sandals they wore, the VC were able to put them on backwards so that it was not clear which direction they were going/coming from.

I had not known how innovative and resourceful the VC were. It was really impressive. They were definitely a formidable foe. And their ability to blend in with the general population was also an advantage.

One thing the South/Americans were able to do was tell the VC by their sandal tan when they entered the cities.

My guide was sent to the US to learn English from '68 to '69 and served in the Navy in Vietnam beginning in 1970. In 1971 he started supplying info to the VC at the urging of his uncle. He said that his uncle didn't talk about Lenin and Marx and that he did not join b/c he believed in communism. He did it because he didn't want to be killing his fellow countrymen.

At first he mentioned that he worked for the Viet Minh and then he was very gung ho about how great the VC were. It took some questioning to figure out his story.

Based on the way he presented his story, his demeanor and his facial expression, I got the impression that he was not proud of what he did but he did what he did to survive. When his uncle was found out, he was shot in the neck by the Saigon police. Because of his involvement with the VC, he did not have to go to a re-education camp after the war.

For those that don't know, A re-education camp bascially was a hard labor camp. The Southern Vietnamese were forced to work very long hours doing very hard labor without enough food and then in the evenings they were taught the communist way. Many people spent 7 to 15 years in one of these camps.