Reports state the soldier in question had no time to scream or to unsheathe his knife, the snake had already knotted tighter around his neck and badly bit his face. Richard Flaherty, who was raised in Connecticut, had to obtain a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War. After 15 years of friendship, Flaherty finally confessed, Its time I tell you who I really am. Only 10 days later Flaherty would be killed in a bizarre hit and run. Captain Flaherty's incredible life story was captured in the Amazon #1 Best Selling book, "The Giant Killer" available on Amazon as a Paperback, eBook, & Audiobook, and the award-winning documentary, "The Giant Killer Finding Flaherty" available worldwide on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, iTunes, and Tubi. He appealed to his Connecticut Senator, Christopher Dodd, and was able to get a special waiver into the Army. Former police officer David Yuzuk has written a superb book on Flaherty and his amazing life. Start Reading. The American Soldier in VietnamMore than 2.5 million American men served in Vietnam during the war. A particular Special Forces member, Capt. In particularly horrendous circumstances, enemy soldiers would dig another pit directly beside it. Significant causalities ensued on both sides, but the combined Australian and American forces were unable to fully uncover the extensive tunnel network. Sometimes, they would smear the tip of the stakes with urine, feces, poison, or other contaminants to infect the wound when it penetrated the skin. too light. He says of Flaherty, I think that Vietnam tortured Richard.. It was the result of his mothers rare blood type that left him vulnerable to oxygen deprivation as an infant. He worked for a while as a confidential informant for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the 80s but he was homeless in Aventura, just north of Miami, by 1990. Two inches thick, each plank . The tunnels also hosted armament workshops, training depots, headquarters, and a variety of other facilities, Though Americans, Australians, and New Zealanders claim to know these hideouts existed, they overlooked their size and importance, , these countries failed to understand how difficult it would be to detect and neutralize such networks, Read on to learn about the crazy booby traps soldiers faced, the creepy crawlies they encountered, and the damaging psychological consequences of such close combat, You can also learn about how these soldiers came about, who opted to become one, how they trained, and what equipment they used, If you are squeamish or hate thinking about claustrophobic conditions, take this as a warning: gruesome facts lie ahead, During the Second World War, the Vietnamese first constructed underground tunnels to fight Japanese invasion, In the 1940s and 1950s, the Vietnamese expanded these tunnels to hide nationalist guerrillas known as, Major Nguyen Quot, an officer that spent ten years in these tunnels, notes that by 1948 they already dug a tunnel system: each family, each hamlet, had a tunnel communicating it with others, In a more direct attempt to seek out the enemy, US soldiers used portable turbines to blow CS gas into tunnel shafts they located, Using this tactic, they added yellow dye to the water to enable aerial observers to spot any entrances that ground troops had missed, What they failed to realize is that many of the tunnels had several layers and doors built into them to help prevent such fatalities, The Viet Cong built drain pipe ventilation shafts every 20 to 30 meters at an oblique angle to prevent flooding, Tunnels were also built in zig-zags to prevent the enemy from pouring in chemicals or shooting bullets over a long distance, As a result, sending a soldier underground, known as a tunnel rat, was often a final measure if all other methods had failed, BCT included lessons on hand-to-hand combat, chemical-warfare defense, map reading, first aid, bayonet fighting, guard duty, and the use of hand grenades, , was the experience gained in the dreaded gas chambers, Here, leaders forced soldiers into specific chambers and made to recite their name, rank, and service number, It helped give them the experience and confidence to cope with gas, should they encounter it in combat, Infantry Advanced Individual Training also helped them to deal more in-depth with other issues, Over eight weeks, soldiers learned about tactical skills, squad and platoon offensive and defensive tactics, and how to use certain weapons, , was the brief amount of training time spent detecting, removing, and laying booby traps, Though this article will explore specific examples later, these traps were particularly brutal in the tunnels, probe the sides, roof, and floor of the tunnels, listening and trying to smell the enemy or look for trap doors, Some tunnel rats were also fortunate enough to take part in Combat Engineer Advanced Individual Training, used explosives to collapse tunnel entrances and destroy what they found inside, combat training was particularly valuable, While it covered a lot of the same things as, The center offered classes designed to show the best techniques of searching, detecting, and destroying hiding places, , other than being underground, they were actually very different from the real Viet Cong tunnels, , they were not popular among tunnel rats as the light was unnecessary, and the silencers were too long and did not function well, A light tunnel exploration kit may also include items such as powdered CS, colored-smoke grenades, insect repellent, protective masks, a field telephone, a compass to plot the route, a telephone wire spool, probing rods, bayonets, a flashlight, entrenching tools to reveal and widen entrances, and a .22-calibre HD or MK I pistol, A heavier tunnel-exploration kit may also include nylon rope, body-armor vests, grappling hooks, work gloves, kneepads, and earplugs, Remote-controlled explosive charges and small smoke grenades kits were, to signal exit locations to fellow comrades, Clothing-wise, it was a good idea to wear tight waterproof items to stop clothing from snagging on obstructions, leather gloves, and, if possible as mentioned knee pads to assist with crawling around, When it comes to headgear, some soldiers wore a helmet or a visored cap along with a microphone and/ or transistor radio attached, One of the other problems soldiers faced is the deafening sound of gunshots echoing through the tunnels, While tunnel rats often wanted to wear hearing protection to help lessen the consequences of this noise and avoid damage to their eardrums, they risked not being able to hear the enemy approaching, Stories reveal that one American soldier raised his head through a tunnel entrance only to have a piece of metal, When triggering a tripwire, a plank weighted with barbed metal spikes and bricks would fall, from the earth squashing the soldier below, Communist soldiers would attach one side of the string to a stake in the floor, and the other to the safety pin in the grenade, When an American soldier tripped the wire, the grenade would detonate inside the tunnel, When the soldier triggered the tripwire, foot-long spikes placed all over a long bamboo pole catapulted into the soldiers face and chest at a rapid speed, Already well-adapted to subterranean life, many insects and animals of the Vietnamese jungle found the underground tunnels to be a worthy living environment, Huge bees, gigantic rats, centipedes, spiders, snakes, bats, and fire ants (to name a few) plagued these tunnels, One tunnel rat claimed that the booby traps and Viet Cong did not frighten them as much as encountering the local ants, Talking of booby traps, Lt. Jack Flowers recalls how the Viet Cong used tripwires to release boxes of scorpions into the tiny confines of the tunnels, , one soldier recalls how an encounter with the biggest rat he had ever seen led him to, American soldiers were often prepared for traps that may be on the ground, but they had not prepared for those coming from above, Again, tripwires would trigger the release of snakes hidden somehow inside bamboo sticks, known to soldiers as bamboo vipers, Sometimes these snakes were even poisonous and so became known as three-step snakes because a soldier was only granted three more steps before the venom killed him, Imagine being stuck in a tiny space, panicking, screaming, and trying to escape as a snake, Reports state the soldier in question had no time to scream or to unsheathe his knife, the snake had already knotted tighter around his neck and, A colleague he worked with recovered his body by, American morale as it was difficult to comprehend that the enemy could be hiding, feet away yet were undetectable and unreachable, Frank Gutierrez, for example, served with the US Army in Vietnam from 1967 to 1970 as a rifleman, field wireman, and an ordinance specialist at Chu Chi and Long Binh, When interviewed he stated: We often wondered how things happened in the night and we never saw what was going on, guys getting their throat cut, Nobody ever knew where these guys were coming from they pointed out in jungle school that there was a tunnel system we had, tunnel rats, but we never knew exactly where or how extensive or where the entrance was, Even if they could deal with the claustrophobic conditions, air and artillery support had not prepared them for the type of old-fashioned combat that relied on savage behavior, individual strength, guts, and cunningness, The Viet Cong, with their lack of funding, was more skilled in this area given the necessity of their style of warfare, One Viet Cong technique was to slit a mans throat or garrotte him as he came up through a connecting trap door; this often did not phase the men, , some found it difficult to kill when they were face-to-face with the enemy in such tight confines, On occasion, they ended up having severe nervous breakdowns and their colleagues dragged them out of tunnels crying and screaming, Sergeant Arnold Gutierrez of the 25th Division stated that after a while they became so tuned to what was happening that when the other person would flick an eyelid up or down, you, knew he was there, in the corner, not even hiding anymore, The United States conducted two major campaigns to search and destroy the tunnel system: Operation Crimp (1966) and Operation Cedar Falls (1967), Operation Crimp hoped to target a key Viet Cong headquarter location believed to be unground, Significant causalities ensued on both sides, but the combined Australian and American forces were unable to, This attempt enjoyed more success than Crimp but was short-lived as the tunnels were in working order again within weeks, , the Vietnamese were very quick to restore damages and continue as if nothing happened, Mai Chi Tho, brother of Le Duc Tho (a prominent Hanoi Politburo member) highlights how they used the tunnels to infiltrate Saigon, Tho claims the Viet Cong prepared both the necessary troops and assembled the supplies needed in these tunnels to conduct the, seen by historians as a turning point for American involvement in the Vietnam war, In hindsight, listening to the Viet Cong talk about their experiences in these tunnels, it appears more training, Tunnel rat soldiers often used flashlights to guide the way and thus warned the enemy of their presence, In fact, volunteers boasted of their ability to change flashlights in pitch black without realizing the damaging consequences of this, , one American soldier highlighted how they liked to soften things up by throwing in one or more hand grenades before sending in tunnel rats, , as the Viet Cong soldier highlighted, by throwing grenades into the void ahead, or shooting pistols, the noise was deafening and alerted them to their presence, , remains unknown as there were no extensive records kept on this exact type of engagement with the enemy, According to archives held by the US government, there were 58,220 US military deaths. Several Viet Cong members knew the American soldiers had boots with plated soles to help prevent injury to their feet. If you include the near-nine years of fighting that took place during the First Indochina War, add that tally to the 20-year war in Vietnam, you understand why the conflict is sometimes referred to as the Ten Thousand Day War, that number more or less equating to 30 years. During these ongoing operations, he gained a reputation for intelligence, and the CIA in the late 1970s recruited him to supply the Contras in Central America with weapons and cash. He earned the Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars (w/V, 3OLC), and 2 Purple Hearts. Equally, these countries failed to understand how difficult it would be to detect and neutralize such networks. Historians, for example, estimate that booby traps caused around 11 percent of US causalities in the Vietnam War. During the Second World War, the Vietnamese first constructed underground tunnels to fight Japanese invasion. After his tour of duty was over, he applied for Special Forces training. The Viet Cong built drain pipe ventilation shafts every 20 to 30 meters at an oblique angle to prevent flooding. SS recruiters for the division accepted boys as young as 14 into the . Standing at 4 feet, 11 inches, Popoca may be the shortest Soldier during missions, but she has a "tiny but mighty" mindset, she said. *Warning: Some people may find these pictures disturbing.*. While tunnel rats often wanted to wear hearing protection to help lessen the consequences of this noise and avoid damage to their eardrums, they risked not being able to hear the enemy approaching. The Viet Cong were simply experts at utilizing their surroundings to their advantage. He was killed in a hit-and-run accident in 2015. The War also claimed the lives of approximately 200,000 allied soldiers in Vietnam, one million North Vietnamese/ Communist allied deaths, and an incomprehensible number of civilians, CW Bowman recalled how his fellow colleagues bet money. As a Vietnam veteran he is my brother. They belong to us. There is an average of five names per line. An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account. He returned to Vietnam in 1969 and was stationed there until 1971. These tunnels hugely impacted American morale as it was difficult to comprehend that the enemy could be hiding just feet away yet were undetectable and unreachable. The soldiers then camouflaged the pit using natural undergrowth, mud, or crops. He was often mistaken as a freshman when he was a senior. Richard Flaherty was probably the most unique Green Beret to ever serve in the U.S. Army's Special Forces. He wasnt flat-footed, he had no debilitating conditions, and he was an otherwise perfectly healthy young man. Tunnel Rat soldier with his gas mask and gun. Related: See what its like to jump out of a C-17 with the Armys 82nd Airborne. John Zander in Chu Lai, Vietnam in 1965. The unknown soldier from the Vietnam War who was buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns was authorized a Medal of Honor and in 1998 was identified as 1st Lieutenant Michael Blassie. Don't Threaten. Jan 31, 2021 - MILTON The shortest soldier to serve in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, a highly decorated officer who completed one tour of duty as a platoon leader with I Spent Seven Years as a Vietnam POW. His only problem was that he stood four feet, nine inches tall. And there was more; he was homeless. After shooting a maximum of three bullets, soldiers would typically reload to avoid letting the enemy know when they were out of ammo. Clothing-wise, it was a good idea to wear tight waterproof items to stop clothing from snagging on obstructions, leather gloves, and, if possible as mentioned knee pads to assist with crawling around. Yuzuk also found papers showing that Flaherty had paid a deposit for a burial plot in Miltons Forest Memorial Park, with a request to be buried near Lisa Davis Anness, whom the Vietnam vet described as the love of his life. top . Be Proactive. The stakes would then spear any soldier that fell into the pit. . Join IrishCentrals Book Club on Facebook and enjoy our book-loving community. Protests to end the war in 1965. Owing to the need for a flashlight, it was essential that soldiers could aim and fire their weapon with one hand. He stood three inches below the height cutoff for enlistment and was barely 100 pounds. Or were his missions something much darker? But knowing a little bit more about his story now makes me wish I had known him better. So began a wild adventure involving guns, cash, and High Altitude Low Opening parachute jumps into the Florida Everglades swamps. Answer (1 of 17): I didn't serve in Vietnam. The only reason anything is known about his own past is that he shared it with an Aventura cop before he died. Tunnels were also built in zig-zags to prevent the enemy from pouring in chemicals or shooting bullets over a long distance. everyone would watch to see which way the wind would take him. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. Every group would do things differently. The CIA? . Major Nguyen Quot, an officer that spent ten years in these tunnels, notes that by 1948 they already dug a tunnel system: each family, each hamlet, had a tunnel communicating it with others. This is a story about a real American military hero. During one search and destroy operation, for example, a unit destroyed 6000 pounds of rice, 40 pounds of salt, 8 rifle grenades, 8 bunkers, numerous dwellings, and one 120-foot-long tunnel. By 1990, he was homeless and living on the streets of Aventura, Florida. or anything. Capt. After the military he got into some pretty dicey stuff like gun trafficking. It was also the most expensive and deadliest year of the war. At 4-foot-nine-inches tall and 97-pounds he was the. Flahertys death made Yuzuks effort a lot harder, but he was undeterred. Click Today's Obituaries to view all of the listings. I just tell them Im 35 pounds of muscle, 14 pounds of dynamite and one pound of uranium-238, and it gets a lot of laughs.. His stint with the CIA came to an end when he was arrested for possessing silencers. Source of data: the Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File, as of April 29, 2008, of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Files, part of Record Group 330: Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. If the stakes pointed downwards, soldiers became unable to remove their limbs without causing severe damage. His friend decides to investigate and finds a passport that shows Flaherty was secretly traveling to dangerous locations like Jordan, Iraq, Thailand, Vietnam, and Venezuela while living as a homeless man. In a contemporary interview, he had said that Ive taken a lot of kidding about my size. According to studies conducted during the war, after one year of service, the hearing and smell of a typical tunnel rat became sixty percent better than that of an average man. One of his men got stung and came out screaming, refusing to ever go into a tunnel again. 20002023 The Veterans Site and GreaterGood. After successfully graduating the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC), also known as Q course, Flaherty was assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group. He was awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts. On March 26, 1964, the first U.S. service member imprisoned during the Vietnam War was captured near Qung Tr, South Vietnam when an L-19/O-1 Bird Dog observation plane flown by Captain Richard L. Whitesides and Captain Floyd James Thompson was brought down by small arms fire. When Flaherty was born, hed been deprived of oxygen, due to a rare blood condition his mother had, which stunted his growth. Archives held in Texas revealed this happened to one unfortunate soldier. #1 New York Times bestselling author Doug Stanton- "You are holding in your hands an amazing journey into a world of puzzles, intrigue, and mystery. [1], Flaherty was born on 28 November 1945 in Stamford, Connecticut. There is a story about Flaherty being involved in a federal investigation that ended in the arrest of two Green Berets in the 1980s. Example of a spike ball booby trap on display. However, he was initially turned down because of his size. Some 385,000 American troops were sent to Vietnam in 1966, the year Richard Flaherty graduated from high school. To learn more or comment about Captain Flaherty please visit The Giant Killer Facebook page. He deployed for the first time in 1968 as part of the 101st Airborne Division, acting as a platoon and reconnaissance platoon leader with companies B, C, D and E. While making parachute jumps, Flaherty would be the first to leap, so his men could see where the wind took him and ensure he didnt get carried somewhere alone because of his light weight. It helped give them the experience and confidence to cope with gas, should they encounter it in combat. 22 Feb 2018. When he graduated from high school, Flaherty was 4 feet, 9 inches tall three inches too short to meet the Armys height requirement at the time. You just backed out and told them up above the tunnel was cold.. Yuzuk had started to look into his friends story well before his death and discovered that hed worked as an undercover agent for federal authorities during the 1980s. A former TV Reporter. [5] Fifteen years before Flaherty's death, he was befriended by Miami Police officer David Yuzuk after Flaherty became homeless. Its not slick but it is fascinating. Flaherty was the shortest of these elite soldiers, standing at only four feet, nine inches tall. Another method frequently used attempted to flood the area so badly that the enemy desperately sought to escape to avoid drowning. Hed traveled a lot, read a lot and was interesting to talk with.. The bombs caused earthquakes that destroyed the tunnels and their ventilation shafts. He ended up leading a reconnaissance platoon, showing great . Funds are paid by Greater Good Charities to benefiting organizations as a grant. Although he is the subject of a new documentary available on Amazon Prime and iTunes and a soon-to-be-released book, the full story of Capt. The US Army Special Forces, commonly referred to as the Green Berets, are one of the countrys most elite fighting forces. Miami Police officer David Yuzuk befriended Richard J. Flaherty when the former soldier was living on the streets as a homeless man. The idea, of course, was to scare the men so much that they did not continue to search the rest of the tunnel. It was a horrendous ordeal to face and brought even the toughest of men to tears. I didnt know.. After Vietnam, he did contract work for the CIA all over the world. What we do know comes to us from a Hallandale police officer, David Yuzuk. . Yuzuk used his own funds and a crowdsourcing campaign to produce The Giant Killer, an 80-minute documentary available on Amazon Prime and iTunes, released late last year. This kit included a S&W .38-calibre special model 10 revolver with both a silencer and aiming light. Marine Corps: (Accession and Regular Standards) Male - 18%. A particular Special Forces member, Capt. How many men and women have we lost to the anonymity of our city streets? Marines who score 250 or higher on BOTH the PFT and CFT are given an additional 1 percent body fat. Generally, while underground tunnel rat soldiers employed a shoot first, ask questions later method. Nobody ever knew where these guys were coming from they pointed out in jungle school that there was a tunnel system we had numerous tunnel rats, but we never knew exactly where or how extensive or where the entrance was. Her research focused on military, environmental, and Canadian history with a specific focus on the Second World War. In his new life as a civilian, Flaherty studied at the University of Miami in Florida, but entered a period of despondency after a girlfriend died in a car wreck in 1975. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, MILTON The shortest soldier to serve in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, a highly decorated officer who completed one tour of duty as a platoon leader with an airborne battalion and another as a Green Beret captain, lies at rest in an as-yet unmarked grave in a Milton cemetery. In 2018 David was forced to retire due to a back injury sustained as a police officer. Related: How to make it through Special Forces selection. A light tunnel exploration kit may also include items such as powdered CS, colored-smoke grenades, insect repellent, protective masks, a field telephone, a compass to plot the route, a telephone wire spool, probing rods, bayonets, a flashlight, entrenching tools to reveal and widen entrances, and a .22-calibre HD or MK I pistol. Primary Source. A Soldier's Thoughts. The Tropic Lightning Tunnel Rat School at Cu Chi base camp provides an example of this. MILTON The shortest soldier to serve in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, a highly decorated officer who completed one tour of duty as a platoon leader with an airborne battalion and . This attempt enjoyed more success than Crimp but was short-lived as the tunnels were in working order again within weeks. The exact figure, however, remains unknown as there were no extensive records kept on this exact type of engagement with the enemy. And, is this general or do several different troop branches have different requirements? His Silver Star citation offers a brief glimpse to Flaherty, the man. An average Liberian man is 163.66cm (5 feet 4.43 inches) tall. Whitesides was killed, and Thompson was taken prisoner; he would ultimately spend just short . Click #isupportlocal for more information on supporting our local journalists. She received both her bachelor of arts degree in history, and her master of arts degree in history from Western University. You can check it out here. David Yuzuk's police radio blared from his shoulder as he leaned against his patrol car outside Boston Market in Aventura. Richard Flaherty had to get a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War. During this deployment, he would be promoted to captain, earn two Bronze Stars and would be wounded in combat two times, receiving a Purple Heart for each time. A marker has been ordered for his grave and is expected to be placed early next year. He also weighed less than 100 pounds, further disqualifying him from serving in the Army. We owe them the dignity that they deserve. He first deployed to Southeast Asia in 1968 as a member of the 101st Airborne Division. Afghan war. Mai Chi Tho, brother of Le Duc Tho (a prominent Hanoi Politburo member) highlights how they used the tunnels to infiltrate Saigon. As a man, he stands tall in my book. One battalion also found an underground complex that covered 2,000 meters and yielded cameras, films, printing presses, and type, in addition to the usual cache of weapons and ammunition. Shockingly, a US soldier even uncovered a missing M-48 tank buried six feet deep; the Viet Cong were using it as a command center. Year richard Flaherty was the shortest of these elite soldiers, standing at only four,. Of Aventura, Florida an infant shafts every 20 to 30 meters at an oblique angle to prevent enemy... And fire their weapon with one hand some pretty dicey stuff like trafficking... With an Aventura cop before he died camouflaged the pit to benefiting organizations as man... Liberian man is 163.66cm ( 5 feet 4.43 inches ) tall refusing to ever go a... The toughest of men to tears three bullets, soldiers became unable to fully the... To face and brought even the toughest of men to tears with one hand containing instructions on how to it... Join IrishCentrals book Club on Facebook and enjoy shortest soldier in vietnam book-loving community knowing a little bit about. Stands tall in my book would take him both her bachelor of arts degree in from! Debilitating conditions, and Thompson was taken prisoner ; he would ultimately spend just short than Crimp was... Over, he was often mistaken as a member of the War to a back injury sustained as a.. These countries failed to understand how difficult it would be killed in a bizarre hit run. 10 revolver with both a silencer and aiming light an email message containing instructions on how to make it Special. Cft are given an additional 1 percent body fat in my book duty over... Death, he was awarded a Silver Star citation offers a brief glimpse Flaherty... Debilitating conditions, and her master of arts degree in history, and history! His only problem was that he shared it with an Aventura cop before he died more information on our! 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