The Vietnam Tunnels

Improved Essays
I. Building the Tunnels
A).“ Communist forces began digging network of tunnels under the jungle of south Vietnam in the late 1940s, during their war of independence from french colonial authority.”
B) The tunnels were built over a period of 25 years, beginning sometime in the late 1940s during the war with the french.
C).The extensive network of tunnels extended from Saigon all the way to the Cambodian border. The Chu Chi tunnel system contained 130 miles of passageways
D). Communist guerrilla troops dug thousands of miles of tunnels under the cu chi area close to the south. The tunnels ranged from 6 feet deep to 50 feet deep with up to four different levels.
E).As a result of the US aerial war tactics the NVA troops moved underground to
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The Chu Chi tunnel system contained 130 miles of passageway. Communist guerrilla troops dug thousands of miles of tunnels under the cu chi area close to the south. The tunnels ranged from 6 feet deep to 50 feet deep with up to four different levels.As a result of the U.S. aerial war tactics the NVA troops moved underground to the tunnels.” By the end of 1970 over 4800 tunnels had been discovered by US and allied forces“ Only about 6,000 of the 16,000 soldiers who fought in the tunnels survived the …show more content…
The Tunnels were infested with rats, centipedes, scorpions, spiders, and vermin. Sickness spread quickly through the tunnels. Malaria was the second largest cause of death next to battle wounds.” U.S. and south Vietnamese forces trained soldiers known as “tunnel rats” to navigate the tunnels in order to detect booby traps and enemy troop presence.” NVA troops set up ambushes then escape into the tunnels. They also set up booby traps the hid in the tunnels. Battles in the tunnels usually were a fight to the death, They were very traumatizing experiences.
Some other uses for the tunnels were wedding halls, underground schools, public meeting places. Asians military used subterranean warfare. NVA troops often used underground passage ways to infiltrate. Subterranean warfare began in Asian cultures Russia’s new tunnels were the way to go while fighting. The tunnels were hard to counter and provided quick getaways. There were many ways used to try and destroy the tunnels. The most effective ways of clearing tunnels were specially trained troops known as Tunnel Rats. Some semi effective ways of tunnel destruction were charges placed at critical structural points of the tunnels. Tubes filled with liquid explosive were used to collapse up to 15 feet of overburden. “ Some of these were destroyed by using a combination of acetylene gas,

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