In 1960 the world was a tense place. The Cold war had been drifting on for a number of years with the East and West ready to launch a tirade of nuclear warheads at each other. Whilst thankfully it had not yet turned hot, there were certainly sparks flying around the world. Vietnam was one such spark, similar to what had happened in Korea a few years earlier, the north Vietnamese under communist rule had invaded the south to try and unite the country. The South had called in their American allies who came in their thousands to fight communism. But whilst fighting the North Vietnamese, the Americans also faced another enemy in the South, the infamous Viet Cong
The Viet Cong were a communist army in South Vietnam that fought the Americans using guerilla warfare. They would ambush American soldiers in the jungles and hills and then somehow disappear without a trace. When the Americans tried following them they would come against booby traps that caused tremendous casualties. The Viet Cong were experts at guerilla warfare, one tactic in particular that they used was building enormous tunnel systems underground. This baffled the Americans who had never experienced this tactic before and found it incredibly difficult to combat.
A Viet Cong Soldier
Construction on these tunnels had begun back in the 1940’s during the war of independence against the French, but by the 1960’s the tunnel networks had been greatly expanded, such as the Cu Chi tunnel system near Saigon that spanned 250 Kilometres or 155 miles. Tunnels like the Cu Chi system were spread throughout south Vietnam. These tunnels were able to render American fire-power and technology pretty much useless, mainly because the US could not hit the tunnels even with heavy explosives from bombing. When they first began discovering the tunnels, the Americans had no idea how extensive they actually were. Unbeknown to the Americans, large numbers of civilians and Viet Cong moved below ground in which infirmaries, air raid shelters, store rooms, dormitory’s, military headquarters and even small arms factories were built. Conditions for the Viet Cong were not pleasant to say the least, the tunnels were built so small that it gave just enough room for the average Vietnamese to crawl through they were dark and riddled with deadly creatures including snakes, scorpions and centipedes. Literally thousands of Vietnamese lived underground for extended periods, sometimes for months on end, only emerging to tend their crops above ground. As battles raged overhead and with the Americans bombing the jungles, those in the tunnels remained in relative safety, schools were even built for the children who stayed down there!
The Viet Cong were a communist army in South Vietnam that fought the Americans using guerilla warfare. They would ambush American soldiers in the jungles and hills and then somehow disappear without a trace. When the Americans tried following them they would come against booby traps that caused tremendous casualties. The Viet Cong were experts at guerilla warfare, one tactic in particular that they used was building enormous tunnel systems underground. This baffled the Americans who had never experienced this tactic before and found it incredibly difficult to combat.
A Viet Cong Soldier
Construction on these tunnels had begun back in the 1940’s during the war of independence against the French, but by the 1960’s the tunnel networks had been greatly expanded, such as the Cu Chi tunnel system near Saigon that spanned 250 Kilometres or 155 miles. Tunnels like the Cu Chi system were spread throughout south Vietnam. These tunnels were able to render American fire-power and technology pretty much useless, mainly because the US could not hit the tunnels even with heavy explosives from bombing. When they first began discovering the tunnels, the Americans had no idea how extensive they actually were. Unbeknown to the Americans, large numbers of civilians and Viet Cong moved below ground in which infirmaries, air raid shelters, store rooms, dormitory’s, military headquarters and even small arms factories were built. Conditions for the Viet Cong were not pleasant to say the least, the tunnels were built so small that it gave just enough room for the average Vietnamese to crawl through they were dark and riddled with deadly creatures including snakes, scorpions and centipedes. Literally thousands of Vietnamese lived underground for extended periods, sometimes for months on end, only emerging to tend their crops above ground. As battles raged overhead and with the Americans bombing the jungles, those in the tunnels remained in relative safety, schools were even built for the children who stayed down there!