Cu+Chi+Tunnel

The Cu Chi Tunnel

The Cu Chi Tunnel was the largest tunnel in the Viet Cong. It stretched 75 miles long. The tunnel had a kitchen, hospital, sleeping rooms, gun depots, meeting halls, and theaters for Vietnamese entertainment. It started out as a place to hide but then it became a place for warfare. The South Vietnamese used knifes, grenades, cobras, tripwire, scorpions, killer bees, fire ants and spiders to line the tunnel with booby trap. The tunnel was 2-4 stories deep. There were 6 entrances to the tunnel, one of them was underwater. The entrances were hidden for sneak attacks. The VC hid their entrances so Americans couldn’t see. It was located in the jungle of the VC. The tunnel rats were a term used for Americans, Australians, and New Zealanders. The tunnel rats called the tunnel “black echo.” They used a .45 cal pistol, flashlight, and a smoke grenade. Some people didn’t use a .45 because it was to loud so some people used a Lugar, revolver, or Walther. They were the most dangerous and had the biggest responsibility of the war. They crawled alone in the tunnels armed with only a pistol smoke grenade and a gas mask. There were more deaths in the tunnel for other reasons then being shot. It was about a 10:1 ratio of shot dead to other reasons. The Cu Chi tunnel was the most famous area for battle. The main reasons other than being shot was malaria, or battle wounds. There was a huge case of malaria, which had troops scared to go in the Cu Chi. Today the tunnel is a museum for anyone to go in and crawl around in. Although they widened the crawling area so people can crawl it is all the same today. It now is the main tourist attraction in South Vietnam.

Sources

Eyewitness Books- Vietnam War Wikipedia.com CuChiTunnels.com