How Tall Were Tunnel Rats?
WouterTunnel rats were not the only animals that inhabited underground tunnels. A variety of other animals made these structures their homes, including giant bees, centipedes, snakes, bats, and even fire ants. These rodents claimed that the tunnels were their homes, and some of them even posed as booby traps. Often, they used gas to frighten the rats or suffocate them.
In addition to using explosives to kill the enemy, the Tunnel Rat had to avoid booby traps and other deadly obstacles in its journeys. It was also crucial to have a clear mind in order to successfully complete his missions, as the Viet Cong would rig their tunnels with C-4 explosives and flamethrowers.
Tunnel rats were small, thin, and highly skilled at hand-to-hand combat. Their favorite weapon was a small caliber revolver. Sometimes, the Tunnel Rats had to be protected from saboteurs with a variety of traps, including U-bends that could flood to drown the tunnel rats. In addition, poison gas was sometimes used to trap the Tunnel Rats, so they often wore gas masks.
The entrances to these tunnels were so well-camouflaged that soldiers couldn’t easily identify them. The Tunnel Rats slipped into these tunnels in order to gather valuable intelligence. The tunnels were also poorly lit, and regular patrols found the entrance, but they were difficult to find. Soldiers tried to blow them up with conventional explosives, but their efforts failed. In addition, the use of acetylene gas and oxygen with small charges worked best in shallow tunnels, but it was slow and cumbersome.
