Tunnel rat
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- This article is about the team of soldiers involved in underground missions. For the group of urban explorers, see The Tunnel Rats.
The tunnel rats were American, Australian and New Zealander soldiers who performed underground search and destroy missions during the Vietnam War. In the course of the war, the Viet Cong created very extensive underground complexes (see Củ Chi tunnels). Whenever troops would uncover a tunnel, Tunnel Rats were sent in to kill any buried enemy and to plant explosives to destroy the tunnels. A Tunnel Rat was equipped with only a semiautomatic M1911 handgun and a flashlight.
The tunnels were very dangerous, with numerous booby traps and enemies lying in wait. Often there were flooded U-bends in the tunnels to trap gas. Guards manned holes on the sides of tunnels through which spears could be thrust impaling a crawling intruder. Not only were there human enemies to deal with, but also different creatures such as snakes, spiders, scorpions, ants, and bats.
Due to the confined space, the tunnel rats disliked the massive muzzle blast of the M1911 pistol, which would often leave the tunnel rat temporarily deaf, and it was not uncommon that they used whatever alternative handgun they could come across. The Soviet-made pistols the enemy carried were particular favorites, but they were extremely rare, and the soldiers would often have someone at home send them a civilian pistol or revolver. Among the favorites were the German Luger and Walther pistols, many of which were brought home by returning American troops. Others would trade their pistols for revolvers used by other personnel. Many used improvised suppressors on their pistols to further reduce the noise.
Tunnel Rats were generally men of smaller stature, and were often of Puerto Rican descent.
[edit] References in fiction and popular culture
- The Tunnel Rats is the name of a punk rock band from New Hampshire.
- The Tunnel Rats is the name of an Australian urbex group.
- Tunnel Rat is hip-hop slang for a graffiti writer that specializes in subway tunnels.
- Tunnel Rats is also the name of a Christian hip-hop group based in Los Angeles
- Tunnel Rat is the code-name of the fictional G.I. Joe's own tunnel expert.
- The nickname "tunnel rat" is given to people that frequent a vertical wind tunnel.
- In the film Forrest Gump, Gump (Tom Hanks) was seen crawling out of a tunnel in the Vietnam War story, holding a M1911 pistol.
- Frederick Forsyth's 2003 novel Avenger features tunnel rats.
- The Black Echo (1992), an Edgar Award winning detective story by Michael Connelly, features Harry Bosch, a former Vietnam tunnel rat. This first story about Bosch uses details from the Vietnam tunnels as its backstory. [1]
