So I watched TV tonight ...
 

"Secret Passageways,"

History channel, awesome documentary on the Vietnam passageways the Vietnaese dug, and how while Bob Hope was doing his song and dance, 25 feet below them, were tunnels of Vietnamese people mocking the American solders above them.

Wow.

:1orglaugh

The Discovery Channel, the History channel, and TLC...ROCk...I wish they had a cable plan that had those 3 and the cartoon network...that's it.

Don't forget Biography, A&E, Science (Discovery), & History International. Oh and Playboy.

Dude you gota watch TV....it's all real man...:1orglaugh

The Discovery Channel :)

way to go!
if i'd have to choose 3-4 channels only, i'd choose exactly these 4 above
including cartoon network =)

What? No Sci-Fi channel?

my brother-in-law was a "tunnel rat" in nam. never recovered, is dead today. in case noone knows what it is, you go down in the tunnels & fight hand to hand combat in the dark. the winner stays alive. thats it in a nut shell.

Thats exactly what I was watching dude.

Saw some interesting stories of Tunnel Rats and what those guys did . Flushing out the Viets.

Your brother in law was one brave motherfucker to go in there man. RIP

The tunnels covered hundreds of miles, villages and towns, all connected over years of digging, they used the tunnels way before the war though..

What I thought most disturbing was the way the Vietnamese caught on to some soldiers gettting in the tunnels and started making them dip down into huge "U" shapes, then filled them with water, so a solder coming into the tunnel would have to swim through the U and come up on the other side, where of course Vietnamese werwe waiting for the ripples with guns, soon as the ripples came, they shot Americans in the water.

They showed the tunnels and even had Vietnamese soldiers who were there explain why every 10 feet were corners to reduce Americans from being able to shoot fafr in the tunnels and the Vietnamese booby trapped all the entrances. Which is exactly why you mjentioned hand to hand combat, those guys had spears and knoves in the tunnels, and every 10 feet was a 90 degree corner, so around the corner were your enemy, every 10 feet.

They said, they were reponsible for 11% of the Dead Americans in Vietnam.

when i was in Saigon in January - it seemed a big highlight for many tourists was visiting these tunnels as a day trip. The ones near Saigon are called I believe Chi Chi tunnels. There were lots of buses headed that way everyday.

yes he was. He physically survived but mentally he was dead. I cried like a baby when I heard he died.

My father was a tunnel rat in 'nam as well..to this day, he still gets flashbacks and is extremely claustrophobic...

the thing that fucked him up the worst is that the VC's would often send women and children into the tunnels and he never knew who he was fighting/killing until they were dead...

he's been talking about writing a book about the experiences, but says it's too hard to think back to events like that...

He should, if he went through that, he should.

I would read it.

As into horror as I am.

The footage I saw last night was spooky, they showed the caves, and full rooms dude, rooms bigger than the average garage for sure, and then ant farm like tunnels, pitch black and maze-like underground ant farms.

Matter of fact, as I mentioned, 25 feet below from where GI's were having fun with Bob Hope, they shows the grand ballroom of the Vietnamese, with a 30 foot table having a huge dinner in an underground ballroom, 25 feet below our Solders... chilling.

They mentioned that claustrophobia became an issue, and especially in those who made it back.

I'd have to say. let it go. let it go. don't go back.

PBS Front Lines :thumbsup