Part of the tunnel complex at Củ Chi.

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. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Search and Destroy, or Seek and Destroy, or simply S&D, refers to a military strategy that became a notorious element of the Vietnam War. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... A Viet Cong soldier, heavily guarded, awaits interrogation following capture in the attacks on Saigon during the festive Tet holiday period of 1968. ... Part of the tunnel complex at Củ Chi. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... The M1911 is a single-action, semiautomatic handgun chambered for the . ... A Browning 9 millimeter Hi-Power Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century, using a Percussion cap mechanism Derringers were small and easily hidden. ...

Tunnel rats preparing to place charges and make connections for detonation

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. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (794x1000, 152 KB) Source : http://www. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (794x1000, 152 KB) Source : http://www. ... This article is about an antipersonnel trap designed for use against humans. ...

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. A Browning 9 millimeter Hi-Power Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century, using a Percussion cap mechanism Derringers were small and easily hidden. ... rEVOLVEr (2004) is the fourth studio album release by Swedish thrash metal band The Haunted. ... The Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum), popularly known as the Luger pistol is a semi-automatic self-loading pistol patented by Georg Luger in 1898 and manufactured by Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) starting in 1900. ... Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen is a German arms manufacturer. ... HK Mark 23 with a suppressor AR-15 with Gemtech baffle suppressor (ref) A suppressor (popularly known as a silencer, although no suppressor silences a firearm completely), is a device attached to a firearm to reduce the amount of noise and flash generated by firing the weapon. ...

Tunnel Rats were generally men of smaller stature, and were often of Puerto Rican descent.

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]

Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... The Tunnel Rats is an Australian urban exploration group, number well over a thousand members, it has a special focus on exploring urban infrastructure and subterranian cavities, be they natural or otherwise. ... An urban explorer stands near the outfall of a muffin shaped brick and concrete storm drain, under Saint Paul, Minnesota. ... In sociology, a group is usually defined as a collection of humans or animals, who share certain characteristics, interact with one another, accept expectations and obligations as members of the group, and share a common identity. ... Tunnel Rat is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe series. ... 1960s Action Soldier Adventure Team circa 1973 G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a line of military-themed toys produced by the toy company Hasbro. ... A vertical wind tunnel (VWT) is a wind tunnel which moves air up in a vertical column. ... Forrest Gump is a 1985 novel by Winston Groom, a 1994 film adaptation, and the name of the title character of both. ... Thomas Tom Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American film actor, Emmy winning director, voice-over artist and movie producer who starred in family-friendly and screwball comedies before achieving notable success as a dramatic actor in well written plum roles in Philadelphia... The M1911 is a single-action, semiautomatic handgun chambered for the . ... Frederick Forsyth. ... THE AVENGER is a archetypal Forsyth tale in which the action-packed scheme uses real world events as a milieu for a non-stop thriller. ... The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. ... Michael Connelly (born July 21, 1956) is an American author of detective novels, notably those featuring Hieronymus Harry Bosch. ... Detective Hieronymus (IPA: ) Harry Bosch is a recurring literary character created by Michael Connelly. ...

External links

• Australian Tunnel Rats
• Poem written about a Tunnel Rat