War's soldiers showed bravery, faced huge risks

In Vietnam, there were two types of volunteers that were at high risk of being killed.

One group was the long range recon patrols and the other was the "Tunnel Rats." As the old saying goes, to do this type of action required the person to have a lot of bravery, or as the soldier’s would say big balls.

The long range recon patrols, were a small group of soldiers, that were dropped by helicopter, maybe six to 10 miles from home base in enemy territory. Their mission was to work their way back to base through enemy territory and report what they saw. They were not to engage the enemy, the Viet Cong. Of course many were caught and killed, but in the main, most made it back OK.

The other group was the Tunnel Rats. The Viet Cong in some particular areas had tunnels underground to hide from the American troops. Some tunnels were very extensive and even had open spaces where they had sleeping quarters and even first aid hospital areas. Our tunnel rats were mostly smaller soldiers who were sent to the small tunnels. Their mission was to go into the tunnel, crawl silently and kill the Viet Cong. Can you imagine the bravery this took. Could you have done it? Of course many tunnel rats were themselves killed.

There is a movie on Amazon Prime about these soldiers and it is depressing.

Roger Gregory is a Vietnam veteran, serving in the 1st Infantry Division, and is business owner in Priest River.