This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. If the army located an entrance and needed it explored, the team lowered a tunnel rat into the area to scout out the surroundings. He knew he wanted to enlist, but was faced with a problem: he was too short. too light. He was successful and joined the US Army. Tweets from https://twitter.com/heralddispatch/lists/hd-news-4. All rights reserved. Here are some of the most powerful pictures taken by Larry Burrows during his coverage of the Vietnam War. Flaherty took Yuzuk to a storage locker he rented to pull out photos and documents that might be useful in the documentary, and they returned several times in the following weeks until May 9, 2015 the date Flaherty was struck and killed by a hit and run driver near his palm-shaded campsite. Tiger traps were also particularly violent. Standing at 4 feet, 11 inches, Popoca may be the shortest Soldier during missions, but she has a "tiny but mighty" mindset, she said. An average Liberian woman is 155.66cm (5 feet 1.28 inches) tall. On the other hand, combat troops had nearly an even chance of getting wounded, roughly 50%. He led a charge, which succeeded in pushing out the enemy. A Soldier's Thoughts. Your e-mail address will be used to confirm your account. In a contemporary interview, he had said that Ive taken a lot of kidding about my size. In the war's moral outrages, crimes and betrayals, many saw the US empire for the first time. Former police officer David Yuzuk has written a superb book on Flaherty and his amazing life. Share with Us. In hindsight, listening to the Viet Cong talk about their experiences in these tunnels, it appears more training certainly would have benefitted the American cause. During these ongoing operations, he gained a reputation for intelligence, and the CIA in the late 1970s recruited him to supply the Contras in Central America with weapons and cash. This kit included a S&W .38-calibre special model 10 revolver with both a silencer and aiming light. Yet, both of these tactics were not as successful as they hoped. Several Viet Cong members knew the American soldiers had boots with plated soles to help prevent injury to their feet. After the military he got into some pretty dicey stuff like gun trafficking. In 2018 David was forced to retire due to a back injury sustained as a police officer. How many men and women have we lost to the anonymity of our city streets? He returned to the U.S. that same year to attend the Army Special warfare School at Fort Bragg, where he earned his green beret. Grenade traps were another form of booby trap placed along the base of tunnels. An example of a classic punji booby trap. Most likely a member of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" which sustained 43% casualties during the Normandy campaign. He returned to the US at the end of his tour and attended Special Forces Officer Course at Fort Bragg. You just backed out and told them up above the tunnel was cold.. Thankfully, Richard Flahertys story lives on, as he shared it with David Yuzuk, a local police officer, before his death. Richard Flaherty of Stamford, Connecticut was not one of them. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Even at those odds, you will lose and I will win. Join IrishCentrals Book Club on Facebook and enjoy our book-loving community. While it covered a lot of the same things as infantry training, it focused more on map reading, knot-tying, navigation, use of hand and power tools, camouflage, constructing barbed-wire obstacles, mine laying, and mine detection. [1] Flaherty was born to a mother who, unknown to her, had a blood type that made her second-born son vulnerable to oxygen deprivation in his infancy, which stunted his growth. A colleague he worked with recovered his body by dragging his violet-colored corpse out of the tunnel. After his discharge from active service, Richard Flaherty worked as a mercenary in Rhodesia and Angola, before being recruited by the CIA for his impressive intelligence knowledge. One of the huge psychological issues for tunnel rats was the closeness of combat. . Remote-controlled explosive charges and small smoke grenades kits were primarily to signal exit locations to fellow comrades. Answer (1 of 17): I didn't serve in Vietnam. Just 10 days before Flaherty's death, Flaherty told Yuzuk his story. TIMES STAFF WRITER. My three-year journey of discovery dragged me down the rabbit hole of CIA conspiracies and the hunt for stolen classified weaponsstretching from the bloody jungles of Vietnam to the dangerous streets of Iraq and Venezuela, all in search of the peripatetic Green Beret Captain Richard J. Flaherty, Yuzuk said. As a result, sending a soldier underground, known as a tunnel rat, was often a final measure if all other methods had failed. Richard Flaherty was probably the most unique Green Beret to ever serve in the U.S. Army's Special Forces. The War also claimed the lives of approximately 200,000 allied soldiers in Vietnam, nearly one million North Vietnamese/ Communist allied deaths . February 24, 2023. 10,422 Vietnam War Soldiers Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images. Lance Corporal Robert A. Bishop explores a Viet Cong tunnel complex found by Leathernecks of the 2d Battalion, 26th Marines. A former TV Reporter. In 1967, Flaherty attended Army Officer Candidate School (OCS) and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the infantry and assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. Retired, David enjoys writing, walking on hikes, and spending time with his dog Simon. racist or sexually-oriented language. In addition to exposing himself to enemy fire while leading the charge on the bunker, Flaherty displayed extraordinary heroism while engaged in close combat with a well dug-in enemy force, in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.. His height was no object, however, and he put . Shortest U.S. M. His Silver Star citation offers a brief glimpse to Flaherty, the man. Yuzuk said none of the relatives or companions of Flaherty or Anness he has spoken with was aware of a relationship between the two. By REP. SAM JOHNSON. Since completing her degrees, she has decided to take a step back from academia to focus her career on writing and sharing history in a more accessible way. Lieutenant Flaherty then personally directed and assisted the 90 Millimeter recoilless rifle team in an assault of the enemy bunker, braving up the intense hail of hostile fire. After DNA testing confirmed his identity, the remains were removed from the tomb and returned to Blassie's family, but the Medal of Honor remained as a tribute to those . While tunnel rats often wanted to wear hearing protection to help lessen the consequences of this noise and avoid damage to their eardrums, they risked not being able to hear the enemy approaching. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy. Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelhammer@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5169 or follow. Richard Flaherty had to get a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War. The primary focus of his time in the CIA was supplying the Nicaraguan Contras in Nicaragua. Similarly, Operation Ceder Falls attempts to uncover and destroy the tunnel system. The incompatibilities in the blood caused hormonal imbalances and stunted his growth. Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! He stood three inches below the height cutoff for enlistment and was barely 100 pounds. You had to be a minimum of 5 feet tall and weigh at least 100 lb. Finding out about him and what he had done since graduating from high school has put me through a roller coaster of emotions. Soon after, Flaherty is killed by a hit-and-run driver. [But] They were the ones you never killed. Alternate title, "Dating on tinder when you're 5'11" or shorter". He was the shortest US serviceman in history. Vietnam-era Radiomen life expectancy was 5 seconds. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. BTS will be on hiatus until all seven members complete their mandatory military service in South Korea. While braving the intense hail of hostile fire, Lieutenant Flaherty displayed astute direction and leadership, leading to the enemy bunker being swiftly destroyed and allowing his platoon to advance and continue its devastating attack on the enemy, according to the citation for the Silver Star Flaherty was awarded for the action. After his tour in Vietnam, he returned to the U.S. and attended the Special Forces Officer Course at Fort Bragg. Richard J. Flaherty may never be known. Sometimes these snakes were even poisonous and so became known as three-step snakes because a soldier was only granted three more steps before the venom killed him. This is a dangerous condition that can lead to serious complications for the fetus or even death. Flaherty was the shortest of these elite soldiers, standing at only four feet, nine inches tall. As mentioned previously, tunnel rat soldiers were a last-ditch attempt and not the usual go-to solution. Somewhere along his path, Flaherty became homeless. Of course, the local Vietnamese population designed the tunnels with their own size in mind. In all fairness, that number was on the more extreme side of estimates. Copyright 2023 Military.com. But due to the Vietnam draft they would have likely taken him anyway if that was his only disqualifier from serving. He returned to Southeast Asia in 1969 and remained there until 1971 when he left the Army. Punji stake traps found in the tunnels highlight one of the most disgusting and feared examples of Vietnamese booby traps. He served as an A Detachment Commander and Liaison Officer. Richard Flaherty returned to the U.S. and trained at the Army's Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, becoming a member of the Green Berets. Send the smallest soldier to clear the VC ratholes. Again, tripwires would trigger the release of snakes hidden somehow inside bamboo sticks, known to soldiers as bamboo vipers. This was devastating news to Yuzuk. Although the driver fled the scene, they were eventually caught. Be Nice. We'll send breaking news and news alerts to you as they happen! So for a combat soldier, there was about a 10% chance of being killed in action. Vietnam Veterans represent the largest cohort of American Veterans in . The link to . Later that year, he was reassigned to the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Devens. After all, it was a very stressful and dangerous job. After Vietnam, he did contract work for the CIA all over the world. I quote the half-inch ants have such a powerful bite that to pull them off means losing a bit of skin. Twenty-year-old Mike . This article was originally published 1/7/2021. He had spent his last years alive homeless. The Viet Cong were experts at creating very sophisticated tunnel systems that would sometimes be so large that they could be used as company-sized staging areas for hiding and for rest, even for hospital facilities. In particularly horrendous circumstances, enemy soldiers would dig another pit directly beside it. Next, the Viet Cong would dig a pit and jam the punji stakes upright in it. Since tunnel rats extensively used explosives to collapse tunnel entrances and destroy what they found inside, combat training was particularly valuable. 22. One American man was trying anything to get in. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. He was often mistaken as a freshman when he was a senior. Maybe the best way to do that is to find better ways to deal with the problem of veteran homelessness in our own cities and towns. Throughout the battle, he repeatedly exposed himself to the hostile fire in order to better direct the suppressive fire of his squads. By April 1968, Flaherty was a paratrooper and a platoon leader with the 101st Airborne Division. May they rest in peace. During that 13-month tour to Vietnam, Flaherty received the Silver Star and two Bronze Stars for valor, respectively, the third and second-highest award for bravery under fire, and was wounded three times. Its not slick but it is fascinating. It was the result of his mothers rare blood type that left him vulnerable to oxygen deprivation as an infant. He went back to Southeast Asia with the 46th Special Forces Company as a Special Forces Operational Detachment A (SFODA) commander. One American man was trying anything to get in. This early condition stunted his growth. After Flahertys death, Yuzuk kept digging, researching, and confirming. The army sent in tunnel rat soldiers with the aim of locating the enemy, finding their resources, and cutting off their supplies. When interviewed he stated: We often wondered how things happened in the night and we never saw what was going on, guys getting their throat cut. Not until 1995 did Vietnam release its official estimate of war dead: as many as 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. Finally, this list will look at how successful these attempts were in the grand scheme of things. Soldiers who are not fluent in another language will attend six to 18 months at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) prior to AIT. More from us: Phil Bucklew: The Father of US Naval Special Warfare. The Marines have adopted a new program as of January 2017. He becomes a mystery to family and friends alike. The US army now sought alternate measures. One tunnel rat claimed that the booby traps and Viet Cong did not frighten them as much as encountering the local ants. each comment to let us know of abusive posts. His life may have ended tragically, but it was also a life that included real heroism and self-sacrifice. Nguyen Van Vuong started as a soldier in the North Vietnamese Army in 1966 and ended his service in 1971 after contracting malaria. He had crossed the DMZ back into South Vietnam where he was shot as he was recaptured. His friend decides to investigate and finds a passport that shows Flaherty was secretly traveling to dangerous locations like Jordan, Iraq, Thailand, Vietnam, and Venezuela while living as a homeless man. What are we doing that causes the disease of homelessness? If you look at all of the things the radio operators were tasked with, it becomes abundantly . We can imagine that it may have had something to do with his Vietnam combat experiences. Yuzuk had started to look into his friends story well before his death and discovered that hed worked as an undercover agent for federal authorities during the 1980s. Photo credit: Funker530. Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. Owing to the need for a flashlight, it was essential that soldiers could aim and fire their weapon with one hand. T he man in the picture keeps his eyes to the ground. In riveting rifle, rucksack style author, David Yuzuk takes you deep into the jungles of Vietnam to walk in the combat boots of America's smallest soldier, Richard Flaherty. Abandoned by the CIA, Flaherty locates a smuggling ring stealing tons of explosives including a classified weapon from inside a U.S. Army base, and signs on to work the investigation undercover with the Federal law enforcement agency the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. One of the prerequisites for and provisions of the accords was the return of all U.S. prisoners of war (POWs). Photo credit: Rare Historical Photos websites. In fact, volunteers boasted of their ability to change flashlights in pitch black without realizing the damaging consequences of this. 58,169 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.59 million who served. everyone would watch to see which way the wind would take him. . Richard James Flaherty was born on November 28, 1945. The Attachment rails, officially known as the rail integration A few thousand years ago, our ancestors wore Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! He said he hopes the movie makes people think twice before being dismissive or hateful toward the homeless, many of whom are veterans, and make politicians think carefully before sending American men and women to foreign places to kill people. Primary Source. He came home from Vietnam after his second tour and moved to Hallandale, Florida, where he worked for a time with the U.S. In the end, his life has as much mystery in it as it does accounts of real grit and heroism. 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