What were the Vietnamese traps during the war with the USA?

The Vietnam War took place between 1964 and 1975. Various countries participated in it, namely the USA, Vietnam, the USSR, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, China and the DPRK. This was another round of the development of the Cold War between the superpowers. The essence of the war was to obtain the whole of Vietnam as a satellite. The southern part of the country supported the American government, while the north was on the side of the Soviet Union. Thus, the war, which claimed many lives, had one goal: control of the country and the possibility of placing its military bases on it to control the entire Asia-Pacific region.

The US Army was ill-prepared for ground warfare, as it had no prior experience in jungle operations. Their form in the first years of the conflict was the same as always, because they stood out well in the foliage. At the same time, the Vietnamese had a camouflage uniform, and it was difficult to notice them in the thick grass.

As for armored vehicles, they also could not move through the jungle, so the Americans could only rely on their manpower and air support. Their aircraft immediately took a leading position in the war, but this situation was changed when the USSR entered the Vietnamese conflict on the side of North Vietnam. But not in direct confrontation, but began to supply the necessary equipment.

The Soviet aircraft turned out to be more technologically advanced, and the experience of the pilots acquired during the Second World War made it possible to shoot down American aircraft with minimal losses. However, NATO forces had complete superiority at sea, which made it possible to shell coastal territories from ships.

It is worth noting that the NATO army quickly realized its mistakes at the beginning of the conflict and made adjustments to the uniform, improved equipment. This made it possible to use it in the jungle.

Traps for American soldiers

Vietnamese soldiers were original in creating traps. This was the only effective way to fight, since weapons in Vietnam in the initial stages of the conflict were significantly inferior in quality to US weapons. A wide variety of methods were used to combat the invaders, so the following was applied:

• Improvised explosive devices;
• Punji trap regular and rotating;
• Whip trap;
• Bucket trap;
• Trap with closing sides;
• Trap-cartridge;
• Traps with spikes in the form of a cube;
• Standard extensions;
• Poisonous snakes;
• Mining;
• Exploding flags;
• Self-firing guns protecting the graves of ancestors.

These are the main Vietnamese traps that have become a real nightmare for the American army and its allies. No modern weapon could deal with them, so NATO forces were losing soldiers daily without a fight. You can read to learn more about guerrilla traps.

Poisonous "gifts"

In Vietnam, the Liberation Army often used traps, the main element of which was poisonous snakes. Usually used bamboo keffiyeh. It is also called the "three-step snake" because its venom is instantaneous. This is a small snake, which was hung by the tail at the level of the face. With its bite, the blood clotting process is disrupted in the body, and red blood cells are also destroyed.

The Vietnamese soldiers of the Liberation Army hid such snakes wherever possible: in bags, boxes, tunnels, in empty bamboo stalks. They were also thrown onto the trails where American troops were supposed to pass.

minefields

To mine the villages that had to be abandoned, Soviet-made anti-personnel mines were used. In addition to the villages, they mined large fields where the enemy should have or could be located. Absolutely everything was mined in the settlements: weapons, windows, doors, items that could be of interest to the invaders, and so on.

During the war, the symbolic meaning is the removal of the enemy flag from the flagpole. But often NATO soldiers blew themselves up. Considering that the battles were fierce, the first desire after the victory was to remove the flag, which fluttered in a conspicuous place. But when someone started pulling on the rope, he pulled the pin out of the grenade and exploded. When colleagues saw this, they ran up to the blown up fighter. At that moment, a more powerful explosion was heard, which significantly increased the losses of NATO forces.

Grave protection

Often in Vietnam, traps were set on the graves, as the invaders did not hesitate to avenge their fellow dead. Often a gun was placed in the grave. This trap could take one life. Also used "torpedo". There were many different types, for example, they installed a shotgun in a coffin. It fired when the lid was opened. Another type of such a trap resembled an anti-tank mine in principle.

Cube with spikes

Such traps were often installed during. It was a small metal cube with spikes. He did not kill, but he could neutralize an enemy soldier for a long time. So, the leg of an enemy soldier was damaged, and he became helpless. Moreover, two other fighters were neutralized, who were forced to carry the wounded man and his weapon.

About the Bamboo Trap

It was a great way to get rid of the marauders. This trap was set at the entrance to an abandoned house. When the enemy came in, a spiked stick was directed at him. In most cases, such a blow was fatal. The main blow fell on the head or on the stomach to crush the skull or rip open the insides. The same devices were sometimes used on small paths in the jungle.

About the whip trap

She also served as a kind of weapon to fight the Americans.

Outwardly, it was a stretch, but in which explosives were not used. So, a bamboo trunk with long stakes was bent and connected to a stretch. If someone touched the stretch, they received a powerful blow to the area from the knees to the stomach. Such weapons were rarely lethal, but made it possible to reduce enemy combat capability and negatively affected the morale of the enemy army.

Bucket Trap Nightmare

It is somewhat similar to Punji, but it used fish hooks set at an angle. The bucket itself was buried and disguised. If an enemy soldier fell into such a trap, he could not get out of it on his own. I had to dig out a bucket and deliver the victim to the medical unit. If someone tried to get out on their own, then the hooks dug into the leg more strongly.

Despite the fact that this is not a lethal weapon, with its help the number of enemy combat-ready soldiers decreased daily. For the manufacture required any bucket and a few fish hooks. Simplicity and cheapness made it possible to use such a device especially often.

I bring to your attention a selection of the most terrible traps that were installed by the Vietnamese partisans. The sight of some of them sent shivers down my spine. Not for the impressionable.

Homemade Vietnam War guerrilla traps: "Vietnamese souvenir". Pins were strengthened at the bottom, in addition, ropes connected to nails were pulled under a round platform. When a soldier stepped on an inconspicuous hole, closed on top with a piece of paper with leaves.

The leg fell through and he first of all pierced the leg with pins at the bottom, at the same time the ropes were pulled and the nails pulled out of the holes, which pierced the leg from the sides, while fixing it and preventing it from being pulled out. As a rule, the soldier did not die, but in As a result, he lost his leg, then receiving pins removed from his leg in the Saigon hospital as a keepsake. Hence the name.

This “basket” was placed in flooded rice fields or along the banks of rivers, hiding under water. A paratrooper jumps out of a helicopter or boat, OPA! - arrived...

They also put such grinders in which the soldier stuffed himself under his own weight.

And those awful spinning things...

For those who like to enter the house without knocking, simply knocking out the door with a valiant blow, they hung such a device above it:

During the Vietnam War (1964-1973), the Americans were faced with one unexpected and very unpleasant surprise - a large number of Vietnamese traps. Due to the natural features of the area - dense jungle, many rivers and swamps, as well as an underdeveloped road network, the Americans could not fully use vehicles, and were forced to rely on helicopters to move troops, in huge numbers. In the Vietnamese jungle itself, in the depths of the territory, American troops, having no other option, were forced to move and fight on foot. And this is in conditions of an average summer temperature of more than 30 degrees and one hundred percent humidity. It is also worth remembering what the rainy season is in Vietnam - when tropical rains almost non-stop go for several months, flooding vast areas with water. The protagonist of Forrest Gump talks about the rains in Vietnam like this:
“One day it started to rain and didn’t stop for four months. During this time, we have learned all kinds of rain: direct rain, slanting rain, horizontal rain, and even rain that comes from the bottom up.”

US Marines in troubled Vietnamese waters

Deep in the Vietnamese jungle

Helicopter Piasecki H-21 "Shawnee" transfers reinforcements and picks up the wounded. Vietnam. The beginning of the war. 1965

Soldiers of the South Vietnamese army on the march

Vietnamese swamp. Batangan. 1965

Air cavalcade from Bell UH-1 "Huey". 1968

A column of the 25th division on an armored personnel carrier M113 (APC) moves along the "federal" road Tau Ninh-Dau Tieng. 1968

In such specific conditions, when even a few dirt roads turn into an impenetrable mess, and the use of aircraft is problematic, the technical superiority of the American army is leveled to a certain extent and the Vietnamese traps become very effective and deadly.
Here are some of them.

The famous Punji trap - set in abundance on forest paths, near American bases, and being disguised under a thin layer of grass, leaves, soil or water, was difficult to detect. The size of the trap was calculated exactly for the foot in the boot. Stakes have always been smeared with feces, carrion and other bad substances. Getting a foot in such a trap, breaking through the soles with stakes and wounding almost certainly caused blood poisoning. Often had a more complex design.

pierced boot

Bamboo trap - installed at the door of rural houses. As soon as the door was opened, a small log with sharp stakes flew out of the opening. Often the traps were set in such a way that the blow fell on the head - if successful, this led to severe injuries, often fatal.

Sometimes such traps, but already in the form of a large log with stakes and a trigger mechanism using stretching, were installed on jungle trails.
In dense thickets, the log was replaced with a spherical structure. It should be noted that the Vietnamese often made stakes not from metal, but from bamboo, a very hard material from which knives are made in Southeast Asia.

Trap Whip Trap (trap-whip) - often installed on the trails in the jungle. To do this, a bamboo trunk with long stakes at the ends was bent and connected to a stretch through a block. It was worth touching a wire or fishing line (the Vietnamese often used it) and the released bamboo trunk with stakes hit with all its might in the area from the knees to the stomach of the one who hit. Naturally, all the traps were carefully camouflaged.

Large Punji is an enlarged version of Punji. This trap caused much more serious injuries - here the leg was pierced already up to the thigh, including the inguinal region, often with irreversible injuries in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe "main male organ". The stakes were also smeared with something bad.

One of the scariest big Punji - with a rotating lid. The lid was fixed on a bamboo trunk and rotated freely, always returning to a strictly horizontal position. On both sides, the lid was covered with grass and leaves. Having stepped on the platform cover, the victim fell into a deep hole (3 meters or more) with stakes, the cover turned 180 degrees and the trap was again ready for the next victim.

Trap Bucket Trap (bucket trap) - a bucket with stakes, and often with large fish hooks, dug into the ground, disguised. The whole horror of this trap was that the stakes were firmly fastened in the bucket at an angle downwards, and when falling into such a trap, it was impossible to pull out the leg - when trying to pull it out of the bucket, the stakes only dug deeper into the leg. Therefore, the bucket had to be dug out, and the unfortunate man, along with the bucket on his leg, was evacuated with the help of MEDEVAC to the hospital.

Trap Side Closing Trap (trap with closing sides) - two boards with stakes were fastened with elastic rubber, stretched, thin bamboo sticks were inserted between them. It was worth falling into such a trap, breaking the sticks, as the doors slammed shut just at the level of the victim's stomach. Additional stakes could also be dug into the bottom of the pit.

Spike Board trap (snake board) - these traps, as a rule, were installed in shallow reservoirs, swamps, puddles, etc. It was worth stepping on the pressure plate - and the other end of the board with stakes beat up with force and in the direction of the attacker. Successful operation often led to death. An example of such a trap triggering is from the movie "Southern Hospitality".

Vietnamese set up mass production of traps

Trap-cartridge pressure action in a bamboo container. Various cartridges could be used, including hunting ones with shot or buckshot.
Although all these traps look impressive, of course, the damage from them cannot be compared to mines and grenades on tripwires. Constantly mining the territory and placing banners, the Vietnamese managed to turn the presence of the American military on foreign land into a real hell.

"Pineapple" (pineapple) - grenades, high-explosive shells and other ammunition suspended from tree branches. Branches had to be cut in order to work. One of the most common traps during the Vietnam War.

Stretching - installed on the ground or close to it. The situation was aggravated by the fact that in the forest floor of the jungle, in the twilight, it is very difficult to notice the trap, and even more so in the forty-degree heat and one hundred percent humidity, which clearly do not contribute to concentration.

The photo from Vietnam shows a well-placed trip with a Chinese hand grenade in the grass. Even with the flash from the camera, it is very difficult to notice it.

Good frame. The explosion of ammunition at the base of the Marines as a result of sabotage. Vietnam. March 18, 1968

So that their own would not fall into traps, the Vietnamese developed a whole signal system from sticks, leaves and broken branches arranged in a certain way. An experienced person from these marks could determine not only that a trap was installed nearby, but also the type of this trap.

Signs about traps

This is not to say that the Americans did not fight this. The traps and signaling system were carefully and constantly studied. Regular classes were held with the personnel, pocket instructions were issued on traps and their disposal. At the head of the groups began to put miners.

Disarming a trap

For reports of found traps, local residents were paid rewards.
USMC trap reporting reward announcement

However, the US military still continued to fall into traps and undermine throughout the war.

It became one of the largest local conflicts of the Cold War period. According to the Geneva Accords of 1954, which ended the Indochina War, Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel into northern and southern parts. On July 16, 1955, the Prime Minister of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, announced that he would not comply with the Geneva Accords, and an anti-communist state would be created in South Vietnam. In 1957, the first detachments of the anti-Ziem underground appeared in South Vietnam, which began a guerrilla war against the government. In 1959, the support of the South Vietnamese partisans was announced by the North Vietnamese communists and their allies, and in December 1960, all underground groups merged into the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF), which in Western countries was often called the "Viet Cong".

The weapons used by the South Vietnamese guerrillas were very diverse. It had to be obtained in battles, by introducing secret agents into the enemy camp, as well as by deliveries from communist countries through Laos and Cambodia. As a result, the Viet Cong was armed with many samples of both Western and Soviet weapons.

Echoes of the previous war

During the Indochina War, which lasted from 1946 to 1954, the French army, which fought to preserve the French colonial possessions in Indochina, enjoyed the support of Great Britain and the United States, and the Viet Minh national liberation movement - the support of communist China. Thanks to this, the arsenal of the Vietnamese partisans in the early 60s was rich and varied in composition. The Viet Cong had submachine guns MAT-49 (France), STEN (Great Britain), PPSh-41 (China), PPS-43 (China), Mosin carbines and rifles (USSR), Kar98k carbines (Germany), MAS- 36 (France), Browning machine guns (USA), DP-28 (USSR), MG-42 (Germany). The most popular Viet Cong small arms were MAT-49, Kar98k, Mosin and PPSh rifles.

Viet Cong fighters with small arms
Source: vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net

American machine guns

Since the US entry into the conflict, American material support for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARV) has increased. Thompson and M3 submachine guns, M1 and BAR carbines began to enter the country. Some of these weapons immediately fell into the hands of the Viet Cong guerrillas, since many ARV servicemen were disloyal to the current government and willingly supplied their friends from « Viet Cong » . It is worth noting that after the AK-47 fell into the hands of the Vietnamese partisans, they happily abandoned American and British weapons, since Soviet machine guns outnumbered the enemy’s small arms. The only exception was the M3, which was very effective in close combat.

American soldier with an M3 assault rifle, Vietnam, 1967
Source: gunsbase.com

From factory to jungle

With the advent of the new American M-16 rifle in 1967-68, it also appeared in the arsenal of the Viet Cong. The "Black Rifle" (as the soldiers dubbed it) showed low efficiency during the fighting in the Vietnamese jungle. The barrel and action group of the emka supplied to Vietnam were not chrome plated, and there were no cleaning kits. All this led to the fact that the machine quickly clogged with soot and failed. For this reason, the M16 was not particularly popular with the Viet Cong guerrillas either. The new modification M16A1 was finalized taking into account the feedback received from the soldiers who fought in Vietnam, and in 1967 began to enter service with the American army. Unlike its predecessor, the M16A1 was readily used by both the Americans and the Viet Cong. The advantage of the modified emka was that it had a bayonet-knife, but it was significantly inferior to the AK-47 in hand-to-hand combat, since its butt often split after impact, which did not happen with the butt of a Soviet machine gun.

Partisan girl with M-16
Source: historicalmoments2.com

The controversial symbol of the "Viet Cong"

The M-1 carbine and the M3 submachine gun are considered symbols of the early guerrilla warfare in Vietnam - this primarily refers to units of local forces that did not enjoy sufficient support from North Vietnam. The light but powerful M-1 carbine was easy to operate and repair, and the M3 submachine gun was indispensable in close combat. You can find quite conflicting reviews about the M1 carbine. In the Vietnamese museum exhibitions dedicated to the guerrilla war in the jungle, it is presented as the main weapon of the Viet Cong at the initial stage of the war. At the same time, a number of experts point out that the M1 is more correctly called the best among the weapons available to the guerrillas, and with the advent of other types of small arms, the Vietnamese began to abandon the M1.

Partisan girl with M-1 carbine
Source: pinterest.com

"Red" weapon

The third stage in the development of the Viet Cong weapons base falls on the period of the Tet offensive of 1968. During the offensive, the guerrillas suffered heavy losses, and to make up for them, the People's Army of North Vietnam sent some of their soldiers to the south with weapons. The North Vietnamese soldiers were armed with the new SKS carbines, AK-47 assault rifles, and RPD machine guns made in China. The downside of this weapon was the high aiming range (for the AK-47 it was 800 meters, for the RPD and SKS - 1 kilometer) - excessive in Vietnam, where most of the shots were fired point-blank or from a very short distance. At the same time, the SKS proved to be excellent when firing from unprepared positions, which was very important for the Viet Cong fighters. The RPD used in Vietnam was significantly lighter than its predecessors, making it easy to carry. And the AK-47 became the most effective small arms of the Vietnam War in terms of the totality of its characteristics.

Vietnamese partisan with SKS carbine. Wax figure at the Vietnam Partisan Movement Museum
Source: en.wikipedia.org

Partisan air defense

The main weapon of the Vietnamese partisan air defense was the DShK heavy machine gun, which extremely poorly coped with the task of shooting down American aircraft. Partisan air defense worked more effectively against helicopters, but this efficiency was achieved more due to good camouflage. The Viet Cong machine gunners managed, without being noticed, to let the American helicopter into close range and release the first round. After that, the partisans lost their advantage and became a good target for helicopter pilots.

North Vietnamese soldiers with DShK. With the same machine guns that came to South Vietnam, the Viet Cong partisans tried to shoot down American helicopters

The article is based on the books by Alan Lloyd Peter »Back. Part 1: Across the Fence" and "Back. Part 2: Into the Jungle.

During Vietnam War(1964-1973) Americans faced one unexpected and very unpleasant surprise - a large number of Vietnamese traps. Due to the natural features of the area - dense jungle, many rivers and swamps, as well as an underdeveloped road network, the Americans could not fully use vehicles, and were forced to rely on helicopters to move troops, in huge numbers. In the Vietnamese jungle itself, in the depths of the territory, American troops, having no other option, were forced to move and fight on foot. And this is in conditions of an average summer temperature of more than 30 degrees and one hundred percent humidity. It is also worth remembering what the rainy season is in Vietnam - when tropical rains almost non-stop go for several months, flooding vast areas with water.

The protagonist of Forrest Gump talks about the rains in Vietnam like this:
“One day it started to rain and didn’t stop for four months. During this time, we have learned all kinds of rain: direct rain, slanting rain, horizontal rain, and even rain that comes from the bottom up.”

US Marines in troubled Vietnamese waters Deep in the Vietnamese jungle
Soldiers of the South Vietnamese army on the march
Vietnamese swamp. Batangan. 1965 Helicopter Piasecki H-21 "Shawnee" transfers reinforcements and picks up the wounded. Vietnam. The beginning of the war. 1965 Air cavalcade from Bell UH-1 "Huey". 1968 A column of the 25th division on an armored personnel carrier M113 (APC) moves along the "federal" road Tau Ninh-Dau Tieng. 1968
It was no better in the mountains of Vietnam. Shau ​​area

In such specific conditions, when even a few dirt roads turn into an impassable mess, and the use of aviation is problematic, technical superiority is leveled to a certain extent and Vietnamese traps become very effective and deadly.

Below are the most popular ones:

Punji

famous punji trap- in the set was installed on forest paths, near American bases, and being disguised under a thin layer of grass, leaves, soil or water, it was difficult to detect. The size traps was calculated exactly under the foot in the boot. Stakes have always been smeared with feces, carrion and other bad substances. Kick in such a trap, led to the penetration of the soles with stakes and an injury that almost certainly caused blood poisoning.

Bamboo

Trap Bamboo- installed in the doors of rural houses. As soon as the door was opened, a small log with sharp stakes flew out of the opening. Often traps set in such a way that the blow fell on the head - with a successful operation, this led to severe injuries, often fatal.

Sometimes such traps, but already in the form of a large log with stakes and a trigger mechanism using a stretch, were installed on the paths in the jungle.

In dense thickets, the log was replaced with a spherical structure. It should be noted that the Vietnamese often made stakes not from metal, but from bamboo, a very hard material from which South-East Asia make knives.

Whip Trap (trap-whip)

Trap Whip Trap (trap-whip)- often installed on jungle trails. To do this, a bamboo trunk with long stakes at the ends was bent and connected to a stretch through a block. It was worth touching the wire or fishing line (the Vietnamese often used it) and the released bamboo trunk with stakes hit with all its might in the area from the knees to the stomach of the injured person. Naturally, all traps were carefully camouflaged.

Big Punji

Big Punji- enlarged version Punji. This trap caused much more serious injuries - here the leg was pierced already up to the thigh, including the inguinal region, often with irreversible injuries in the area "major male organ". The stakes were also smeared with something bad.

One of the scariest big Punji- with revolving lid The lid was fixed on a bamboo trunk and rotated freely, always returning to a strictly horizontal position. On both sides, the lid was covered with grass and leaves. Stepping on the platform cover, the victim fell into a deep hole (3 meters or more) with stakes, the lid rotated 180 degrees and the trap was ready again for the next victim.

Bucket Trap (bucket trap)

Trap Bucket Trap (bucket trap)- a bucket with stakes, and often with large fishhooks, dug into the ground, disguised. All the horror of this traps consisted in the fact that the stakes were firmly fastened in the bucket at an angle downwards, and when they hit such trap it was impossible to pull the leg out - when trying to pull it out of the bucket, the stakes only dug deeper into the leg. Therefore, it was necessary to dig out a bucket, and evacuate the unfortunate, together with a bucket on his leg, with the help of MEDEVAC to the hospital.

Side Closing Trap

Trap Side Closing Trap (trap with closing sides)- two boards with stakes were fastened with elastic rubber, stretched, thin bamboo sticks were inserted between them. It was worth falling into trap, breaking the sticks, as the doors slammed shut just at the level of the victim's abdomen. Additional stakes could also be dug into the bottom of the pit.

Spike Board (snake board)

Trap Spike Board (snake board)- these traps, as a rule, were installed in shallow reservoirs, swamps, puddles, etc. It was worth stepping on the pressure plate - and the other end of the board with stakes beat up with force and in the direction of the attacker. Successful operation often led to death.

Trap-cartridge

Trap-cartridge push action in a bamboo container. Various cartridges could be used, including hunting ones with shot or buckshot.

Although all these traps and they look spectacular, of course, the damage from them cannot be compared with mines and grenades on tripwires. Constantly mining the territory and placing banners, the Vietnamese managed to turn the presence of the American military on foreign land into a real hell.

"Pineapple" (a pineapple)

"Pineapple"(a pineapple)- grenades, high-explosive shells and other ammunition suspended from tree branches. Branches had to be cut in order to work. One of the most common traps during Vietnam War.

Stretching- installed on the ground or close to it. The situation was aggravated by the fact that in the forest floor of the jungle, in the twilight, to notice trap very difficult, and even more so with forty-degree heat and one hundred percent humidity, clearly not conducive to concentration. In the photo from Vietnam - a well-installed stretching with a Chinese hand grenade in the grass. Even with the flash from the camera, it is very difficult to notice it.

Often under a grenade or other ammunition a thick bamboo vessel filled with a mixture of ammonia nitrate and diesel fuel was installed. This technique greatly increased the damaging effect of a grenade explosion. So, December 6, 1968 in Ho Chi Minh Trail, one such stretching led to the death of 5 Marines and injuries of varying severity to 12 more from the group.

Stretching was the most common trap during the Vietnam War.

Naturally, as in any other big war, the Vietnamese massively used various types of mines - the usual pressure action, jumping out, stretch marks, directed action, which were often set to be unrecoverable, land mines along roads to undermine vehicles and armored vehicles, as well as ambushes and sabotage behind enemy lines.

To in traps if they didn’t come across their own, the Vietnamese developed a whole signal system from sticks, leaves and broken branches located in a certain way. An experienced person from these marks could determine not only that a nearby trap, but also the type of this trap.

Signs about traps

It is worth noting that the North Vietnamese showed amazing resilience, determination and fearlessness in this war. They skillfully used their modest resources, as well as the natural and climatic conditions of their homeland, inflicting the maximum possible damage on the enemy.

This is not to say that the Americans did not fight this. Traps and signaling system carefully and constantly studied. Regular classes were held with the personnel, pocket instructions were issued on traps and their disposal. At the head of the groups began to put miners.

Miners at the head of the patrol. Vietnam. April 1972 Disarming a trap

For reports of found traps, local residents were paid rewards. However, the US military still continued to fall into traps and undermine throughout the war.