James AndersonVietnam Booby Traps and Mouse Tunnels1959-1975Period 6The Viet Cong was a political organization and had an army in South Vietnam that fought the US and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War. It had both guerrilla and regular army units. They used warfare tactics that were somewhat unknown to that generation of American soldiers. Those tactics were called booby traps and guerrilla warfare. Vietnam was fought in a jungle, that is, very dense with vegetation, which makes the jungle an ideal place to set up some nasty booby traps. The Viet Cong often found well-known American patrol routes and set dozens of booby traps waiting for American prey. As more and more American soldiers became aware of the grave threat of booby traps, they found themselves under enormous physiological pressure. Just the thought that every step you take could be your last would literally drive some people crazy. American soldiers in Vietnam had never seen anything like it before; they were fighting an enemy they couldn't even see. These Viet Cong launched surprise attacks at night, then suddenly disappeared into the jungle. If the US Marines attempted to pursue the Viet Cong, they would find themselves in a jungle full of booby traps waiting to detonate on an unexpected victim. This strategy gave the Vietcong a huge advantage over US troops. It would scare the enemies of the Vietcong. The word booby trap originated between 1840 and 1850, the word booby means stupid or stupid person. (www.dictionary.com/boobytrap) Booby trap means to trap a seemingly stupid person. The Viet Cong in fact perfected the... center of the paper... by attaching it to the pin of the grenade; they hooked it to some kind of anchor. After the trap was armed and ready, it was camouflaged and disguised so that it was almost imperceptible to American soldiers. There are many different types of booby traps, offensive and defensive traps. The offensive was used to prevent enemy American troops from advancing, and defensive traps were used to protect the Cu Chi Tunnels or anything important to the Vietcong. As American forces have learned the hard way, guerrilla warfare is a difficult way to fight a war. The use of Cu Chi tunnels and various booby traps made the life of an American soldier difficult. Vietnam was an ugly war and will always be remembered for those who died and served our country. These American soldiers who fought in Vietnam learned the hard way that booby traps had a huge physiological impact on them.