The Vietnam War was one of the ugliest and nastiest wars ever fought. Beginning in early parts of the 60’s, it extended until President Nixon pulled the plug in the 70’s. With public opinion sharply divided, it created confrontations between Americans all over the country. Even some of our troops, perhaps especially some of our troops, hated fighting such a nasty conflict. It’s the conflict that has created some of the greatest emotional and psychological damages of them all.
Political reasons and considerations aside, one reason for such strong emotions were the brutal tactics used during combat. Many of the Vietnamese booby traps were seen as inhumane.
This video, by the YouTube channel known as Dark5 shows some of the most gruesome and fearsome traps used in the conflict.
The first booby trap is known as the “Two-Step Charlie.” The video mentions that, “During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong army utilized every available natural defense made available by the country’s jungle terrain including a variety of deadly poisonous snakes with the nickname ‘Two-Step Charlies.’ Two steps after the bite and you were dead.”
The video continues on by mentioning that “the Bamboo Pit Viper was a popular weapon of choice, possessing a hemotoxic venom that causes necrosis and death if left untreated. Snake-lined drop pits were hidden in the Viet Cong’s vast network of claustrophobic tunnels and used to protect abandoned supplies.”
In addition, the video claims that, “If having to watch every step wasn’t bad enough, angry snakes were also nailed to trees and doors waiting to strike soldiers’ faces.”
The second booby trap is known as the Keepsake Losehand. The video mentions that, “Even in victory, American soldiers could not afford to let their guard down as the Viet Cong would leave explosive souvenirs in the retreat. When taking surrendered positions, American soldiers would be tempted to tear down the mocking Viet Cong flags and banners left behind but the bases of flag poles were sometimes rigged with pressure sensitive explosives, and pulling on a flag rope could drop a grenade.”
The video continues mentioning that “other temptations included sabotaging lighters that were rigged with flammable cotton wicks and enough explosive to blow off a hand as well as fountain pens with friction fuses and pull wires set to blow up when removing the caps.”
That’s a preview of the first two scariest booby traps of the Vietnam War. Make sure to watch the entire video to see the three other booby traps:
