James AndersonBoy Traps and Rat Tunnels of Vietnam1959-1975Period 6The Viet Cong was a political organization and had an army in South Vietnam that fought the United States and South American governments Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It had both guerrilla and regular army units. They used war tactics somewhat unfamiliar to this generation of American soldiers. These tactics were called traps and guerrilla warfare. Vietnam was fought in a very densely vegetated jungle, making the jungle an ideal place to create nasty traps. The Vietcong often found well-known American patrol routes and set dozens of traps while awaiting American prey. As more American soldiers became aware of the serious threat of the booby traps, they were placed under enormous physiological strain. Just thinking that every step you take could very well be your last would drive some people literally crazy. For American soldiers in Vietnam, they had never seen anything like this before; they were fighting an enemy they couldn't even see. These Vietcong would launch surprise attacks at night, then suddenly disappear into the jungle. If the US Marines tried to take on the Viet Cong, they would find themselves in a jungle full of booby traps waiting to prey on an unexpected victim. This strategy gave the Vietcong a huge advantage over American troops. This would scare the enemies of the Vietcong. The word trap appeared between 1840 and 1850, the word fool means stupid or mute person. (www.dictionary.com/boobytrap) Trap apparently means to trap a stupid person. The Vietcong actually perfected the...... middle of paper......fitted to the grenade pin; they hung it on some sort of anchor. Once the trap was armed and ready, they camouflaged themselves and disguised themselves so that it was almost imperceptible to the American soldiers. There are many different types of traps, both offensive and defensive traps. The offensive was used to prevent enemy American troops from advancing, and the defensive traps were used to guard the Cu Chi Tunnels or anything important to the Vietcong. As American forces learned the hard way, guerrilla warfare is a difficult way to fight a war. The use of the Cu Chi tunnels and various traps made life as an American soldier difficult. Vietnam was a nasty war and those who died and served our country will always be remembered. These American soldiers who fought in Vietnam learned the hard way that booby traps had a huge physiological impact on them..