Tunnel Rat Survived FOUR Firefights Underground | Vietnam War Story
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- Опубліковано 11 жов 2024
- After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1966, Kenny Moore served three tours in Vietnam with the Marine Corps, earning two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star. In the video, Moore recounts several memorable events from his first tour as an infantry officer in 1967-68. After the war, Moore stayed in the military and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Silver Star Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant Kenneth Wayne Moore (MCSN: 0-92890), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Platoon Commander with Company I, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, FIRST Marine Division, in connection with military operations against insurgent communist (Viet Cong) forces in the Republic of Vietnam. On 9 May 1967 during Operation UNION, Second Lieutenant Moore's company was conducting a search and clear mission in Que Son District when it discovered an extensive tunnel complex concealing an undetermined number of Viet Cong. After tear gas, smoke and a grenade failed to force the enemy to surrender, Second Lieutenant Moore courageously entered the narrow 200-meter long tunnel with a companion in an attempt to capture the enemy. Advancing deep into the tunnel, they came under heavy rifle fire from the entrenched enemy. Undaunted, he and his fellow Marine moved to within ten meters of the enemy, threw a grenade and quickly left the tunnel. Although one Viet Cong emerged and surrendered, claiming there were no others in the tunnel, Second Lieutenant Moore and his companion armed with pistols, reentered the dark passage and daringly proceeded to within two meters of the remaining group of armed Viet Cong where they came under intense rifle fire. The Marines quickly expended their ammunition and moved back through the darkness to re-arm. Entering the tunnel again carrying an M-16 rifle, they were met with a heavy volume of rifle fire from the enemy and falling dirt and debris which rendered their rifles inoperable, forcing them to leave the cave. After lighting brush fires at the entrance, Second Lieutenant Moore exhibited resolute determination by digging a passage into the rear of the tunnel where he recovered two dead Viet Cong and two rifles. Early the following morning, he and his companion fearlessly entered the tunnel for the fourth time and recovered three more dead Viet Cong, a rifle, individual equipment, a tone of rice and a case of valuable documents. His daring actions and aggressive fighting spirit inspired all who observed him and contributed significantly to the accomplishment of his unit's mission. By his dauntless courage, bold initiative and selfless devotion to duty at great personal risk, Second Lieutenant Moore upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.
He hears the enemy is in a tunnel. Crawls in with flash flight. It wasn’t until the second trip that they brought guns. So casual about it. Vietnam vets are wild dudes.
Bssbs
Explains our casualty rate. Clearing a tunnel unarmed?? Almost as stupid as patrolling the jungle/fighting an insurgency with conventional warfare. Our leadership is useless. I hope we never have to fight off an invasion, cause I doubt we'll win.
Dead dudes. I knew a guy in high school, very smart, athletic 5'3" running back. Enlisted, sent into the tunnels, now dead.
THAT is the definition of a god damned fucking waste. Fuck patriotism.
Not rifles either. Four fire fights with feckin PISTOLS
@@jonnybgoode7742No room for a rifle in those tight tunnels
As a Vietnam vet I can personally say the tunnel rats were a different people, my hat is off to those guys!!
American or other? Welcome home regardless
thank you
Brave? Sure. Foreign invaders? Yup.
👌🇺🇲🪖🤛👊🤜👍🫡💪
Stop Lying dude
One of my buddies in Kentucky had been a tunnel rat simply because of his 5'3" stature.
He'd only share his stories with other combat veterans but otherwise was one of the friendliest guys you'd want to meet.
And luckiest. The mortality rate for those guys was 70%.
@@OslerWannabe Where did you read that
@@boringdude1626 you can look it up. Also, it’s a well-known fact that being a tunnel rat had an extremely high fatality rate.
@@theawesomeoone6 You can't "be" a tunnel rat like it's an MOS man. It's like walking point. Someone from the platoon just volunteers for it and usually it's someone comfortable doing it.
@@boringdude1626 the tunnel rat job was given to dudes when people stopped volunteering for it and it was usually small dudes.
“Went back in… had a REAL firefight” lol shit was different in Vietnam for sure
A True hero.
Ask yourself. Could you do it?
I thank God I'll never know.
Thank you for your service. Your bravery saved a lot of lives I am sure.
Fearless heroes. A nation is grateful
Work with a man who tells similar story, you are real men, brave as hell. Thank you for your courage.
Real fearless men . Thank god they are on our side . These men were beyond brave ..
Mu Uncle Bud was a Tunnel Rat. Went in, got captured; tortured, and escaped.
R.I.P😢.
Peak experience. If he was a TRUE warrior, he'd be dead. Job not completed.
@@OslerWannabe
Like you'd know.
@@dukecraig2402 OH YEAHHH?
I said only 2 things -- my opinion, and my understanding of the war decades of studying it. I can defend everything I said. Which part got your panties twisted?
@@OslerWannabeSo because he survived being captured and tortured, he's not a true warrior?
@@OslerWannabelol you studied a war so you think you know what being a warrior is? Have you ever even been in a fist fight?
Thank you Sir for your service and welcome home and you are a true Badass
Tunnel Rats had balls that clanked!!
The dude has gigantic balls
You beat me to it.
Exactly.
Makes you wonder how the fit the wheelbarrow they carried them in inside the tunnel.
Surprised he even fit in the tunnels with his massive balls
Thank you for your bravery and service to our country !!!
This man's actual experiences and especially the way he relayed them, actually gave a proper chill up my spine. Truly frightening.
Thank you for your service. True heroes
Would never think by looking at this guy he was one brave, toughest, fearless, and we'll throw some crazy in there, soldier, never judge a book by its cover
Like….you have to have balls of steel to go in a tunnel knowing there’s enemy in there. Crawling on your hands and knees into the darkness with a pistol. Chaos ensues…..then go back in 3 or 4 more times throwing granades? That absolutely blows my mind. This guy is for real!
I've had the privilege of working with two former Tunnel Rats over the years, both were awesome. I hope they live in peace and prosperity, they deserve it.
Being a Tunnel Rat was probably the MOST dangerous job in Vietnam. Thank God you survived.
Very true..
Macv sog had a 100% casualty rate but tunnel rats and the soldiers who carried flame throwers were definitely up there
If it's all about God, why did he let some die?
i’m pretty sure radio operator was actually the most dangerous, the average life expectancy of a radio operator in vietnam was only 10 minutes, they were basically wearing big targets with antennas on their backs making them priority targets for the NVA.
@@ledouche4204 Point man's life span in a fire fight was about 7 seconds! If my memory serves me correctly. They were usually the rookies to the unit. Probably one of the most terrible jobs AND death were the guys spraying agent orange!!! I was watching a video, not too long ago and there was a guy with a hose, with NO shirt on and no gloves on. He was getting spray on himself, Non Stop. He's probably been dead for a long time. And a terrible death.
Thank you for your service and I'm glad you made it home.
Thank You for your Service!
Fucking badass. Thank you for your service.
Thank you all for your service!
My cousin was in Vietnam he was also a tunnel rat. I have the highest respect for him and everyone else that serves in the service thank you all for your service.
How did he even fit his big balls in the tunnels?
Seriously.
Incredible balls of steel
Hats off to these guys
That's why there was a second guy. He carried this dudes balls. 😂
The real question is how did they fit the wheelbarrow they carried them in down there?
That , is what ya call BAD Ass !!! 🇺🇸
Thank you for your service young man!!!😊
All I can say is Thank You Sir, for your service. You're a true hero.
HO-LEEEE💩!
Hero? You’re part of the problem.
Wdym thank you? Being 8000 miles away protecting france's colony? Killing millions of civilians?
And they didn't have good flashlights like we do nowadays. Nor night vision.
So proud of you guys.Welcome home.Thank you for your service❤
Brave dudes - tunnel rats are an odd breed by damned brave
Straight badass
This guy calmly recalling events that only the bravest of the brave could ever do.
I was opposed to that war and the draft. But I always always always respected the hell out of every guy that served over there.
Thank you, sir.
Sadly we didn’t have much a choice.
I wonder how the dip💩💩's that spit on the returning Vets feel about thier saliva today?
@@christopherneyfeldt4587
The Draft. I still have my 1-A draft card. I got a two year deferment for going to college. When that ended, I was prepared to go. I didn't want to. But I was not going to go to Canada. I thought if my number comes up, I will do my duty. And with a 1-A classification, I knew any day I would get called up.
Then, a miracle!
Playing Bingo with our young lives, the lottery started. And I got a high number.
Nothing but respect for volunteers and draftees alike from me. None of that crap hassling those who went from me. And I will always never know if I have what it took to face the combat terror there.
Some lifers who went call me a chickens**t. Maybe and maybe not. I followed the law. And if it happened again, I would probably do the same thing.
Like I said, nothing but the highest respect for those that served over there.
I hope you realize that your reply is the equivalent of "thank you for turning over my neighbor's trash can and taking a dump in his yard."
@@OslerWannabe
By what, "Logic," do you arrive at that conclusion?
Total Warriors…..🫡🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
My sister's dad,Tommy Sandoval (cat eyes) was a tunnel rat and also a sniper.this man was 5'5 130 pound version of Rambo...
That’s a heavy short dude
@@jolanderphilip he was 130 ,my mistake, smh
Savage as fuck
So he was taller than Sylvester Stallone?
Your sisters dad?
These guys were the bravest of the brave. Respect....
There are some HUGE balls on this gentleman. Salute.
Some extremely Tough Service Members! Thanks to all service members past and present!!
Much respect for these soldiers.
Thank God you were safe 🙏
Damn I'm glad he's on my side that dude's a beast
As a combat veteran myself i have always held the Vietnam Veterans in high esteem. What an absolutely vicious war, what I did (Iraq) pales in comparison to those brave men in the Vietnam War.
So coolly describes an absolute freaking nightmare.. Semper Fi
Believe me, you did your job! We could hide in a jungle. You can't hide in the desert!!!
@@skipschauer5535 tell it like it is man.
9th Infantry
7th SF Grp
72-75
Thank you for your service sir and have a happy memorial day
It's really sad that they (my childhood friends) and you fought for such bankrupt and worthless causes. Brave? No doubt. Tools? No doubt.
This man is insanely brave and a true hero! It had to be difficult for these insanely brave men to fit their gigantic brass balls through those small tunnels.
thank you service sir!
Real BAD ASS
Welcome home and thank you for all you did for us.
Much respect
Thank you for all you endured. Absolute Legends..🇺🇸
Tunnel rats were the BADDEST of the BAMFs of all time.
Having a firefight, IN A TUNNEL, barely big enough for an average sized guy, is beyond comprehension!
HUGE RESPECT!!!
🇺🇸👍👍
I have read articles about booby traps in those tunnels, too. Really frightening. Hard to overstate how brave Tunnel Rats were.
My small brother in law was a tunnel rat. He only mentioned it once out of the blue at a cafe. He said the hospital they found was the size of the cafe and “we got em outa there”. Ugh.
Thank you for your service sir.
God Bless America.
I seen that movie 1969 Tunnel Rats and I can only imagine going in them tunnels . Thanks all them Nam service men
Some seriously brave dudes! Thanks, big time, men! Officers should be saluting you!
Talk about having brass balls.
THANK YOU SIR!!!! TOUGH DUTY TUNNEL WORK!!!
Scary stuff .
Absolutely outstanding, sir !!
Thank you. How you did that is beyond me.
Not sure how these guys fit in these tunnels with balls as big as theirs.
You are the 19th guy with the original thought of massive balls not fitting into the tunnel. HAW, HAW, HAW. nyuk nyuk nyuk. Très spirituel.
Greatest Generation
Bad asses.......Holy crap.....
Respect
You men were severely brave. Thank you.
Thank you sir 🙏
Thank you
Them tunnel rats were fkn brave MFs !
Being in a fire fight in Vietnam is one thing,in a tunnel with only pistols CS grenade an frags thats stone cold balls to wall bad ass❤
"Stone cold balls to wall bad ass". Spoken like a true gamer who's in no danger of having to do anything remotely like it himself. It's what we call surrogate courage.
@@OslerWannabe i wasn't allowed to enlist health ,not happy about it so if my enthusiasm seems misplace not because of "gamer" enthusiast an I am too old for games or name calling
I grew up with a Marine tunnel Rat he had 19 kills in the tunnels 3 where women and 16 men. Much respect. I told him he was braver than me and he said yes but you are crazier than me you jump out planes 😎
humans are insane.
That’s dope never had anyone like that know or ever wanna talk bout it shi sucked never got any dope ass storys
"A real firefight"..said after he had a little firefight with the guys. Big balls.
I am a vet with very minimal combat experience listening to this guy thinking... WTF? These guys were freaking brave AF. Hats off.
I had a friend that was a Tunnel Rat and they at times would argue with each other to go in. If you know of a vet with nickname of Shakie that be him.
I worked with a Tunnel Rat named Snake … he did two tours of Vietnam
A Vietnam veteran and former tunnel rat worked for my company for 10 years. Nicest guy I ever met. Only story he told me what how he followed a tunnel system all the way across the DMZ and didn’t realize he was in north Vietnam until he poked his head out of a hole and discovered a tank depot hidden in the jungle. He called in a massive air strike and called it a day. This was like a normal day for him in Vietnam
Courage
Semper Fi Brother
That's some big brass right there
This is a movie their showing... Platoon. Great movie 🎬
I worked in a large county jail as a nurse and we had a veteran who was a Vietnam tunnel rat.He suffered from bad PTSD. He would ask to talk to me when my shift was over.
I told him that I understood somewhat what he was going through because my dad was a WW2 veteran and until the day he passed he suffered from PTSD. My dad was a frogman and all he would tell me was he saw most of his buddies blown up in front of him.
This veteran told me about may of the situations he had been in and felt prison was the best place for him so he wouldn't hurt anyone on the streets. He even tried killing himself and I talked him into giving me the razor blade.
People forget many veterans go through hell on the battlefield then they come back to the world!
Thats some rough duty..surprised these tunnel rats could get in or out with those gigantic balls holding them back😅
Damn.
The dedication of our troop is incomparable.
Thanks to all who served in all branches of service. We the people should never forget!
God Bless / Thank you for our freedom…🇺🇸🦅🦬
My goodness, you're ao brainwashed that it's funny to see.
Damn man!! 4 times, I’ve jumped out of helicopters, 141, 130s, 47s some other things I was glad to get out of but being a tunnel rat, you got some bigger balls then me, thank you for your service 🇺🇸
I'm a Marine Corps veteran.....but Being a Tunnel Rat is not something i could've done. Salute to those Men🫡
WOW! Respect!
As a GenXer kid growing up in the 1980s, I was always fascinated by the stories that these Vietnam vets would tell of their service during the war, it's still interesting to hear today.
Went back? Omfg very brave troops. I met a vet that was a tunnel rat once. He was affected for sure, scary stories he had to tell. Thank you for your service all vets who were there
Thank you, Tunnel Rats for your service.
Balls! Big BIG BALLS! Hats off to you Men. And a big BIG THANK YOU! Ooorah! Semper Fi
Has to be some of the most brave people to ever walk planet earth. Thank you 🇺🇸
Bravery beyond mere mortal!
The book: Tunnels of Cu Chi
Badass book. Read it in high-school. My Dad was in Vietnam. A Marine. I served in Ramadi
@Crystal-ck2iq thank you for you and your Dad's service. I was a jewelry manager for a large chain, my regional supervisor was a tunnel rat. The only way i find out was he keep trying to sneak up on me and he couldn't. That's when he told me.
Welcome home 😊 ❤
i could listen to your experiences all day long .
I used to work for an old country boy down in NC who was a Tunnel Rat in Vietnam. One of the toughest guys I've ever met. The man was only about 5 foot 5 or something, but he had this attitude and way that just made you respect him. Hell, I saw him shoot a copperhead in the eye from about 50 feet away with his .22 pistol one time.
Badass
This is not like the hamas tunnels with AC
The tunnels were being dug since WW2 with Japan’s occupation of Vietnam. By the time America was directly involved with boots on the ground the NVA already had an ant colony under all of South Vietnam. Despite the time and effort their tunnels were still no bigger than the average Vietnamese man of 5’1”. It’s easier to not worry about a cave in when hamas is digging through outright stone compared to the pure sludge Vietnam’s ground would turn into for half of the year. The only surviving tunnels today are from places like Cu Chi that maintains them as a tourists trap
These guys were my favorite instructors ❤ in training in 1979.❤❤❤❤❤