Tom Laemlein introduces us to the experiences and equipment of these brave men who boldly entered the Black Echo.

When the U.S. military deployed to Vietnam, it did so with the M1911 semi-automatic pistol on its hip.

The rugged pistol soldiered on, sturdy and reliable as ever.

United States Marine Corps tunnel rat Operation Meade River Da Nang Vietnam

Lance Cpl. John R. Gartrell, a United States Marine Corps tunnel rat, enters an enemy bunker during Operation Meade River near Da Nang, Vietnam. Image: U.S.M.C.

American troops loved them, and why wouldnt they?

The M1911 gave a man a sense of confidence.

Many GIs believed that big .45 ACP pistol was worth the extra weight.

The tunnel rats were American, Australian, New Zealander, and South Vietnamese soldiers who performed underground search and destroy missions during the Vietnam War. A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is enclosed except for the portals, commonly at each end. Search and destroy is a military strategy which consists of inserting infantry forces into hostile territory and directing them to search and then attack enemy targets before immediately withdrawing.

Going underground with the 25th Infantry Division during Operation Atlanta in the “Iron Triangle” area, December 1967. Images: NARA

Officers and crew-served weapon crews often carried them.

MPs, helicopter crews and grenadiers, too.

For almost every American soldier who carried one in Vietnam, the pistol represented a back-up gun.

United States Marines tunnel rats

Marines of Second Battalion, Fourth Marines assist a tunnel rat who was lowered into a North Vietnamese tunnel dug into the side of a mountain. Image: NARA

But not the tunnel rats, Americas subterranean warriors that would head underground in the jungles of Vietnam.

Tunnel rats used their pistol as a primary weapon.

No other firearm would be effective in their battleground below ground due to cramped spaces.

The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was a major conflict of the Cold War. South Vietnam unsuccessfully resisted the communist invasion with the support of the United States of America. South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of the Cold War after the 1954 division of Vietnam.

Men of the 8th Infantry begin the dangerous process of searching a Viet Cong bunker near Mi Duc, South Vietnam during August 1967.

The M1911 was the one pistol ready for action in Vietnam tunnel warfare.

The complex maze of passages was a defense system unto itself.

Just one of the dangerous risks of the tunnel rats job was becoming lost in the underground tunnel connection.

Operation Quyet Thang, was a United States Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam security operation to reestablish South Vietnamese control over the areas immediately around Saigon in the aftermath of the Tet Offensive. The Tet Offensive was a major escalationT and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese People’s Army of Vietnam launched a surprise attack on January 30, 1968, against the forces of the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces and their allies.

A squad leader of the 25th Infantry Division in a VC tunnel. He is armed with a M1911 pistol and a GI issue flashlight.

It was a multiple-threat environment in Vietnam, even underground.

The tunnel rats had a nickname for the dark, tight confines of the tunnels: the Black Echo.

But even in those unexpected parameters, the M1911 was very successful.

Cover for The Armory Life Digital Magazine Volume 13: Weapons of the Vietnam War

One shot was enough to end many confrontations.

A few silenced pistols made their way to Vietnam and were used by the tunnel rats.

Suppressors could be a huge benefit to any tunnel rat who engaged enemy fighters in the enclosed spaces.

Operation Crimp, also known as the Battle of the Ho Bo Woods, was a joint US-Australian military operation during the Vietnam War, which took place 20 kilometres north of Cu Chi in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam. 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment is a regular motorised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. 1 RAR was first formed as the 65th Australian Infantry Battalion of the 34th Brigade on Balikpapan in 1945 and since then has been deployed on active service during the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, the Vietnam War, Unified Task Force in Somalia, East Timor, Iraq War and Afghanistan.

A United States Army soldier of the 25th Infantry Division emerges from a Viet Cong tunnel in October 1967.

Ultimately, shooting underground was a last resort.

Then check out theSpringfield Armory 1911 Mil-Spec.45 ACP.

This pistol has a suggested retail price of $725.

The Iron Triangle was a 120 square miles area in the Bình Dương Province of Vietnam, so named due to it being a stronghold of Viet Minh activity during the war. There was a large tunnel network that had to be cleared out by the 173rd Airborne Brigade commanded by Maj. Ellis W. Williamson. Ellis W. Williamson was a United States Army Major General who served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He led the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the first US Army unit to deploy to South Vietnam and later commanded the 25th Infantry Division there.

Entrance of a large tunnel complex near Phu Hoa Dong, Republic of Vietnam, circa January 1967.

An attractive Parkerized finish and a 7-round magazine rounds out the package.

Conclusion

Humans are naturally afraid of the dark.

Our night vision isnt as good as many predatory animals so it is a perfectly reasonable fear.

In military terminology a landing zone is an area where aircraft can land. In the United States military, a landing zone is the actual point where aircraft, especially helicopters, land. This was a point of contact with many enemy engagements like those at Củ Chi tunnels.

Many tunnels were pumped full of gas and some tunnel rats chose to wear a gas mask despite the fact it inhibited their vision.

Likewise enclosed environments never mind an enemy that is trying to kill you is a source of reasonable concern.

These men who served in Vietnam should never be forgotten.

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1911Mil-Spec

Australian Army tunnel rat Vietnam War flashlight M1911 pistol semi-automatic handgun

Cpl. William Whitfield of the Australian Army emerges from a Viet Cong tunnel with a flashlight and pistol. Australia was one ofAmerica’s allies in the Vietnam War. Image: AWM/Public Domain

Shown here is a Viet Cong booby trap. A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. Traps like this are a form of low technology military weaponry.

A portal to Hell. The camouflaged entrance to a VC bunker exposed.

In this photo is a Springfield Armory M1911 Mil Spec .45 ACP pistol. The original Colt M1911 is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol’s formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 for the original model adopted in March 1911, and Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911A1 for the improved M1911A1 model which entered service in 1926. They were used extensively by the Tunnel Rats in the Vietnam War.

The 1911 Mil-Spec .45 offers modern shooters a chance to own a reasonably priced pistol inspired by the classic M1911 military pistol. Image: Springfield Armory

Lance Cpl. Ron Rockliffe of The Royal Australian Regiment in Vietnam War

Lance Cpl. Ron Rockliffe of The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) emerges from a Viet Cong tunnel entrance during the Vietnam War. Australia’s tunnel rats were as tough as the Americans.

1911 Mil-Spec

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