U.S. campaigns against tunnels
The tunnels of Củ Chi were noticed by U.S. officials, who recognized the advantages that the Viet Cong held with the tunnels and so launched several major campaigns to search out and destroy the tunnel system. Among the most important were
Operation Crimp and
Operation Cedar Falls. Operation Crimp began on January 7, 1966, with
B-52 bombers dropping 30-ton loads of high explosive onto the region of Củ Chi, effectively turning the once lush jungle into a pockmarked moonscape. Eight thousand troops from the
U.S. 1st Infantry Division,
173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team (including an artillery battery of the
Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery), and the
1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment combed the region looking for any clues of
PLAF activity. with
punji sticks. The operation did not bring about the desired success. For instance, when troops found a tunnel, they would often underestimate its size. No one was usually sent in to search the tunnels, as it was so hazardous. The tunnels were often rigged with explosive
booby traps or
punji stick pits. The two most common responses in dealing with a tunnel opening would be to flush the entrance with gas, water or hot tar to force the Viet Cong soldiers into the open or to toss a few grenades down the hole and "crimp" off the opening. One of their number, Corporal Robert "Bob" Bowtell, died when he became trapped in a tunnel that turned out to be a dead end. However, the Australians pressed on and revealed for the first time the immense military significance of the tunnels. At an international press conference in
Saigon shortly after Operation Crimp, MacGregor referred to his men as "tunnel ferrets." An American journalist who had never heard of ferrets, used the term "tunnel rat," and it stuck. After his troop's discoveries in Củ Chi, MacGregor was awarded a
Military Cross. From its mistakes and the Australians' discoveries, U.S. command realised that it needed a new way to approach the dilemma of the tunnels. A general order was issued by General Williamson, the Allied Forces Commander in South Vietnam, to all Allied forces that tunnels had to be properly searched whenever they were discovered. It began training an elite group of volunteers in the art of
tunnel warfare, armed only with a handgun, a knife, a flashlight, and a piece of string. The specialists, commonly known as "
tunnel rats", would enter a tunnel by themselves and travel inch-by-inch cautiously looking ahead for booby traps or cornered PLAF. There was no real doctrine for the approach, and despite some very hard work in some sectors of the Army and the
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, to provide some sort of training and resources, it was primarily a new approach that the units trained, equipped, and planned for themselves. Despite the revamped effort at fighting the enemy on their own terms, U.S. operations remained insufficient at eliminating the tunnels completely. In 1967, General
William Westmoreland tried to launch a larger assault on Củ Chi and the
Iron Triangle. Called
Operation Cedar Falls, it was similar to the previous Operation Crimp but was on a larger scale with 30,000 troops, instead of 8,000. On January 18, tunnel rats from the 1st Battalion,
5th Infantry Regiment,
25th Infantry Division uncovered the Viet Cong district headquarters of Củ Chi, containing half a million documents concerning all types of military strategy. Among the documents were maps of U.S. bases, detailed accounts of PLAF movement from
Cambodia into Vietnam, lists of political sympathizers, and even plans for a failed assassination attempt on
Robert McNamara. By 1969, B-52s were freed from bombing North Vietnam and started "
carpet bombing" Củ Chi and the rest of the Iron Triangle. Towards the end of the war, some of the tunnels were so heavily bombed that some portions actually caved in, and other sections were exposed. But the bombings were not able to destroy most parts of those tunnels. Throughout the war, the tunnels in and around Củ Chi proved to be a source of frustration for the U.S. military in Saigon. The Viet Cong had been so well entrenched in the area by 1965 that it was in the unique position of being able to control where and when battles would take place. By helping to covertly move supplies and house troops, the tunnels of Củ Chi allowed North Vietnamese fighters in their area of South Vietnam to survive, help prolong the war and increase U.S. costs and casualties until the eventual withdrawal in 1973, and the final defeat of
South Vietnam in 1975. == Tourist destinations ==