When the soldier tripped the wire, the ball would swing down the tunnel and strike into the face of anyone in the way. The documentary is supposed to come out sometime this year and I have included a trailer for it here. 22. After graduating from the Special Forces Qualification Course, Flaherty was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) as a detachment commander and sent to southeast Asia with the 46th Special Forces Company. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy. He went back to Southeast Asia with the 46th Special Forces Company as a Special Forces Operational Detachment A (SFODA) commander. These story remain nothing more than bits and pieces of a life that seems to have become shrouded in anonymity. After successfully graduating the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC), also known as Q course, Flaherty was assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group. His Silver Star citation offers a brief glimpse to Flaherty, the man. A heavier tunnel-exploration kit may also include nylon rope, body-armor vests, grappling hooks, work gloves, kneepads, and earplugs. each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Richard Flaherty had to get a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War. During this deployment, he would be promoted to captain, earn two Bronze Stars and would be wounded in combat two times, receiving a Purple Heart for each time. Already well-adapted to subterranean life, many insects and animals of the Vietnamese jungle found the underground tunnels to be a worthy living environment. But Flaherty spotted the bunker, rallied his soldiers and led a charge under heavy fire that cleared the area of enemy troops. The War also claimed the lives of approximately 200,000 allied soldiers in Vietnam, nearly one million North Vietnamese/ Communist allied deaths, and an incomprehensible number of civilians. He stood at just 49 tall. Later that year, he was reassigned to the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Devens. He came home from Vietnam after his second tour and moved to Hallandale, Florida, where he worked for a time with the U.S. A cemetery employee said the appropriate relatives have been contacted and a marker has been ordered and is expected to be set in place early next year. This was devastating news to Yuzuk. On the other stood a 5ft 7in (170 . Capt. He was awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts during his service. You can view the full DCAS record for an individual named in the list via the Access to Archival Databases resource, or AAD. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. An Army Infantryman (MOS 11B) currently has the shortest amount of time in AIT at four weeks. Trni was severely wounded after he skied into a mine during 1942, but . On February 12 the first of 591 U.S. military and civilian POWs were released in Hanoi and flown directly to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. In Britain, during the Nap. Yuzuk had started to look into his friends story well before his death and discovered that hed worked as an undercover agent for federal authorities during the 1980s. More from us: Phil Bucklew: The Father of US Naval Special Warfare. He served as both an A and B detachment Commander. He left the Army in 1971 at the rank of captain due to a reduction in force. Consequently, given the average smaller size of Vietnamese men, tunnel rat soldiers, by necessity, were the shortest, skinniest, and most limber men in the army: a maximum height of 1.58 meters. At the end of him career he had such bad PTSD that he pretty much couldn't function in a normal way and spent for the most part the remainder of his life homeless. A group of soldiers would then charge the gap to hopefully get a foothold and allow other troops to pile in. For this action he was awarded the Silver Star in 1968. There is an average of five names per line. *The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. He deployed with the Screaming Eagles to Vietnam and served as a platoon and recon platoon leader. After completing basic training, Richard Flaherty qualified for Infantry Officer Candidate School, earning the rank of second lieutenant. We here at the Veterans Site offer our sincerest thanks to Richard Flaherty for his service to the nation. By the time RichardFlaherty graduated from high school in 1966, the US was already heavily involved in Vietnam. We'll send breaking news and news alerts to you as they happen! It was only after a determined effort, which included the involvement of his local Congressman, that he managed to acquire a waiver. In September of 1966, Rep. Donald J. Irwin of Connecticut got in touch with the U.S. Army Surgeon General, who recommended a waiver for Flahertys height. Grenade traps were another form of booby trap placed along the base of tunnels. Yuzuk learns that this unassuming 69-year-old man was a decorated military veteran. Even at those odds, you will lose and I will win. Maybe the best way to do that is to find better ways to deal with the problem of veteran homelessness in our own cities and towns. When it comes to headgear, some soldiers wore a helmet or a visored cap along with a microphone and/ or transistor radio attached. Answer (1 of 27): Back in the days of siege wars, artillery would be used to blow a hole in the defence walls. Capt. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, perfectly summarised the problem in 1969: The conventional army loses if it does not win, the guerrilla wins if he does not lose. Be Proactive. Quite simply, many troops were deployed to Vietnam but few were actually in combat. This is similar to the selection effect of underwriting requirement provision in the insurance industries. The Veterans Site is dedicated to helping to provide awareness to the problem of homelessness among our veterans. Amazingly, these tunnel rat soldiers were volunteers. You see, he did not meet the minimum height and weight requirements. All rights reserved. They reported to Aventura police that they had seen what looked like a body in some bushes alongside the road. 7'3" Jakob Nacken (221 cm), the tallest German soldier of WW2, chatting with 5'7" (170 cm) Eddie Worth, AP photographer with the wartime still picture pool, after his surrender. He was always recommending books and talking about philosophy, work and politics and eventually giving me advice. The unknown soldier from the Vietnam War who was buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns was authorized a Medal of Honor and in 1998 was identified as 1st Lieutenant Michael Blassie. When he reached adolescence, Flaherty was small compared to his peers. Captain Flaherty's Irish lineage is traced back to his grandfather Joseph Patrick Flaherty who was born in the Aran islands and his grandmother Bridget Smythe was born in the village of Feakle next to the Sliabh Aughty Mountains. He is believed to have worked as a military contractor throughout Africa and most notably in Rhodesia and Angola. Short Story / War and Military. They carried out tunnel rat duties as and when they needed in addition to any other duties they performed. In all fairness, that number was on the more extreme side of estimates. Captain Flaherty's incredible life story was captured in the Amazon #1 Best Selling book, "The Giant Killer" available on Amazon as a Paperback, eBook, & Audiobook, and the award-winning documentary, "The Giant Killer Finding Flaherty" available worldwide on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, iTunes, and Tubi. During the war, more than 58,000 servicemen and women lost their lives. What are we doing that causes the disease of homelessness? My three-year journey of discovery dragged me down the rabbit hole of CIA conspiracies and the hunt for stolen classified weaponsstretching from the bloody jungles of Vietnam to the dangerous streets of Iraq and Venezuela, all in search of the peripatetic Green Beret Captain Richard J. Flaherty, Yuzuk said. Yuzuk is the director and its his first movie. Read on to learn about the crazy booby traps soldiers faced, the creepy crawlies they encountered, and the damaging psychological consequences of such close combat. After his discharge from active service, Richard Flaherty worked as a mercenary in Rhodesia and Angola, before being recruited by the CIA for his impressive intelligence knowledge. Each panel is numbered from "1" to "70" at the base, with West Panel 1 and East Panel 1 . It was the result of his mothers rare blood type that left him vulnerable to oxygen deprivation as an infant. As a student, she worked in a variety of research positions, including as an archivist. 11 talking about this. The Vietnam War is also known as the Second Indochina War. One of his men got stung and came out screaming, refusing to ever go into a tunnel again. Nguyen Van Vuong started as a soldier in the North Vietnamese Army in 1966 and ended his service in 1971 after contracting malaria. Was the shortest soldier in US military history a CIA operative who had been assassinated? He was successful and joined the US Army. October 2001 to 2016. During the same tour of duty, Flaherty was also awarded two Bronze Stars for valor and two Purple Hearts. He did time in prison for drugs but was that a cover or a real conviction? Related: See what its like to jump out of a C-17 with the Armys 82nd Airborne. His life may have ended tragically, but it was also a life that included real heroism and self-sacrifice. The Central Intelligence Agency recruited him in the late 1970s due to his knowledge of Intelligence. 45 calibers with a seven-round magazine as they were readily available. What we do know comes to us from a Hallandale police officer, David Yuzuk. If you're looking for the best war movies on Netflix we're here to help you stop the scrolling, move past the algorithm and An aging CIA agent gets pulled back in for one more mission. Oct 15, 2015 Ian Harvey, Guest Author. U.S. involvement in the Southeast Asian country had more than doubled from 1965. It was if he was hardening himself up for some special task.. Not until 1995 did Vietnam release its official estimate of war dead: as many as 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. Friendships sometimes happen casually, the former policeman said. Tweets from https://twitter.com/heralddispatch/lists/hd-news-4. I didnt know.. It was the year of the Tet Offensive, where U.S. troop numbers peaked at more than half a million. One American man was trying anything to get in. Source of data: the Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File, as of April 29, 2008, of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Files, part of Record Group 330: Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. There is, in fact, a waiver for everything. Have the latest local news delivered every afternoon so you don't miss out on updates. They have given so much and suffered so much. After Flahertys death, Yuzuk kept digging, researching, and confirming. Yuzuk said none of the relatives or companions of Flaherty or Anness he has spoken with was aware of a relationship between the two. Flaherty, who had to obtain a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War because of his size, was a paratrooper and platoon leader with the 101st and received a Silver Star for leading his platoon on a flanking assault of an enemy bunker. An example of a classic punji booby trap. Postal Service. Soldier in Vietnam War was the Army's Badass Combatant . He served as an SFODA Commander in companies A and B. Current standards for men is 60-80 inches tall. He had a story to tell. It included an article about Flahertys tragic death in Aventura, Florida. ", People dont know about Cotton and it shows. In 1970, Flaherty was reassigned to the 10th Special Forces Group, where he commanded another ODA and then an Operational Detachment Bravo (ODB), a headquarters element. In 2018 David was forced to retire due to a back injury sustained as a police officer. In fact, on one occasion he was able to save several of his men who had been trapped by heavy enemy fire. Published March 04, 2022 06:48:08. Col. Floyd J. Thompson, who endured nearly nine years of torture, disease and starvation in Vietnam as the longest-held prisoner of war in American history, has died. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group and assigned to the 46th Special Forces Company in Thailand. Flaherty left the Army in 1971 and attended the University of Miami in Florida. That way, when a soldier fell into a pit and became trapped, he would call for a colleague who would rush to his aid and collapse into the trap next to it. Similarly, one soldier recalls how an encounter with the biggest rat he had ever seen led him to continually fire his gun. Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. It has a rating of 7.4 on IMDb. Hed traveled a lot, read a lot and was interesting to talk with.. He actually had a pretty sad ending. Comprised of 12 Special Forces soldiers, an ODA can operate independently behind enemy lines for long periods of time without supervision. He used to spend all day at a movie theater. BTS will be on hiatus until all seven members complete their mandatory military service in South Korea. pearl harbor. The Viet Cong were experts at creating very sophisticated tunnel systems that would sometimes be so large that they could be used as company-sized staging areas for hiding and for rest, even for hospital facilities. How can we help? However, he was initially turned down because of his size. These tunnels hugely impacted American morale as it was difficult to comprehend that the enemy could be hiding just feet away yet were undetectable and unreachable. Start Reading. Flaherty was killed during a hit and run attack on May 9, 2015, in Miami. These soldiers made punji stakes out of heated and sharpened wood or bamboo. Weve got a clip from the movie that details Richards ruthlessness in combat. Another method frequently used attempted to flood the area so badly that the enemy desperately sought to escape to avoid drowning. May they rest in peace. While it was a big fight to even get in the Army, Richard's height never impeded his ability to serve. Neither family, nor friends know why. Infantry Advanced Individual Training also helped them to deal more in-depth with other issues. If the stakes pointed downwards, soldiers became unable to remove their limbs without causing severe damage. Some of us may have known Richard Flaherty only because of his small size. In his new life as a civilian, Flaherty studied at the University of Miami in Florida, but entered a period of despondency after a girlfriend died in a car wreck in 1975. 1968 was a tumultuous year for service members in Vietnam. Some tunnel rats were also fortunate enough to take part in Combat Engineer Advanced Individual Training. Vietnam-era Radiomen life expectancy was 5 seconds. Every group would do things differently. Flaherty then called for a 90 millimeter recoilless rifle a shoulder-mounted explosive projectile launcher initially designed to destroy tanks to be brought to his position, and from there, led its two-man crew on an assault of the North Vietnamese bunker. Just 10 days before Flaherty's death, Flaherty told Yuzuk his story. . In hindsight, listening to the Viet Cong talk about their experiences in these tunnels, it appears more training certainly would have benefitted the American cause. The 'Hanoi Hilton' Is No Trump Hotel. Photo credit: Funker360. And, is this general or do several different troop branches have different requirements? Flaherty only because of his local Congressman, that number was on the more extreme side of estimates blood. Body in some bushes alongside the road the result of his size Training also them., Flaherty was killed during a hit and run attack on may 9, Ian... 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