0:01 although there were no truly safe
0:03 positions during the Vietnam war some
0:05 were far more dangerous and terrifying
0:07 than others while you've all heard of
0:09 tunnel rats and other well-known roles
0:10 today we're talking about lesser known
0:12 duties where soldiers had the shortest
0:14 life expectancy some of these may
0:16 surprise you but the last one is
0:19 outright horrifying you'll see why let's
0:22 begin number one RTO let's start with
0:24 something not so common the radio
0:26 telephone operator maybe at first glance
0:28 it doesn't sound extremely frightening
0:30 but on the ground during Patrol RS
0:32 ambushes or any engagements they were
0:34 often among the first to go the US
0:36 relied heavily on artillery and air
0:38 support and the radio was how ground
0:40 troops brought that Firepower down on
0:42 the enemy the enemy was well aware that
0:43 cutting out a unit's communication made
0:46 it significantly more vulnerable without
0:47 it they couldn't call in strikes request
0:49 reinforcements or medevacs or relay
0:52 Intel on enemy movements every platoon
0:54 or company sized unit had at least one
0:57 RTO carrying a 25lb backpack radio
0:58 alongside spare batteries and standard
1:01 combat gear so besides being one of the
1:03 top priority targets and carrying one of
1:04 the heaviest loads he also had a big
1:06 antenna sticking out making him easier
1:09 to spot they tried bending or shortening
1:11 the antenna but that weakened the signal
1:12 he had to closely follow the unit's
1:14 Commander to relay orders and
1:15 information back and forth but some
1:17 commanders didn't want their radio men
1:19 right beside them as they were a magnet
1:20 for fire and to make sure the most
1:22 important people in the unit wouldn't be
1:24 taken out by a single burst or grenade
1:27 this also applied to M60 machine Gunners
1:28 who were told not to move too close to
1:30 the commander and the radio operator
1:31 Ator because they were also juicy
1:34 targets the RTO had to stay calm Under
1:36 Fire transferring messages clearly
1:37 quickly and accurately despite the chaos
1:39 around them since in a way he was
1:41 responsible for the survival of the
1:43 entire unit during the Vietnam war there
1:45 were several so-called ghost calls over
1:47 the radio usually requesting an
1:48 artillery strike on a certain position
1:50 or some information they were in plain
1:53 English following standard procedure
1:55 however after further inspection the
1:56 coordinates seemed odd and there were no
1:59 units operating in that area no one
2:01 could be found who had made the call was
2:03 it a captured RTO forced to call an
2:04 artillery strike on his own troops
2:07 position or an enemy infiltrator we'll
2:10 never know number two the point man what
2:12 is the worst position to be in during a
2:14 patrol through enemy Territory full of
2:16 booby traps and the constant threat of
2:19 Ambush well at the front obviously but
2:21 someone had to be there the pointman was
2:23 the one who walked first leading his
2:25 squad or platoon through dense jungle
2:27 narrow Trails rice Patties or even Urban
2:29 streets he was the first to spot the
2:31 enemy or to be spotted by the enemy and
2:33 of course the first to trigger any traps
2:36 or mines he wasn't as important to the
2:38 enemy as machine Gunners commanders or
2:40 radio operators but he had the greatest
2:41 chance of encountering something bad
2:44 first and a lot of times he did the
2:46 Vietnam War was Notorious for its
2:48 massive number of booby traps designed
2:50 to cause severe pain and damage he had
2:53 to be hyper aware of trip wires mines or
2:55 pungy pit traps but there was no way to
2:56 spot every well- hidden trap in the
2:59 thick jungle he was also responsible for
3:01 watching for signs of an ambush up ahead
3:02 and many were sprung when the point man
3:04 stepped on a trap if he was wounded or
3:06 fell into a trap no one could help him
3:08 if the unit was pinned down some point
3:10 men developed what they called a sick
3:12 sense for danger simply feeling when
3:13 something was off but a lot of them
3:15 didn't last very long and it was
3:16 definitely the least desirable position
3:19 to be in during a Patrol number three
3:22 lurs what is worse than being the first
3:24 man walking in front of your unit well
3:26 being the first in front of your entire
3:29 Army miles ahead for days or even weeks
3:30 deep in enemy territory with only five
3:33 or less people with you these were lrrp
3:36 longrange reconnaissance patrols or
3:38 simply called lurs they were elite
3:40 soldiers who went on extremely risky and
3:42 dangerous missions deep Behind Enemy
3:44 Lines the US Army in Vietnam quickly
3:46 learned that large scale patrols were
3:48 ineffective against a well-concealed
3:50 enemy who set traps behind them so they
3:53 tried a different approach small teams
3:55 of up to six men highly trained and
3:57 crazy brave enough to volunteer for such
3:59 missions would be inserted deep in enemy
4:00 territory for days to gather
4:02 intelligence observe the enemy snatch a
4:05 prisoner set traps or ambushes and
4:07 spread Terror among the enemy a standard
4:09 Recon team was made up of a team leader
4:11 an assistant team leader two radio
4:13 operators a scout and rear security or a
4:16 slack rear security had to walk backward
4:17 and watched the back of the team while
4:19 making sure there was absolutely no
4:21 evidence of their presence left behind
4:23 there could be no litter on the ground
4:25 no bent over grass no broken twigs and
4:28 if possible not even Footprints the team
4:29 would usually have at least one but
4:31 usually two loyal and reliable
4:33 Vietnamese with them to provide
4:35 expertise on the region however it was
4:37 an extremely dangerous job because if
4:39 anything went wrong you were alone with
4:41 just a few people surrounded by the much
4:43 stronger enemy force on their own ground
4:45 and once you were compromised it was
4:46 hard to get extracted before being
4:49 surrounded and overrun They carried on
4:51 them everything from weapons ammunition
4:53 and equipment to food and water and they
4:55 could spend days without saying a single
4:57 word if it was not absolutely necessary
4:59 they were Prime targets since they
5:00 discovered enemy camps and called in air
5:02 strikes once compromised they had to
5:04 fight their way to a possible Landing
5:05 Zone and hope that someone could get
5:08 them out in time number four night
5:11 Ambush teams slightly similar to lurs a
5:13 small team of around 10 soldiers would
5:15 leave their base at night and set up
5:16 ambushes but their specialty was
5:18 fighting in darkness and their missions
5:20 lasted one night the team would go out
5:22 into the jungle set up an ambush near
5:24 suspected enemy Trails or supply routes
5:26 and in complete silence wait for the
5:27 unsuspecting enemy to enter their Kill
5:30 Zone however the North Vietnamese were
5:31 masters of the Jungle in the night
5:33 because they knew the terrain much
5:34 better there was also the risk of
5:36 engaging a force far larger than your
5:38 10-man team and you would be the first
5:40 to know if an attack on your base was
5:42 coming complete silence had to be
5:44 maintained soldiers lay for hours in
5:46 total darkness without making a sound
5:48 just waiting and listening as mosquitoes
5:50 spiders snakes centipedes and other
5:53 frightening creatures crawled over them
5:54 a water buffalo could blow your cover if
5:56 it walked down the trail and was
5:58 mistaken for the enemy making the whole
6:01 team open fire on the the poor animal
6:02 sometimes teams were equipped with an
6:04 early model of night vision called The
6:06 Starlight scope and there was also
6:08 experimental technology with different
6:10 sensors for detecting human movement
6:12 they would place a sensor ahead and
6:13 listen through headphones to hear if it
6:15 picked up the sound of enemy movement
6:17 usually the team would set up Claymore
6:19 mines and a trip flare then when it was
6:21 activated the rule was to unleash as
6:23 much Firepower as possible within the
6:25 first 15 seconds of the Ambush and then
6:27 inspect what happened on a signal the
6:29 M60 machine gunner would fire a 100
6:31 round belt into the Kill Zone while
6:33 Claymores were activated hand grenades
6:35 were thrown and rifle fire began this
6:37 was usually enough to take out anything
6:39 in the Kill Zone but then they had to go
6:41 check and that was the scariest part
6:42 because they never knew if someone was
6:45 still alive afterward they had to find
6:47 their way back to base without getting
6:49 lost or separated in the darkness the
6:50 rearm man would usually carry a bag of
6:52 grenades and throw them behind the team
6:54 to discourage anyone trying to follow
6:58 them number five agent orange sprayers
6:59 one of the most devastating and
7:01 controversial aspects of the Vietnam War
7:04 was the use of Agent Orange a powerful
7:06 defoliant intended to destroy the jungle
7:08 cover used by the Viet Kong and the
7:10 North Vietnamese Army however besides
7:12 causing outright horror to 3 million
7:14 people for decades after the war it also
7:16 poisoned The Men Who had to work with
7:18 this toxic substance at the time air
7:20 Crews and troops on the ground were told
7:22 the chemical was not dangerous to people
7:24 because it was a herbicide soldiers
7:26 walked through contaminated areas while
7:28 Airmen handled the toxic liquid with no
7:30 protective gear unaware that they were
7:31 exposing themselves to a highly
7:34 dangerous and poisonous substance more
7:36 than 19 million gallons of Agent Orange
7:38 were sprayed over Vietnam LA and
7:41 Cambodia mostly using c123 provider
7:44 aircraft to be effective it had to be
7:45 highly concentrated and sprayed from
7:48 about 200 ft above the trees because C1
7:50 123s were unarmed Transport Aircraft
7:52 they were at extreme risk of being shot
7:54 down by anti-aircraft fire and had to be
7:56 protected by F4 Phantoms against enemy
7:59 Interceptor Fighters the pilots crewman
8:00 and and even the ground Personnel who
8:02 loaded the chemicals were constantly
8:04 exposed to agent orange unaware of the
8:06 horrific effects it would have at the
8:08 time the military downplayed the risks
8:10 until long after the war when the
8:12 effects became undeniable agent orange
8:14 contained dioxin a highly toxic
8:16 carcinogen that led to countless
8:18 diseases soldiers who handled agent
8:19 orange or were in areas that had been
8:21 sprayed started suffering from cancers
8:23 nerve disorders and other mysterious
8:25 illnesses despite growing evidence the
8:27 US government denied responsibility for
8:30 a long time and it was not until decades
8:32 later that veterans received any kind of
8:34 recognition or compensation usually by
8:36 the time it was too late in Vietnam and
8:38 the surrounding region the environment
8:40 was devastated leaving multiple
8:41 generations of people suffering from
8:44 long-term effects even today agent
8:46 orange contamination lingers in The Soil
8:48 and Water affecting current and future
8:50 Generations what began as a military
8:52 tactic to deny cover to the enemy ended
8:54 up poisoning thousands of American
8:56 soldiers along with millions of innocent
8:58 civilians if you want to learn more
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