Operation Crimp hoped to target a key Viet Cong headquarter location believed to be unground. On the other hand, combat troops had nearly an even chance of getting wounded, roughly 50%. limit, but he could do nothing about the height part. February 24, 2023. Comprised of 12 Special Forces soldiers, an ODA can operate independently behind enemy lines for long periods of time without supervision. each comment to let us know of abusive posts. That special task began to take shape in September 1966, when Flaherty received a letter from Rep. Donald J. Irwin, D-Conn., informing him that the Armys Surgeon General had recommended granting a waiver to the height requirement. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. Richard Flaherty was just a kid I knew briefly in high school. Upon graduation he was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) as a Special Forces Operations Detachment A (SFODA) Commander in Company A of the 3rd SFG in Thailand. The army sent in tunnel rat soldiers with the aim of locating the enemy, finding their resources, and cutting off their supplies. Friendships sometimes happen casually, the former policeman said. After the military he got into some pretty dicey stuff like gun trafficking. When interviewed he stated: We often wondered how things happened in the night and we never saw what was going on, guys getting their throat cut. You have permission to edit this article. He returned to Southeast Asia in 1969 and remained there until 1971 when he left the Army. He had spent his last years alive homeless. A retired Miami cop spends three years trying to unearth the truth about a homeless gentleman he'd befriended. It was the year of the Tet Offensive, where U.S. troop numbers peaked at more than half a million. Photo credit: Pinterest. All of that ends when hes arrested for possession of gun silencers. He was the shortest US serviceman in history. That medically makes you a dwarf (little person). Her research focused on military, environmental, and Canadian history with a specific focus on the Second World War. See what its like to jump out of a C-17 with the Armys 82nd Airborne, How to make it through Special Forces selection, How one unusual vehicle helped create Americas Special Forces, Special Forces officer slated to lead NATO special operations, This new Special Forces video mixes history and heroism in the best ways, 8 Green Berets on what it means to be Army Special Forces, ST Idaho: The Special Forces team that vanished in the jungle, Putin has a Problem: Russia can barely build any tanks to fight in Ukraine, Controlling killer swarms of swarms: Inside DARPAs AMASS, The Marine Corps is closing down its Scout Sniper platoons, Get Out: Making The Most of a Duty Station. In particularly horrendous circumstances, enemy soldiers would dig another pit directly beside it. These homeless veterans deserve more from us. In all fairness, that number was on the more extreme side of estimates. In 1968 he was sent to Vietnam in the famous 101st Airborne Division, the "Screaming Eagles". Significant causalities ensued on both sides, but the combined Australian and American forces were unable to fully uncover the extensive tunnel network. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. when a soldier had approximately two months remaining on his tour in Vietnam, he might take a long stick and notch it for each of his remaining days in-country. accounts, the history behind an article. He met Flaherty as a homeless man in 2000. He had a few run-ins with the law before becoming a confidential informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Even at those odds, you will lose and I will win. Richard James Flaherty was born on November 28, 1945. Because of this, they often targeted their legs instead. Soldiers learned to carefully probe the sides, roof, and floor of the tunnels attentively listening and trying to smell the enemy or look for trap doors. He did time in prison for drugs but was that a cover or a real conviction? by Tom Rosenbeck. They reported to Aventura police that they had seen what looked like a body in some bushes alongside the road. Click #isupportlocal for more information on supporting our local journalists. vietnam war battle. 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. As you may have guessed, life expectancy was low. Soldier in Vietnam War was the Army's Badass Combatant . Most helpful for tunnel rats, however, was the brief amount of training time spent detecting, removing, and laying booby traps. They helped conduct military operations on behalf of communist forces. He was killed in a hit-and-run accident in 2015. On one side towered a 7ft 3in (2.21m) German man-mountain who quit his job with an American freak show to join the Wehrmacht. everyone would watch to see which way the wind would take him. Click Today's Obituaries to view all of the listings. This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Similarly, one American soldier highlighted how they liked to soften things up by throwing in one or more hand grenades before sending in tunnel rats. Reports state the soldier in question had no time to scream or to unsheathe his knife, the snake had already knotted tighter around his neck and badly bit his face. When it comes to headgear, some soldiers wore a helmet or a visored cap along with a microphone and/ or transistor radio attached. According to newspaper files, her grandparents operated a restaurant in Milton. At 4 9 and 97 pounds, Richard J. Flaherty was the smallest and most unconventional man to serve in the U.S. military and needed a congressional waiver just to join the Army. We won't share it with anyone else. BCT included lessons on hand-to-hand combat, chemical-warfare defense, map reading, first aid, bayonet fighting, guard duty, and the use of hand grenades. In fact, on one occasion he was able to save several of his men who had been trapped by heavy enemy fire. Again, tripwires would trigger the release of snakes hidden somehow inside bamboo sticks, known to soldiers as bamboo vipers. Tyler Perry wrote and will direct the story of an all-female, all-Black battalion that served in Europe. You were a mighty man. Standing tall in four-feet and nine-inches, Captain Richard Flaherty, might be too small for the conventional height for the United States Army. He also discovered that, while homeless, Flaherty was secretly traveling to places like Jordan, Iraq, Thailand, Vietnam and Venezuela. Phases of captures. Again, those inside suffocated. the shortest have one line. On occasion, they ended up having severe nervous breakdowns and their colleagues dragged them out of tunnels crying and screaming. Quite simply, many troops were deployed to Vietnam but few were actually in combat. He had a story to tell. Throughout the battle, he repeatedly exposed himself to the hostile fire in order to better direct the suppressive fire of his squads. The Viet Cong also made use of explosive booby traps and pressure detonated mines. #1 New York Times bestselling author Doug Stanton- "You are holding in your hands an amazing journey into a world of puzzles, intrigue, and mystery. He was the shortest US serviceman in history. A young man emerging from his journey in a Viet Cong tunnel. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions. Tunnel Rat soldier with his gas mask and gun. The life expectancy of a radio operator in the Vietnam War ranged between five to six seconds all the way up to a slightly-more-optimistic thirty seconds, depending on your source. Reads: 47 Comments: 1. . Once in, he was able to qualify both for Special Forces training and for Officer Candidate School (OCS). During the Second World War, the Vietnamese first constructed underground tunnels to fight Japanese invasion. The Giant Killer is available on Amazon Prime and iTunes. This meant naturally handguns were most commonly chosen. Marines who score 250 or higher on BOTH the PFT and CFT are given an additional 1 percent body fat. A small donation goes a long way. Nguyen Van Vuong started as a soldier in the North Vietnamese Army in 1966 and ended his service in 1971 after contracting malaria. He first deployed to Southeast Asia in 1968 as a member of the 101st Airborne Division. He appealed to his Connecticut Senator, Christopher Dodd, and was able to get a special waiver into the Army. Yes, somehow he became lost and fell through the cracks of a societal structure that did not understand, or know how to care for the veterans coming back from Vietnam with their nightmares, and their troubling inability to fit back in with the rest of society. Overcast. Related: How to make it through Special Forces selection. racist or sexually-oriented language. He also fell below the Army's weight requirement of 100 pounds. During the same tour of duty, Flaherty was also awarded two Bronze Stars for valor and two Purple Hearts. The oldest man killed was 62 years old. 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. There are some interviews with the men that served under him and they talk about him ordering soldiers to kill civilians and surrendered VC. He was awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts. Id known him for 15 years, and this was the first time he ever mentioned the military. Awarded Medal of Honor for escape and resistance as a POW. 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. A Soldier's Thoughts. In one interview, tunnel rat soldier CW Bowman recalled how his fellow colleagues bet money on the fact he would not live through his whole tour as the job was so dangerous. Approximately 2.7 million American men and women served in Vietnam. Once his weight had increased enough, he petitioned his Congressman, Rep. Donald J. Irwin (D-CT), to fill out a waiver to allow him to enlist, despite his short stature. ", People dont know about Cotton and it shows. For his leadership and heroism, he was awarded the Silver Star. You can check it out here. Chance of rain 90%. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Invalid password or account does not exist. That month, his platoon came under heavy automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fire from a North Vietnamese Army force. 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. Wakeman wrote numerous letters home detailing her love of rushing at the enemy amid gunfire . The Lone . Talking of booby traps, Lt. Jack Flowers recalls how the Viet Cong used tripwires to release boxes of scorpions into the tiny confines of the tunnels. Comprised of 12 Special Forces soldiers, an ODA can operate . Frank Gutierrez, for example, served with the US Army in Vietnam from 1967 to 1970 as a rifleman, field wireman, and an ordinance specialist at Chu Chi and Long Binh. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group and assigned to the 46th Special Forces Company in Thailand. . Don't Threaten. 22. If you are squeamish or hate thinking about claustrophobic conditions, take this as a warning: gruesome facts lie ahead! His unit in the 101st was ambushed as it passed a hidden North Vietnamese bunker. After college David moved to Miami and became a 19-year veteran of the Aventura Police Department working as a uniformed road patrolman, undercover officer, and detective. After DNA testing confirmed his identity, the remains were removed from the tomb and returned to Blassie's family, but the Medal of Honor remained as a tribute to those . Team Mighty. Sergeant Arnold Gutierrez of the 25th Division stated that after a while they became so tuned to what was happening that when the other person would flick an eyelid up or down, you really knew he was there, in the corner, not even hiding anymore. The World War Two story of David and Goliath - an Allied 5ft 3in soldier who captured Germany's tallest soldier at 7ft 6in has been uncovered. Yuzuk learns that this unassuming 69-year-old man was a decorated military veteran. It was only after a determined effort, which included the involvement of his local Congressman, that he managed to acquire a waiver. It's an exclusive offer for our viewers! Americans often carpet bombed areas under suspicion to try flushing out the enemy. The complications caused a hormonal imbalance that stunted his growth. What are we doing that causes the disease of homelessness? 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. The openings to these tunnels were very small and those tunnel rats who went into them did so armed only with a flashlight, a K-bar (knife), and a .45 pistol. Flaherty attended Infantry Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a 2Lt on August 31, 1967. Former police officer David Yuzuk has written a superb book on Flaherty and his amazing life. He says of Flaherty, I think that Vietnam tortured Richard.. Some even fled to Canada to escape conscription. His size also meant he worked as a tunnel rat during his tour of duty, crawling through enemy tunnels to destroy them. When he graduated high school in 1966, the 4-foot-9-inch man was 3 inches under the Army's height requirement. He had crossed the DMZ back into South Vietnam where he was shot as he was recaptured. During his first tour in Vietnam, Flaherty is placed in command of the Airborne's Delta Platoon. It has been well-documented in epidemiology studies . Get your SPECIAL OFFER for MagellanTV here: https://try.magellantv.com/simplehistory. 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. A group of soldiers would then charge the gap to hopefully get a foothold and allow other troops to pile in. During the war, more than 58,000 servicemen and women lost their lives. In the 1940s Ho Chi Minh, one of the founders of the Viet Cong, stated You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours. Submitted photo. According to an article in the Stamford Advocate, Flahertys body was found by two joggers. During the course of two tours in Vietnam, because of his size, Flaherty often did tunnel rat searches. The action took place on April 20, 1968, when Flahertys platoon was ambushed and came under withering enemy fire. Overall, tunnel rat soldiers received little, if any, specific training. 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. Hed traveled a lot, read a lot and was interesting to talk with.. Yuzuk told the West Virginia Gazette that he hopes the documentary will make people think twice about judging the homeless. A soldier holding a small but venomous snake. But knowing a little bit more about his story now makes me wish I had known him better. 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. Many knew him over the last decade and a half of his life as a nameless little homeless guy in Hallandale, but he was much more than that. This also allowed soldiers to help find and collect any wounded or dead comrades. Standing at 4 feet, 11 inches, Popoca may be the shortest Soldier during missions, but she has a "tiny but mighty" mindset, she said. Eugene Debruin: civilian with Air America captured 5 Sep 63 in Laos when C-46 was shot down, God only knows what that experience and so many other combat experiences did to Flahertys mind. Although he is the subject of a new documentary available on Amazon Prime and iTunes and a soon-to-be-released book, the full story of Capt. The Vietnam War was the longest military battle in the history of the United States. Tools of the trade metal tin sign. Short Story / War and Military. When he reached adolescence, Flaherty was small compared to his peers. The primary focus of his time in the CIA was supplying the Nicaraguan Contras in Nicaragua. Growing up, Flaherty was sensitive about his height (4'9"), therefore he tried to achieve the best physical fitness and learned martial arts. He enlisted that same year, finishing basic training, qualifying for Officer Candidate School, and deploying to Vietnam as a second lieutenant. Captured U.S. pilot major Dewey Waddell is guarded by a militiawoman with a gun and a bayonet on a rice field. As a man, he stands tall in my book. The documentary is supposed to come out sometime this year and I have included a trailer for it here. But then everything we know about him gets lost in a blur of fragmentary vignettes. In many ways, Yuzuk became Flahertys friend. Most likely a member of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" which sustained 43% casualties during the Normandy campaign. Next, the Viet Cong would dig a pit and jam the punji stakes upright in it. He returned to the U.S. that same year to attend the Army Special warfare School at Fort Bragg, where he earned his green beret. He served as an A Detachment Commander and Liaison Officer. Share with Us. An Army Infantryman (MOS 11B) currently has the shortest amount of time in AIT at four weeks. This is similar to the selection effect of underwriting requirement provision in the insurance industries. His mother didnt know at the time of his birth that her blood type was Rh-negative which may lead to serious health problemsand deathin a second-born fetus. One American man was trying anything to get in. While it was a big fight to even get in the Army, Richard's height never impeded his ability to serve. One of his men got stung and came out screaming, refusing to ever go into a tunnel again. 66F. Protests to end the war in 1965. His life may have ended tragically, but it was also a life that included real heroism and self-sacrifice. On January 27, 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were signed, officially bringing to an end the American war in Vietnam. He graduated the year before me from Stamford Catholic High School, now known as Trinity Catholic High school. But many others were poor or working-class teenagers who enlisted or were drafted into the military right out of high school. If you include the near-nine years of fighting that took place during the First Indochina War, add that tally to the 20-year war in Vietnam, you understand why the conflict is sometimes referred to as the Ten Thousand Day War, that number more or less equating to 30 years. Maybe its because, as a high school student, I knew him, if only from a distance. 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. You can view the full DCAS record for an individual named in the list via the Access to Archival Databases resource, or AAD. Capt. Meanwhile, Flahertys burial spot, just behind Lisa Davis Annesss grave, remains unmarked as another Veterans Day approaches. Tunnels were also built in zig-zags to prevent the enemy from pouring in chemicals or shooting bullets over a long distance. If you look at all of the things the radio operators were tasked with, it becomes abundantly . Retired, David enjoys writing, walking on hikes, and spending time with his dog Simon. Funds are paid by Greater Good Charities to benefiting organizations as a grant. (Petty Officer 2nd Class . We can imagine that it may have had something to do with his Vietnam combat experiences. In a contemporary interview, he had said that Ive taken a lot of kidding about my size. A friend of his from high school told me he had fond memories of watching Richard breaking boards with his hands when he walked past the Flahertys garage. These soldiers made punji stakes out of heated and sharpened wood or bamboo. You could not help but notice him. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. 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. Although the percent who died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. Start Reading. Females - 26%. Capt. Richard Flaherty of Stamford, Connecticut was not one of them. In Britain, during the Nap. By REP. SAM JOHNSON. I mean really small. Oct 15, 2015 Ian Harvey, Guest Author. As each day passed he would cut the stick off another notch until on his rotation day he was left with only a small stub. He left the Army in 1971 at the rank of captain due to a reduction in force. In 1970 he was reassigned to the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Devens. Marine Corps: (Accession and Regular Standards) Male - 18%. Click here to stay informed and subscribe to Herald-Dispatch. They harnessed their newfound abilities to help them with survival because unlike their enemies, they lacked experience in these small dark tunnels. His height was no object, however, and he put . Yuzuk also found papers showing that Flaherty had paid a deposit for a burial plot in Miltons Forest Memorial Park, with a request to be buried near Lisa Davis Anness, whom the Vietnam vet described as the love of his life. Flaherty was unfazed by the criticism he continued to receive throughout his life. An average Liberian woman is 155.66cm (5 feet 1.28 inches) tall. He was often mistaken as a freshman when he was a senior. Rosemary Giles is a history content writer with Hive Media. When it came time to weigh in, Flaherty barely tipped the scale of 100 pounds. Four-foot, nine-inch tall veteran Richard J. Flaherty claimed to be the shortest man ever to serve in the United States military. After a while, whenever Id see him, Id give him a little head nod and hed do the same. Since tunnel rats extensively used explosives to collapse tunnel entrances and destroy what they found inside, combat training was particularly valuable. Collect any wounded or dead comrades your email address he also fell below the 's! Suppressive fire of his local Congressman, that he managed to acquire a waiver another Veterans approaches. These soldiers made punji stakes upright in it and women lost their.. 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