Cu Chi The restored section of Cu Chi Liberation Zone, 70km North-west from the center of , belongs to the complex of the historic vestige zone of Cu Chi system and Ben Duoc temple Monument-where dedicated to heroes, valiant soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice of their lives to the struggle for the national reunification. The restored section of Cu Chi Liberation Zone is the place which shows the circumstance of livings, actives, fighting of Cu Chi people before and during the resistance against American for saving the country.

The section is divided into many areas, such as: liberation area, conflicting (competing) area, temporarily- occupied area (strategic hamlet)… which show lively the pre- scenes of Cu Chi village with luxuriant vegetation full of fruits in all seasons; the scenes of the area devastated by American bombs; the model of strategic hamlet applied by American and their agents for controlling people; and the activities of boys and girls enlisting in the army with zeal for fighting the aggressors.

Visitors to the restored section of Cu Chi Liberation Zone understand fully not only an area standing a lot of losses and sacrifice in the war, but also the patriotism, and Cu Chi people’s will of a vindictive deeply hatred for the aggressors. Due to this, it participates in educating the young generation in the responsibility for defending firmly our territory and building our country more and more prosperous and beautiful. Today, tourists can book a tour to Cu Chi tunnel at any hotels in Ho Chi Minh City with reasonable price.

The tunnel system During the resistance war against the French colonialists (1945-1954), revolutionary fighters took refuge in secret hide-outs dug in the enemy’s rear zone and were protected by their compatriots. These hide-outs were structured according to various designs, but the main feature was their being underground, with only one mouth to serve as entrance and exit just wide enough for people to work their way through, and with apertures for fresh air. When the lids were clapped over the mouths of the hide-outs, enemies had difficulty in sensing them under their feet. Cadres living in enemy territory concealed themselves during daytime in these secret hide-outs, and went out at night to perform their duties. These hide-outs had however one defect which was, one found out, persons hiding inside fell easy preys to being controlled and arrested, since the enemy was in overwhelming numbers, and in a more advantageous situation. Hence arose the necessity to prolong and transform them into tunnels opened up with many secret gates with access to the surface. This made it possible for cadres to seek shelter and counter-attack the enemy, and when it is necessary, to escape from dangerous areas to safer ones. Since, then, the tunnel system has come into being, and had a highly meaningful significance with regard to combat activities, organizational work targeted at cadres, combatants and people living in the areas adjoining the Saigon – Cholon zone.

In Cu Chi, the tunnel system was built earliest in 1948, in the two villages Tan Phu Trung and Phuoc Vinh An. There were I the beginning short and primitively – structured sections used to conceal documents and weapons, and to shield cadres operating in the enemy’s rear zone. It was later expanded to many other villages. From 1961 to 1965, the guerilla war of Cu Chi inhabitants spread out quickly. It provoked great losses to the enemy, and took part in defeating the strategy “Special War” of Americans. Five villages in the north of Cu Chi District completed the backbone “tunnel. Afterwards, administrative services and military units-built ramifications which linked to it. Thus, they helped shape an uninterrupted system of tunnel. Later, during the resistance war against American aggressors, the “Cu Chi Tunnel” system experienced great development, especially at the beginning of 1966 when Americans deployed the elite infantry division Number I “BIG RED ONE” to launch a large-scale operation named CRIMP to attack and mop up the base zone. This operation was followed by the dispatching of the 25 division “Tropical Lightning” to establish the DONG DU base from where continuous savage raids and mopping up assaults against local revolutionary forces were launched.

To cope with such violent attacks of Americans and quisling troops and with their barbaric war of destruction, the Party Committees of Saigon- Giadinh zone and of Cu Chi District led the people and the armed forces to hold on to the land, to annihilate the invaders, to defend the fatherland and the base zone. With the motto “not to move one step away, not to take one pace backward”, troops, people’s militias, guerillas, political and civilian services and people of Cu Chi emulated day in day out to dig runnels, for the purpose of building “fighting villages and hamlets” and “the belt for wiping out American aggressors”. These works made up a firm position to encircle and annihilate the enemy.

The movement of Tunnel dugouts was picking up momentum every day and everywhere. Old and young, men and women vied with one another to participate in the construction of the tunnel system to fight the enemy. The strength of human will be had overcome difficulties. It was with only with rudimentary means and tools as the hoe blade and the bamboo basket that Cu Chi people and troops had erected this impressive work with hundreds of kilometers of tunnels zigzagging below ground, linking villages and hamlets into a spectacular “underground village”. The mere hauling of earth to another place to keep the system secret constituted in itself a hard and extremely careful task. Someone may ask about the ways to conceal that enormous volume of earth, the answer is there were many ways: To fill lots of bomb craters with earth, to heap up earth to form termite’s mound, to pour it down into the rice fields, to plant agricultural products on it. Families residing on the “belt”, all and everyone, dug inter-related tunnels, , thus creating a continuous secession of tunnel which rendered them possible to hold on, to engage in production, and also to fight to defend their villages. Each citizen was a combatant and there was a fighting fort at the end of the Tunnel.

Just one year after the CRIMP operation, on January 8th, 1967 Americans launched a large-scale operation named “Cedar Falls” into the “Iron Triangle” zone, with the aim to raze the base and to annihilate the revolutionary force. At this time the tunnel system had reached a total length of over 200 kilometers. It was not just defensive but offensive. Together with the minefield on the ground, they become a constant threat to the enemy throughout the war.

Structure of the tunnel system The tunnel network zigzagged underground from the “backbone path” (main path) to a multitude of short and long ramifications, some of which were independent, some cut off in length according to geographical conditions. There were ramifications with mouths having access to the Saigon river. These mouths allowed hiding persons to cross the river to Ben Cat Base Zone (in Binh Duong Province), when the situation was critical. The tunnel was not dug deep, but still were resistant to canon shells and to the heavy weight of tanks and armored cars. Some deep sections of which were capable of protection even against small scale bombs. There were sections structured from two to three storeys (the upper storey called “upper” and the lower “submerged”), equipped with lids over secret mouths leading to tunnels that connected the storeys. In the tunnel system there wert also block –points at sensitive spots to obstruct the way of enemy or to stop the toxic chemicals sprayed by them. There were also narrow sections that only light and thin persons could work their way through. Along the tunnels there were carefully-disguised shafts for fresh air, connected to the surface face by multiple secret openings. Numerous mouths were designed to serve as fighting nests which caused utter surprise to the enemy. Pitfalls, nail and spike traps were set at critical points of the system…

Around tunnel entrances and exits were also laid nail and spike traps, land mines (called deathly ground) as as antitank high explosive mines and anti-helicopter grenade launching machines to prevent helicopters from swooping down and the enemy from approaching. Inter–related to the system were broad trenches for rest after combat where hammocks could be hung up. There were reserves of weapons, food, water, smoke- tight Hoang Cam kitchens, meeting rooms for leaders and commanders, dispensary facilities for surgery, living quarter for wounded and convalescing combatants, letter– A quarters for sheltering women, old people and children. Large will-ventilated and roofed trenches served as room for meetings, film showings, theatrical performances… All this underground world was elaborately concealed overhead.

Throughout the entire period when the enemy conducted devasting attacks, all activities of people and combatants alike were “buried” (misused) below ground. Cu Chi people still try to lead a normal life in hard condition. In spite of the earth above being continuously combed to lead a normal life…Actual living conditions in the tunnel system were undoubtedly harsh, but this was unfortunately unavoidable. In order to protect resistance forces for a protracted war, every hardship had to be endured, at times beyond human endurance. Since darkness pervaded the low narrow tunnels, it was difficult to walk upright and people had to hunch their back and crawl most of the time. There were spots that were humid and suffocating owing to lack of oxygen and light (light shone mainly from candles and flashlights). Whenever someone fainted, he or she was brought out of the tunnel to be given artificial respiration. During the rainy season, the earth gave birth to noxious insects and even to snakes and to other species of reptiles…As for women, life was much harsher, since there was a number to whom babies were born and brought up in the tunnel, who therefore had to undergo severe hardships. Under such circumstances, when hundreds of people would come in and out of the tunnel system’s mouths, keeping it secret imposed itself as a very complicated matter. An earth-soiled broken stem of grass and a peculiarly torn tree leaf had to be put back to their natural appearance if the enemy was not to discover and launch attacks to the tunnel. Using water to destroy the tunnel system

IN the operation named CRIMP (the TRAP), from January 8th to January 19th, 1966, American army deployed up to 12.000 troops, supported by planes, tanks, and to assault the liberated area in the north of Cu Chi. The pump water into the underground tunnels, trying to flush out their adversaries supposedly seized by acute fear of downing. In places away from the Saigon river, they used helicopters to haul tanks of water with which they attempted to flood the tunnel. This childish scheme bore no results, as the water, being small in volume, was insufficient to inundate it. It was just adequate to wet the ground. According to enemy’s documents, they could only destroy 70 meters of tunnel; it was a very small number in comparison with the hundreds of kilometers of the system. By contrast, American troops and their valet allies were attacked from all sides by resistance troops and guerillas who inflicted casualties on 1600 enemy soldiers, destroyed 77 tanks and armored cars, shot down 84 aircraft. That as great loss of American troops in the operation “The TRAP”. It proved that the guerilla war was able to defeat the modern war of Americans.

Although defeated, the enemy persisted in their scheme to wreck the tunnel system. They assigned a number of military experts to study it, which however yielded no findings, this being due to their having no conditions to conduct research in depth, to their subjectivity, and over-reliance on modern armament. As the result, their subsequent tactics became also abortive and met more ignominious failures.

Fighting from the From the very first days, when troops of American aggressors arrived in Cu Chi, they net with strong resistance on the part of the locality’s people and fighters. The enemy suffered heavy losses in number and in means of war. Surprise after surprise, they eventually realized that resistance combatants had come from the tunnel system. So, they decided to wreck it, together with destroying geographical conditions and dismantling the base in pursuance of the objective to annihilate and push revolutionary forces as far away from Saigon as possible, so that a security belt might be erected to protect it. Saigon was the nerve center of the war machinery of Americans and their valets and also the capital of the “Republic of ” and American satellite. Throughout a long time, the enemy had launched incessant devasting attacks against the base and the tunnel system. Their tactics can be thus described:

Sowing grass to disrupt the topography The enemy executed other stratagems to wreck the tunnel system, and base, and the one worth mentioning was their sowing grass to disrupt the topography. The Americans flew planes to drop seeds or a strange species of grass which the Cu Chi people used to call “American grass”. This kind of grass, once sown and when it rains, grew and spread unbelievably quickly, reaching two to three meters after just one month and having big sharp stems. They overgrew the grass in the fields, and formed impregnable clumps which hindered comings and goings and combat activities. They also helped enemy planes reconnoitrer easily targets to strafe and bomb. In the dry season, the grass withered yellow, then dried like straw. Set fire by rockets, canon shells and bombs, the clumps of grass burnt fiercely, which made the ground naked, mine field exploded, and spike blocks burn…The result was different organs and units did not have shelters to live, and their personnel when walking laid footprints on the ash layer, thus showed the way to enemy to reach and attack the system. However, this scheme had also met with the same fate as the others. This was so, because the verdant vegetation of the fields of Vietnam had, risen up to provide cover for the base zone. Resistance forces continued to hold firm grip on the land of the Cu Chi. And from the tunnel system, they rushed out to join force with the people to launch in Spring 1986 successive attacks on Saigon, the last den of the enemy, and to occupy almost all the sensitive installations of the American Embassy, the Radio Station, the General Staff Headquarters, the rebel troop’s command department of naval forces the Tan Son Nhat Airport…

As from the strategic attack in the Lunar year of Mau Than (1968), the battlefield was subjected to changes. The enemy carried out new strategy “to sweep and to keep” continuously launch attacks on the liberated areas of Cu Chi, with the aim to sweep out the revolutionary forces, to consolidate the safety belt protecting Saigon. So, the tunnel system never ceased to be consolidated and expanded to provide a solid land – gripping position for resistance forces to get close to the city-belt area, to create new battlefields, and to get ready for the opportunity to liberate Saigon. In the Spring of 1975, many strong units of the ARMY CORPS No 3, of the main and regional forces were assembled here to be dispatched to liberate the town of Cu Chi and Saigon, the last sanctuary of the enemy, ending in complete victory the resistance against Americans at 11:30 am, on April 30th, 1975.

Using Alsatians (German dogs) to attack the tunnel system. During the operation, the enemy used Alsatians to lead the way to detect the way to detect the tunnels. Some 3,000 dogs were unleashed on Cu-Chi and Ben Cat battlefields. These dogs of West Germany origin sniffing out people keenly were professionally trained before being sent to Viet-Nam. The tactics of using military dogs caused difficulties to resistance troops and guerillas shot down and killed the dogs. But in so doing, resistance fighters revealed themselves to the enemy who concentrated their attacks on them. Later, chilly was crushed and mixed with pepper powder to be scattered at the tunnel mouths which made the dogs cough to suffocation. But this again was no use, because as dog become coughing, it led the enemy to the tunnel mouths. The task of fighting dogs become more difficult, so a campaign was launched for the people to offer suggestions to cope with scourge. Measures were finally found to put out of action the packs of dangerous dogs. According to documents made public by the Americans, 300 Alsatians used in attacks on the Cu Chi tunnel network had died of illness or been killed by resistance forces. Thus, the tactics of using dogs to disclose and attack the tunnel system used by Americans was defeated.

Using the bulldozers to wreck the tunnel system This was a very fierce action. It consisted of mobilizing hundreds of high-powered vehicles to unearth entirely each section of the system. Wherever the enemy arrived, they blew toxic chemicals into the tunnel and call through loud –speakers for surrender. There were spots where the vehicles clapped and hurled on ground whole secret without the slightest knowledge that people were hiding inside. At night, combatants opened the caves to escape. During these days, despite the fact that the enemy coordinated various branches of their armed forces to attack the tunnel system, resistance fighters kept clinging to the tunnel, engaging in combat activities, destroying the enemy and their fire power. Having achieved no results as expected, the Americans and their valets had to give up the stratagem, because they were unable to bulldoze earth to wreck all the tunnel under conditions of being fought back without a respite for day and night.

Using the “sewer rats” army to attack the tunnel system: In the operation “Cedar Falls” (also called operation “To peel off the crust of the Earth”) starting on January 8th, 1967, the Americans deployed 30,000 troops supported by tanks, armored cars, artillery, and air force to launch devasting attack against the “Iron Triangle” zone. They razed to the ground the township Ben Suc (Ben Cat) and devasted six villages in the north of Cu Chi laying above a labyrinth of tunnels. Carrying out this operation, the enemy had the ambition to capture high-ranking officers of the Saigon Giadinh Military Zone Headquarters, and leaders of the Party Committee of Saigon Giadinh zone to destroy the zonal forces, to wreck the base and the tunnel system, to forcibly move people to another place, and to turn this area into a zone “free for destination”. In reality, 1.000 local inhabitants were killed or wounded, 10.000 others gathered into “strategic hamlets”, 6.000 dwellings destroyed, and 3.700 tons of rice seized by American and quisling troop in this operation.

The American fielded in this raid the army of “sewer rats” numbering 600 men of the engineer corps, selected for their “small size” and given order to blow up the tunnel system. During the assault, the enemy used flying fortresses B52 and jet fighters in concert with artillery to pound the area for one month long with the objective “to clear the ground” for helicopters to land the troops, and for tanks and infantry to march into the base. They even threw napalm bombs to burn hundreds of hectares of forests and gardens. Bulldozers moved earth to bring down trees which were later heaped into piles to set fire. The “Sewer rats” formed team of four, two of them standing above and the two others slipping into the tunnel (where they had discovered that resistance fighters had left for another position). They wore antitoxic masks, help high-velocity submachine guns, iron lances, gaggers, toxic gas insufflators, flashlights, etc. They had mines at intersections and connected trip-wires to the surface then set explosion to blow up the tunnel. With this method, the enemy did bring down a number of short sections of the tunnel, but this was insignificant viewed against hundreds of zigzagging, multi-storeyed and multi-mouthed ramified tunnels.

The tactic of using engineer corps troops to wreck the tunnel system finally failed. To confront with this large-scale assault, resistance combatants and the people of Cu-Chi had unwaveringly clung to the land, fought back fiercely and successfully the enemy, protected the headquarters of Saigon-GiaDinh Military Zone and of Saigon- GiaDinh Party Committee as well as its officers and its cadres. The base area remained in friendly hands. Whenever the enemy appeared, resistance combatants jumped out of the tunnel to find them to blindness in every way and with all kinds of weapons. At Ben Duoc (the site of the present historical vestige), a squad of 9 guerillas with a female nurse among them had stayed their ground in the tunnel to keep fighting for days. They succeeded in killing 107 enemy troops and burning many of their tanks. The Cegar Falls operation suffered losses twice greater than those of the Crimp sweep, so it was called off earlier than scheduled (lasting only 20 days). The “duping mines” invented by hero TO VAN DUC were used everywhere on the battlefields to destroy hundreds of armored cars, a number of helicopters and enemy troops. In so doing, the criminal hand was stopped.

In sum, the total loss of the enemy through the Cedar Falls operation was so high: 3,500 troops, 130 tanks or armored cars, 28 aircraft. But unfortunately, its aim could not be attained, as General A. NASEN confessed: “The investigation revealed that, “Viet Cong” had already broken into the area right before our troops haven’t withdrawn from the “Iron triangle”. And finally, the Americans not only it is too deep, but it is also zigzagging with not a single straight portion… Attacking with the engineer corps is not effective, and it is very difficult to find out mouths to drop into the tunnel…”

Source: www.dulichso.com