Customer Reviews

The Tunnels of Cu-Chi

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Tunnels of Cu Chi shows the war from both sides.

We fought the way we did because of our one year tour of duty and huge resources. The Vietnamese fought the way they did because of their forever tour of duty and limited resources. And we all did what we had to do.

In the beginning, the Viet Cong fought from the tunnels while we fought a conventional-style war. In some ways each side was fighting a different war. This book shows how things changed as we discovered the truth about the Vietnamese tunnel system.

It tells the story of the tunnels and what everybody was doing in them- the Viet Cong, the American Tunnel Rats, the farmers, the VC support forces- everybody.

The authors include face-to-face stories from both the Viet Cong and from American fighters that show how we all saw our enemy and how we fought.

If you liked the movie "The Siege of Firebase Gloria", you'll like this book.

It gives an honest view of the war by letting the participants tell their own story, and it helps you draw conclusions about the war that you can live with.

This book gives the best account I've read of the tenacity, ingenuity and willingness to sacrifice that typified hard-core Viet Cong cadre. It gives a clear and detailed account of the tunnels; but even more, it offers us the personal, often emotional, stories of the men and women who built, lived in and fought from the tunnels, as well as the Americans who struggled against them. The unflinching accounts of our tunnel rats -- soldiers who had the supremely dangerous job of crawling into these tunnels, alone and armed only with a flashlight and a pistol -- are the most rivetting stories about the war I have seen. As an infantry medic in '68-'69, I never liked going into that area. Now the Tunnels of Cu Chi are preserved as a Vietnamese National Park, celebrated as a monument to both engineering and the human spirit. This book explains why.

As a Tunnel Rat that spent time in the tunnels in the Iron Triangle, the "Tunnels of Cu Chi" recounts many of the episodes that happened in the area.

I used this book to explain the what part of my duties in VietNam was like. It tells the tale with out embelishment nor as a typical war story. I recommend it to all "Rats" familys to give them better understanding of what being a "Tunnel Rat" was like in VietNam.

A gripping read. Written by two British journalists who were able to interview many of the players from the Viet Minh(Cong) side of the war, as well as a few hardy tunnel rats...the small in stature but tough as nails elite squads whose job it was to explore and engage the enemy lurking within the dense subterranian labyrinth. This is a rare book that successfully captures both perspectives of the war. Its contrasts the tenacity of those who endured great deprivations beneath the red clay of the Iron Triangle, with the befuddlement of a high tech superpower perplexed at the failure of firepower to surmount the seemingly stone age techniques employed by its Viet Cong foe.

Two major themes shine through the text: 1. The Vietnamese as a people had been largely united against all foreign armies for a long period of time; there was never a real possibility to win "hearts & minds." 2. The U.S. was defeated militarily via its failure to deal effectively enough and early enough with tunnel/guerilla based warfare. By the time the military began to grapple with the tunnel problem in earnest...it was too late...the American public's will to fight had already soured.

This is a great book which can compliment your viewing of Mickey Grant's 1 hour film shot in Vietnam titled, "The Cu Chi Tunnels." Tom's book also includes much about the "Tunnel Rats". The film deals much more with the Vietnamese side which has been so often not been revealed.

Having read a number of books on the war in Vietnam I was eager to read 'The Tunnels of Cu Chi' when a friend recommended it. I was completely absorbed by the book and could not put it down. The author does a fantastic job presenting the reader with an unbiased account of both the American and Vietnamese experience in the tunnels of Vietnam. I learned a great deal about the life of a Viet Cong guerilla, and why they proved to be such an elusive and destructive adversary.

I am a Vietnam combat vet, 11C20, 81MM mortar crewman, 3/22 and 2/22(M) 25th Infantry Division, Nov. 1969 - Nov. 1970...I spent a good deal of time above these tunnels..I have nothing but admiration for the way the enemy perservered and outlasted us during the war. I had no idea, until I read this book, what the extent of their struggle was really like. Our motives in Vietnam were sound. The wholesale slaughter in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos after April 1975 proved that. If the war had been fought by soldiers in an all-out campaign to win, in 1965, as well as reservists and the National Guard, instead of LBJ and R. Strange McNamara, it would have been over soon there after ( bombing like Nixon did on Christmas 1972 and the invasions of Cambodia and Laos.. )
Even if you only have a passing interest in the Vietnam War, it is a must read.

This is required reading for every commander and every staff officer, and for every intelligence professional, both at the entry-level and at mid-career. Two things really hit home from this book: 1) the fact that we were completely clueless about the physical, mental, and cultural toughness and dedication of the Vietnamese who opposed our interference in Viet-Nam; 2) the fact that we are completely unable to detect tunnels under our base camps or in the tactical environment (although new technology is coming along). They dug 200 miles of tunnels by hand, including extensive networks under the major Bien Hoa complex.

Although I never fought in Nam, I was fortunate enough to live and work in HCMC last year. One Saturday, I ventured out to Cu Chi and spent the entire day where the Tunnels are now a 'tourist' attraction. Only when I read this book, did the tunnels come to life and bring true meaning to what I had witnessed that eventful day. Coach T

I went to Viet Nam last year, and bought this book from a street kid outside the former US Embassy, now a museum, with a decidedly different perspective from the US's. The book was a xeroxed version of the real thing.

The book, in combination with seeing the tunnels themselves (and reading another book "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places"), gave me great insight into the problems we faced there, and how we might actually have come out on top, and why we didn't.

It's a well written, exciting book. It focuses some on the strategies and problems surrounding the tunnels, but mostly on the tunnels themselves, and those that fought the wars in the tunnels.

Seeing the tunnels is surreal. There is an AK47 shooting range nearby where the Vietnamese can relive moments of former glory, and as you visit, you can hear shots ringing out. They are proud of their victory, but in some ways look up to America, or at least want to have certain things America has.

I've heard so many arguments on Viet Nam. We could have won.. we never could have won. Through this book and some other data points, I learned for the first time the military issues involved(not just political science stuff.) I learned how the tunnels were key in launching the Tet offensive, which broke us politically, although according to this book, and the Vets on the trip, not militarily. Our failure to properly understand the people and their use of these tunnels cost us dearly.