The Vietnam War was notorious for the guerrilla warfare that caught the American forces off guard. Operating on their home turf, the Viet Cong exploited this advantage by adeptly crafting and deploying booby traps. What made these tactics particularly effective was not only their cost-efficiency, but also the clever use of bamboo, often evading detection by the mine detectors used by the United States.
The primary goal of these traps wasn’t necessarily to kill, but to maim, employing a cunning strategy that compelled American soldiers to attend to their wounded comrades, thereby hindering their progress. This already challenging situation was further complicated by the use of secondary traps targeting those attempting to aid the injured.
It’s reported that around 11 percent of fatalities and 17 percent of injuries among US troops between 1969-70 resulted from encounters with these traps and mines. In 1965, this figure had been an alarming 70 percent.
These insidious booby traps also exacted a psychological toll on soldiers, undermining their morale. In addition to navigating the treacherous jungle terrain, they lived in a constant state of vigilance, wary of well-concealed Viet Cong booby traps.
Bow trap
The bow trap, a straightforwardm yet impactful booby trap, was utilized by the Viet Cong in the initial stages of the Vietnam War. A tensioned bow, ready to launch, was connected to a tripwire. When triggered by a soldier, the bow would release right at their location, causing a direct hit to the midsection.
Furthermore, some guerrillas arranged this trap within a shallow pit. In such cases, the bow was positioned at an upward angle, ensuring that the projectile would strike the enemy in the lower extremities.
Punji sticks
Punji sticks, also referred to as punji stakes, served as a prevalent booby trap deployed by the Viet Cong. Crafted from sharpened bamboo, wood and, occasionally, metal, they were often coated in feces, urine or poisonous substances from animals and plants, with the intent of inducing infections in their victims.
Strategically placed pointing upright at the bottom of concealed holes, punji sticks were camouflaged with materials to deceive unsuspecting individuals. When a soldier broke through the deceptive cover, they’d inadvertently step on the concealed spikes, resulting in injuries to their feet and legs.
This specific booby trap could be enhanced in two ways. The first involved installing additional stakes at a downward angle along the sides of the hole, making it challenging for the victim to extricate themselves without further harm. This led to a slowdown in their unit’s progress as efforts were made to free the trapped soldier.
The second method involved digging an adjacent hole next to one with punji sticks, intending to ensnare a second combatant with minimal additional effort. As a soldier approached to aid their injured comrade, they could fall into the adjacent hole and become trapped.
In addition to physically harming American troops, punji sticks were effective in undermining the overall morale of those serving in Vietnam’s dense jungles.
Bamboo whip
Bamboo whips were another brutal booby trap employed by the Viet Cong. A bamboo pole was attached to a tripwire and pulled back with a lot of tension. The pole had foot-long spikes attached to it, so when the tripwire was triggered, whoever tripped it would be impaled by the spikes as the pole whipped forward.
According to We Are The Mighty, the pole and its spikes could travel up to 100 MPH. As with punji sticks, the spikes could be covered in poisonous material to further impact the victim’s ability to heal.
Swinging mace
The swinging mace functioned in a manner akin to the bamboo whip. Instead of being affixed to a pole, however, it featured spikes mounted on a 24-inch sphere made of clay, wood or metal. Activation was triggered by a tripwire. Typically, the ball weighed in excess of 40 pounds.
This represented one of the more ruthlessly effective strategies employed by the Viet Cong. When the concealed ball was set into motion, gravity propelled it downward from a tree, causing grievous injuries to a soldier’s upper body, with a particular focus on their head and upper torso.
Tiger trap
The tiger trap was another Viet Cong booby trap that, like the swinging mace, caused significant injury to a soldier’s upper body. The trap was sprung when the intended victim triggered a tripwire, causing a wooden plank imbued with metal spikes to fall on them.
This was made all the more brutal by the addition of weighted bricks or other objects on the board.
Snake pit
Snake pits were primarily used within the Viet Cong’s tunnel systems.
A poisonous snake would be attached to a piece of bamboo, and when released on the victim would place the reptile in the perfect location to attack. Snake pits were encountered by American “tunnel rats,” but the Viet Cong would put snakes in other locations, too, such as in their bags or in old weapons caches.
Bamboo pit vipers were a common snake used by the Viet Cong. Within a few minutes of being bitten, the flesh surrounding the bite turned necrotic, swollen and extremely painful. However, the Malayan krait was the most infamous, earning the nickname, the “two-step snake,” sometimes mischaracterized as the “three-step snake.” This is rooted in a myth that a soldier bitten by one was killed in the short time it took him to move two steps.
Cartridge trap
Cartridge traps operated in a similar way to punji sticks, in that they were placed within a hole in the ground. An ammunition round would be set within a tube made from bamboo, with a nail and wooden board placed underneath to act as a mock firing pin. Camouflage was then placed overtop to prevent enemy soldiers from detecting it in advance.
When they stepped on the booby trap, the soldier’s weight would activate the ammunition and fire it through their foot. As such, these were sometimes called “toe-poppers.” The extent of the injury was largely based on the size of the shell. Smaller ones often left men permanently disabled, while larger shells were fatal.
Grenade-in-a-can
As the name indicates, the grenade-in-a-can was constructed by placing a grenade, with its safety pin removed, into a can, which held down the striker lever. A tripwire was then attached and, when tripped, would pull the explosive out of the can and cause it to detonate.
This type of trap could either be constructed with a single can and a stake, or with two. If two cans were used, they were mounted on trees on either side of a path, with the tripwire running between them. These booby traps were typically positioned in a stream and along the entrances to the Viet Cong’s tunnels.
Rigging war trophies
These booby traps were created based on the fact that American troops enjoyed capturing the flags of their enemies. When Viet Cong guerrillas were forced from their bases, they’d rig their flags with explosives, which detonated when the US soldiers took them down.
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The Viet Cong knew the Americans also enjoyed taking other items as war trophies. As such, they rigged them with similar explosives, so that, if the enemy combatants wanted to take anything from abandoned camps, the explosives would detonate, causing additional casualties.