The Thread of Death

When the French fought in Viet Nam, they called it la sale guerre--the filthy war. It has grown even more so. The scrawny Viet Cong guerrilla, who has always fought from the shadows, has become an expert in the art of booby traps. At the beginning of this year, 20% of all U.S. wounded were the victims of Charlie's booby traps and land mines, and the casualties are growing. In the U.S. Marine sectors alone, booby-trap incidents have increased from an average of three a day in January to nearly eight a day last month. Wherever he goes, every foot soldier on every patrol knows his next step may be his last.

Bed of Stakes. So devilish have Charlie's contraptions become that not even veteran demolition men can be sure of avoiding them. Land mines lie buried in paddy trails; coconuts filled with explosives hang in jungle trees. A nylon trip wire can plunge a man onto a bed of iron spikes--or needle-sharp bamboo stakes smeared with excrement that will poison his blood. Stepping on an invisible thread can trigger a cross-bow's arrow into his chest, and stepping on a half-buried nail can pierce the detonating cap of the shotgun shell beneath his foot. The door of a village hut may be rigged to a battery of exploding spikes, the clothes hanging on a peasant's wall may be wired to a grenade, and the Buddha on the family altar is liable to explode. Such tempting war souvenirs as Viet Cong flags are almost sure to give their collectors an unexpected bang.

"The Japanese were strictly amateurs compared to these guys," says a veteran Marine officer. "We got a 14-year-old boy the other day, and it turned out that he was a bigger demolition expert than most Marines. He'd been rigging and setting mines for six years."

Bouncing Betty. Until recently, the V.C.'s most lethal trap has been the U.S.-made "Bouncing Betty," 1,400 of which fell into enemy hands last spring. A two-stage antipersonnel mine triggered by a trip wire, Betty is kicked a yard in the air by a small preliminary charge, then explodes into hundreds of tiny fragments. "Anybody within ten feet of it is going to lose both legs," says a Marine colonel.

To reduce their losses, most U.S. units in Viet Nam now send their combat troops through special crash courses in booby traps. The Marines have cut in half the number of casualties caused by each mine by an order that men on patrol must remain at least 15 yards apart. But the price of life is constant vigilance, and it is a price that even the best of soldiers sometimes forget to pay. Near Danang recently, a veteran Marine sergeant, who should have known better, tried to pull up an anti-American sign stuck in a paddy dike. Both he and the sign were blown to pieces.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.