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The Tunnels of the Vietnam War (Advanced Program) · Spotlight English: Advanced

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Patrick Woodwood and I'm Alice Irazari. Spotlight uses a
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  Speaker 2: special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people
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  Speaker 2: to understand no matter where in the world they live.
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  Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty seven, twenty million people lived in North Vietnam.
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  Speaker 1: That same year, almost two hundred million people lived in
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  Speaker 1: the United States of America. The United States had greater
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  Speaker 1: military size and power. They had a technological advantage over
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  Speaker 1: North Vietnam. It seemed like North Vietnam had no chance
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  Speaker 1: to beat the United States in the Vietnam War, but
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  Speaker 1: the North Vietnamese had one powerful advantage right under their feet.
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  Speaker 2: Today's light is about the tunnel system used by the
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  Speaker 2: Viet Kung during the Vietnam War. The viet Cong were
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  Speaker 2: a South Vietnamese communist force that fought alongside the North
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  Speaker 2: Vietnamese Army or ENVA. The viet Cong were known for
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  Speaker 2: their skills in jungle warfare. These unique skills and their
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  Speaker 2: tunnel system helped hold off their enemies.
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  Speaker 1: After World War II, Vietnam's government failed. France once ruled
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  Speaker 1: the country. They used this opportunity to invade Vietnam again,
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  Speaker 1: but Vietnamese communist rebels defeated them in nineteen fifty four.
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  Speaker 1: The Geneva Accords temporarily split Vietnam in half between the
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  Speaker 1: North and the South. Democratic elections were supposed to happen
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  Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty six to reunite the country. South Vietnam
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  Speaker 1: and the United States refused to sign the accords because
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  Speaker 1: they wanted the United Nations to watch over the elections.
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  Speaker 1: North Vietnam and the Soviet Union did not want the
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  Speaker 1: United Nations guidance. Vietnam remained divided.
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  Speaker 2: North Vietnam wanted to unify the entire country under a
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  Speaker 2: single communist government. Communists believe in sharing wealth among citizens
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  Speaker 2: according to need. A strong single party government usually guides
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  Speaker 2: where money goes. The South Vietnamese government wanted more democratic
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  Speaker 2: leadership like in the West. The United States tried to
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  Speaker 2: help South Vietnam stop the spread of communism. US military
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  Speaker 2: advisers went to Vietnam during the nineteen fifties. More came
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  Speaker 2: during the early nineteen sixties. Active US combat troops were
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  Speaker 2: introduced in nineteen sixty five. They fought in Vietnam for
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  Speaker 2: eight years. United States combat units left the country in
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  Speaker 2: nineteen seventy five. Three Two years later, South Vietnam fell
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  Speaker 2: under North Vietnam's control. Vietnam remains one of only five
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  Speaker 2: communist countries today.
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  Speaker 1: The Viet Kong understood they would struggle in direct combat
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  Speaker 1: with the larger, better equipped United States military. They had
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  Speaker 1: to use guerrilla warfare. This is when small groups of
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  Speaker 1: men surprise a bigger, more traditional military force. The Viet
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  Speaker 1: Cong built traps to injure and kill enemy troops. They
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  Speaker 1: also built more tunnels.
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  Speaker 2: The Communists in Vietnam began digging tunnels in the nineteen
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  Speaker 2: forties during their war with the French. At first, the
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  Speaker 2: tunnels only covered short distances. By the Vietnam War in
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  Speaker 2: the nineteen sixties, some tunnel networks covered over two hundred
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  Speaker 2: and fifty kilometers. The entrances to the tunnels were small
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  Speaker 2: and hidden under leaves or mud. Sometimes the Viet Kong
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  Speaker 2: placed entrances in animal pens. They often built false tunnels
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  Speaker 2: that led nowhere. These hidden tunnels were set with explosives
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  Speaker 2: to injure and kill enemy troops. The Viet Cong used
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  Speaker 2: layers of thicker dirt called clay to build the tunnel
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  Speaker 2: walls and ceilings. They dug most of the tunnels during
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  Speaker 2: the rainy season, when the ground was easier to work with,
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  Speaker 2: They often dumped soil in rivers or hid it so
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  Speaker 2: that no one would see them digging.
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  Speaker 1: They built different kinds of tunnels. The vietcom used short
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  Speaker 1: tunnels for hiding and surprise attacks. They used deeper tunnels
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  Speaker 1: for command areas, medical stations, sleeping, and moving groups of
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  Speaker 1: soldiers across large areas. They hid in safety deep within
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  Speaker 1: the tunnels during US bombing attacks. Tunnels had places to cook,
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  Speaker 1: living areas, and even entertainment spaces. They had systems to
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  Speaker 1: move air. They had water tight trap doors to prevent
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  Speaker 1: tunnels from being flooded by water or gas. They used rubber, wooden, planks,
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  Speaker 1: and other everyday materials to make the doors stronger. The
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  Speaker 1: Viet Kong became expert diggers. An American soldier who served
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  Speaker 1: two tours in Vietnam said, give.
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  Speaker 3: Me a group of Viet Khm armed with digging tools,
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  Speaker 3: and we will tunnel out all Southeast Asia.
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  Speaker 2: Thousands of Viet Kong lived underground during the Vietnam War.
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  Speaker 2: Some children went to school, some even got married in
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  Speaker 2: the tunnels. Some civilians only came out to tend their crops.
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  Speaker 2: Despite the Viet Kong's engineering and digging skills, the tunnels
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  Speaker 2: were still a dangerous place to live. Tunnels were damp
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  Speaker 2: and filled with poisonous spiders, snakes, and rats. Many Vietnamese
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  Speaker 2: caught malaria and died. Malaria was the second leading cause
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  Speaker 2: of death after battle wounds.
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  Speaker 1: It was very difficult for United States soldiers to find
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  Speaker 1: tunnels because they were hidden so well. The United States
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  Speaker 1: even built a major base on top of a massive
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  Speaker 1: tunnel system in Coo Chee. But if US troops did
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  Speaker 1: find a tunnel, they had to search for enemy soldiers
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  Speaker 1: and important documents. This was extremely dangerous. The tunnels were
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  Speaker 1: narrow and dark. U S soldiers called them the dark Echo.
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  Speaker 1: Vietcong often left explosive grenades, pointed sticks, poisoned gas, or
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  Speaker 1: even snakes as traps for enemy soldiers. Most of the
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  Speaker 1: tunnels had several levels, resembling a twisting maize. US soldiers
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  Speaker 1: got lost in the tunnels.
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  Speaker 2: The United States picked small soldiers to explore these tunnels.
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  Speaker 2: They called them tunnel rats. Tunnel rats usually explored a
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  Speaker 2: tunnel with only a flashlight and a small gun. Sometimes
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  Speaker 2: a second soldier followed behind, but often a soldier went
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  Speaker 2: alone into the dark echo, with no idea of what
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  Speaker 2: he would find.
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  Speaker 1: The North Vietnamese Army's tunnel system was far more complex
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  Speaker 1: than the United States military had anticipated. Philip Caputo was
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  Speaker 1: a United States marine during the Vietnam War.
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  Speaker 4: He said, we fought a formless enemy who disappeared like
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  Speaker 4: the morning jungle mists, only to reappear in some unexpected place.
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  Speaker 4: It was a wild, periodic sort of combat. Most of
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  Speaker 4: the time nothing happened, but when something did, it happened
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  Speaker 4: quickly and without warning.
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  Speaker 2: Duang Twin Gullen grew up in Hanoi, Vietnam. His grandmother
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  Speaker 2: was a war photographer in Quang Tree during the Vietnam War.
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  Speaker 2: Quang Tree is on the border between North and South Vietnam.
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  Speaker 2: It was the most attacked city during the Vietnam War.
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  Speaker 2: She told Ngu Yen about one period of bombing that
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  Speaker 2: lasted eighty one days. Some of her teenage friends were
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  Speaker 2: soldiers in the tunnels. One day during the bombing, the
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  Speaker 2: soldiers got a rare treat. A cup of coffee was
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  Speaker 2: passed down to them. She told Nu Yen.
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  Speaker 5: They knew they were not living very long to taste
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  Speaker 5: coffee any other time, so they passed the coffee around.
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  Speaker 5: Each of the twenty people took a single sip. The
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  Speaker 5: coffee never made it to the last five people. The
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  Speaker 5: tunnel collapsed and most of them were killed.
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  Speaker 1: During the second half of the twentieth century, Vietnam fought
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  Speaker 1: in a series of brutal, devastating battles that cost the
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  Speaker 1: lives of millions of Vietnamese. For thirty years, Vietnam fought
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  Speaker 1: in almost continuous conflict against the French, the United States, Cambodia,
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  Speaker 1: and China. The Vietnamese referred to the Vietnam War as
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  Speaker 1: the American War because they had so many battles with
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  Speaker 1: different nations. Some young Vietkong soldiers thought they were still
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  Speaker 1: fighting the French when they were battling the United States.
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  Speaker 1: Many soldiers spent all or most of their lives at war.
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  Speaker 2: Nu Yen Huai fought with the viet Cong for almost
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  Speaker 2: twenty years. When he was finally allowed to return home,
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  Speaker 2: he walked the trail to his village. Things were different
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  Speaker 2: in his village. Signs were gone, no one else was
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  Speaker 2: walking the trail, and everything was quiet. When he reached
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  Speaker 2: his village, he discovered it was gone. His village had
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  Speaker 2: been destroyed and almost everyone was dead.
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  Speaker 6: Ye said, Everyone but my youngest brother was gone. He
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  Speaker 6: would die during the Chinese War five years later. I
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  Speaker 6: am not special. Ask any older Vietnamese person. They have
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  Speaker 6: all lost many, many loved ones.
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  Speaker 1: Ye moved to Saigon. He had spent most of his
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  Speaker 1: life away from society. Ye didn't know what to do.
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  Speaker 1: All he knew was how to hide and kill. Ye
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  Speaker 1: was suspicious of everyone and everything. He thought bombs were
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  Speaker 1: hidden everywhere. Ye had to be reminded constantly to pay
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  Speaker 1: for things because he was used to taking them. Ye
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  Speaker 1: struggled with post traumatic stress disorder and depression. He thought
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  Speaker 1: about killing himself.
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  Speaker 2: Ye met others who war. They formed a support group
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  Speaker 2: and shared stories and experiences. Ye found strength and hope
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  Speaker 2: in his new friendships. He got married and started a family.
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  Speaker 2: Ye even forgave the United States and everyone else for
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  Speaker 2: their involvement in the war. Ye said.
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  Speaker 6: The United States, Australia, and South Korea all apologized for
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  Speaker 6: their role in the war. Today, the United States is
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  Speaker 6: viewed favorably by over three quarters of Vietnam's population.
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  Speaker 1: A few years ago, Ye returned to his village that
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  Speaker 1: had been destroyed. It is now a forest, but someone
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  Speaker 1: made a simple memorial with trees growing around it, marking
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  Speaker 1: the burial place of those killed. Ye felt peaceful seeing it.
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  Speaker 1: It is a small remembrance of the great of so many.
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  Speaker 2: Did you know that the Vietcong used tunnels during the
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  Speaker 2: Vietnam War? Did you know that they are still tourist attractions?
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  Speaker 2: Would you be interested in visiting them? You can leave
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  Speaker 2: a comment on our website at www dot Spotlight English
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: dot com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram,
• 12:26
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• 12:30
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• 12:34
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  Speaker 1: The writer of this episode was Peter Anderson. The producer
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  Speaker 1: was Mitcheo Azarki. The voices you heard were from the
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  Speaker 1: United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted
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  Speaker 1: for this episode and voice by Spotlight. No AI or
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: artificial intelligence was used in this episode. Spotlight episodes are written, voiced,
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  Speaker 1: and produced by real people for real people, no matter
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  Speaker 1: where in the world they live. This episode is called
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  Speaker 1: The Tunnels of the Vietnam War.
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  Speaker 2: We hope you can join us again for the next
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  Speaker 2: Spotlight episode. Goodbye