Man if he will try to listen to every story he tells. My grandpa shared stories but he passed away about a year before I became interested in history. I really regret not realizing what hed been through before.
Working with my 1st Sgt. He never said word about it but you could see the look. 5'5 ish. Hard as hell. At that point 21 years in the Corps.
4 года назад+14
@Kip Kruse Except there were many documented cases of officers/sargeants getting mentally-handicapped grunts to do such dangerous tasks. So, in that case those guys never refused because they didn't fully comprehend what they were really getting into..
@@JamesonsTravels had family as a tunnel rat (australia) managed to get one story out of him. chased a VC down a tunnel lost sight of him, next minute heard a engine turn over. turns out they had a tank buried near the surface, didnt take em long to disable it but still was up long enough to take out a few of the platoon
This is no joke. Im 51, My father's good friend went to Nam. Spent 2 tours. His name was Joseph, he passed away from cancer about 10 years ago. He was small in stature, but a tough son of a gun.He was sent into tunnels to clear them. When he left the states he had solid black hair. When he returned after duty he had a white streak of grey hair off the top. I liked Joe, he played amazing guitar and was a good dude. We all got drunk one night , i asked him about his time in vietnam, he just said this, " We slept in , ate and breathed Agent orange. I asked him about the tunnels. He would not talk about it. Here's to you Joe. we miss you.
My grandad fought in WW2 in the British Navy. I believe it was battle Taranto he was in, but he didn't like to talk about it so much. He was 16 when he went to war and lied about his age to fight for our country. He is my hero and I miss him.
Wow they completely missed the radio operator who's life expectancy during a battle, especially whilst on patrol is between 5 to 6 seconds. If you're lucky you might survive 30 seconds. This was especially well known during the Vietnam War. As a Sig Operator we were constantly told during training who was probably going to be the first person killed whilst on operation/battle lol....
@@JamesonsTravels Well shit. I enlisted in the Marine Corps as a 0621 Field Radio Operator and I leave for P.I. in December. Oh well, I'd rather do the shitty jobs so the others don't have to. Love the videos as always
My grandpa was a radio operator in WWII. The only thing he told my mother about the war was that they put him in a backwards arrow formation and he was on the end of the arrow because of his job, so he was put in front of everybody. He survived the whole war, and while he was ready to go back home at a army base a grenade accidentally went off and almost killed him. He got the purple heart for that
@@xArmorOfGod my dad kept getting sent to Germany and ft rielly Kansas his job was classified his unit went to Vietnam he went to Germany he volunteered to go into the army they sent him a daft notice while he was in basic training but he went to college to learn how to be an RTO i guess he was the lucky 1s but he had his regrets he was not a coward or a daft Dodger but he saw almost 60,000 orders come though his teletype at least 3 times he did escape from the fake tiger camp at ft Polk and walked 20 miles on 1 flip flop a towel and in his boxers lol a local farmer picked him up and took him to the base and dropped off almost 2 miles from the base before he got out of the truck he invited my dad to have a family dinner before he went to (Vietnam) Germany the reason why the farmer dropped my dad off 2 miles from the base he did want to be called a traitor for turning in an American soldier escaping from a POW CAMP
It is considered inhumane now. Protocol 3 of the Convention of new conventional weapons bans their use on personnel. He is point is taken that we drop bombs and stab and shoot people still, but frying someone alive (many times they will live with severe burns or die very slowly over weeks) is particularly horrible. We don't use napalm anymore either.
@@JackCarregan Yup. I think they stopped using flamethrowers because it was too cruel and was suicide. Not every enemy would immediately die by the fire, it would just cause unnecessary pain. And then eventually the flamethrower unit would get blown up by their own gas tank.
@@yothatsprettygayheadass6290 White phosphorous is used for the purposes of creating smoke, the wording in the geneva convention mainly covers use on personnel. It would only be a violation of the geneva convention if it was deliberately used against troops rather than to conceal movement.
The tunnel rat to me seems like the scariest job to have. All alone in a confided space in the dark with only a handgun, bayonet and a torch. Surrounded by traps and enemies.
I thought so too. Until i ask my grandpa a former tunnel rat how he even went down there alone. From what he told me, he wasnt trapped with the vietcong, the vietcong were trapped with a marine and his 1911.
I'm sure smoking was fairly safe. If the fuel is anything like gasoline it needs a spark or open flame to ignite. A cig dropped in a puddle of gasoline doesn't light up like in the movies
Tongue in cheek, but Kamikaze pilot has to be a tad risky :-) . To be more serious, B17 ball turret gunners had a very bad deal. Unable to get out without help from within the fuselage. No help, no get out. Bomb disposal is a bad deal as well. Several highly decorated Britsh bomb diposal people in Iraq, although highly experienced , eventually lost their lives in course of their duty. First war aviators had a bum deal to. NO Parachutes. Rickety aircraft, need a medal to get in one in the first place. Flame throwers are very restricted in their use. Whilst not banned entirely, they are banned in an anti personel role , and can only be used in clearing foliage. Scary weapon. In fact, in the case of British Crocodile tanks , I have read that in some instances the crew would intentionally delibetely narrowly miss the target (bunker, etc) with their first spray, to give the occupants chance to surrender. Seeing that, I'd be hands up smartish
@@bobthebomb1596 Yep normally being soaked in flammable liquid is enough to make most units surrender. Remember it makes even shooting back incredibly dangerous because you could always accidentally light the fuel when firing.
@@gamerleal9265 I beleive the tail gun position on B17's was one of the better places to bail from in the event of trouble. Ball turret you were effectively locked in from outside the turret.
My grandfather was a Cpl in the Vietnam war and he died as a tunnel rat. He was the bravest man my father new and I wish I could’ve heard his stories. Every year, remembrance Sunday, I watch videos and read about Vietnam war stories. Lest we forget and god bless all of us past and present serving personnel.
I had a family friend who was a tunnel rat in Vietnam. He never told me about it but told my stepdad since they used to be roommates in the 90’s. He was a damn good cook and didn’t have much family. We would invite him to our thanksgiving since he didn’t have much family. He cooked at our local VFW and everyone LOVED his cooking. Our family loved his sour kraut and my stepdad makes his recipe to this day. He past away from health complications earlier this year. Rest In Piece Steve, you will be loved and never forgotten..
A friend I grew up with joined the Navy as a submariner but right before he shipped off for Navy boot camp he started spazzing out he all the sudden didn't like the thought of being underwater for all that time and he flaked out and refused to follow orders and got kicked out of Navy boot camp. I'm an Army vet and one thing he does that pisses me off is he still going around telling everyone hes a Navy vet even though he didn't even make it through two weeks of boot camp, were no longer friends.
@@JamesonsTravels He was the laziest human being I've ever known and I honestly think he couldn't bare the thought of working for 6 years straight lol.
I had a boss years ago that was a Sapper with Royal NZ Engineers and deployed to Vietnam with NEWZAD (NZ Army Detachment. The Kiwis were all volunteers, no conscription like Oz or US. This guy was just over 5ft. Lean. Amazing sense of humor and one of funniest guys I ever met. He only told me he was a 'tunnel rat' once and never talked about it ever again.I lost contact when I moved jobs then found out he died of Cancer a few years back. RIP Brother.
I guess they banned flamethrowers from international warfare. We had them in Switzerland to some point in the 80s i guess, but guys died during training, then they scraped it completely.
@@FY--my5gg Actually despite popular belief, it isn't. They cannot be used on combatants on a certain distance to civilians. Other than that its free game. This of course isn't accounting for the other 5000 reasons why not to use one.
(1) I still think Tunnel Rat is first, especially when you consider the claustrophobic environment they had to work in. Most of the time the only equipment they had was a flashlight and pistol. A Flamethrower operator would definitely be a runner-up, considering they were immediately targeted on the battlefield.
Not only that but firing your gun inside a tunnel is basically a death sentence. Due to the small quarters and echo of the tunnels you basically give away your location to any enemy near and you have no space to dodge or take cover. I am also guessing that such a loud noise amplified by the small quarters could cause some serious damage to your ears with the best case leading to disorientation or dizziness coupled with vomiting and in the worst you could have internal bleeding and pass out for minutes coupled with the above symptoms in a situation where time is of the essence.
@@frking100 if you ever get a chance, check out some of the pieces of equipment the tunnel rats experimented with (with varying degrees of success). Head lamps with bite switches, various suppressor setups, revolver cartridges with pellet loads. As far as I know most of the whizz-bang ideas didn't end up working very well, but the attempts to tailor gear to such a specific, unforgiving role were really interesting.
@@baronvonfaust I know they switched to revolvers (the 1917) and tried to use their own pistols with smaller calibers and suppressors. And that the vast majority chose not use gas mask due to how inconvenient they where ( sadly most tunnel rats now suffer from overexposure to agent orange due to this).
The old school flamethrower was replaced by the modern M202 FLASH. Reasons for not using flamethrowers throughout campaigns in Iraq/Afghanistan include unconventional warfare without a clear identifiable enemy or fixed military targets. The enemy generally dresses in local, civilian attire, hides amongst the population and conducts unpredictable attacks. Flamethrowers are banned from being used on areas near concentrations of people and buildings. In addition, media coverage including photographs, video and images of civilians being burned alive during war fighting does not serve to win hearts and minds and is detrimental to Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs units. The flamethrower seems to be fair game in conventional war, however, it doesn't translate to overall mission effectiveness during modern warfare.
100%, I did 3 years of rowing in highschool and i rowed a little bit in my freshman year of college and its definitely different. Modern rowing is definitely different because modern rowing the seats move and you can use your legs more. This type of rowing is probably mostly upper back, core, and back. You also have to have a lot of endurance depending on how fast people the cadence is. Being in sync is also really hard and can be very difficult.
If one oar doesn't move correct, it'll hit some other oars that then also are thrown out of sync. On a galley, you have hundreds of rowers with really long oars, so it's easy for just one guy to completely mess things up. And not only have you be able to row in sync with everyone, you also have to keep it up for 15-20 minutes or more, with a battle going on, and still stay in sync.
There was skill in being a galley rower, as you had to keep a steady rhythm to keep in time with your fellow rowers, as well as being able to know the commands/maneuvers to turn the ship/different speeds, or retract the oars when being rammed to keep them from being broken. It was a very difficult job, with an incredible amount of risk.
Hi JT, a mate I used to work with had 22 years in and he told me about clearing tunnels and bunkers in boznia, it was the worse job he did, he was hard as nails and always looked like was carrying a carpet under each arm, but he told me he was scared. it takes a certain kind of person for that job, count me out!!
7:00 When rowing, brute force will only get you so far before the technique is the only way to get better. An example of this is that a rower that has trained technique is almost guaranteed to win a 2000m race on a rowing machine against a person doing CrossFit. The technique is critical for maximizing how long you can go for the same amount of work done on the oar.
I was a 7051. In school we had to crawl through a tiny ass hole while fully geared with an o2 tank on our back. I was about 195 at the time and semi jacked... it wasn't easy. As a Marine i was super impressed by the 295 pound Jackson,(airforce) who had to have his sleeves specially cut, made it through the same hole that i struggled with.
@@Nightserk I read somewhere that some Navy SEALs in Vietnam started to eat diets exclusively of the kinds of food that only Vietnamese peasants ate so that they'd "smell local." I imagine some Tunnel Rats did that too. Though yeah, a fart joke is always funny. :)
The only reasons we do not use flamethrowers anymore are: 1) They are highly situational and are extremely heavy to be constantly lugging around in modern doctrine, such as on patrol. 2) They are considered inhumane (Which is a funny word to describe weapons meant to kill people) Overall I think flamethrowers still have a place on the battlefield, and we'll probably bring them back into use in another major war.
I read about use of old WW2 era flamethrowers in Grozny city by militia back in 1994. With very heavy weight, fuel lasts only 5 to 7 seconds and distinctive look this weapon was highly situational and stored in truck or APC untill very specific operations. Operator was using it and PM pistol with couple of magazines, often not wearing body armor. Gun was iInvaluable asset for unit of fresh conscripts and low rank police officers (patrolman mostly), because they was not trained in CQB. "Dont take firebug alive" is also not a concern here, since chechens did not taked any professional soldiers or MVD officers as prisoners, often executing them on site, conscripts had slightly better chances. If slavery can be called "better chance". Fired similar weapon once burning bushes and poisonous grass ("борщевик"). Fuel lasts only few seconds, but it feels like very long time, tank is heavy and its hard to maneuver with it. Especially after firing burst or two: liquid shifts as you moves, making runing harder. Range was about 30 meters, sounds like a lot when not considering effective range of a rifle.
> Which is a funny word to describe weapons meant to kill people It's only funny if you don't realize that slowly burning alive is the worst way to die, Sherlock. The suffering is such that even the one who inflicts it is traumatized.
@@futsk01 I don't think most flamethrower operators were traumatized from killing the enemy. There are also many, many, many horrible ways of dying in warfare compared to fire. Starvation, infection, and being gut shot to name a few.
"Whats the good in no longer using the flame thrower" Hellfire missles. Cheap to make, easy to use. Also we have so many effective explosives, why set fire to it when you can just blow it up.
The reason they stopped being used is because it’s a big announcement of where you are to everyone on the battlefield, as well as an explosive target on your back
The skill involved in rowing is really teamwork and rhythm. The boat moves much more efficiently when the rowers are in unison. Also, there’s no rudder. You steer the boat by moving the oars differently based on what maneuver you’re trying to do.
Then again, also the SS contributed to the many developments of specialised forces worldwide. Started as Hitlers bodyguards and secret state police, up to Otto Skorzeny’s special trained team to liberate Mussolini... Apart from the atrocities of mass murder, it was meant to be the same as Caesar’s pretorian guards and a concept that still exists today. In the end any warrior will admire the tactical background and specialised advantage of the enemy in order to learn and counter attack. Evolution goes on and on and time changes warfare. Back in the day we were out in the field, disconnected from friends and family, far away from home... today you go out on patrol and have a videochat with your mates, wife and kids... that sometimes raises my Wtf eyebrow.
I love how you stop everyso often and involve your audience. Its nice not alone do that. Thank you for you service I never had the chance to serve I really wish I did.
RE: skill of galley rowers. Imagine a standard battleship from the Hellenic era - a trireme had 100 rowers on each side pulling oars organized in 3 parallel lines at different height. I suspect pulling them oars in sync fast and over significant time might require some skill - you couldnt just have individual rowers pulling at their own pace since that would have lead to the oars geting entangeld in each other.
chris hammond is that a joke??cuz considering that they Literally carried a tank full of some kind of fuel most of the on their back...........,.,yeah I’m pretty sure you get where I’m going with this
@@JamesonsTravels Carried old ROKS-2 flamethrower to burn grass and bushes once. Bulky, heavy, weight of fuel shifts as you move and when going prone it will stick from any cover. Cant imagine using this weapon in combat. Now there are better options for bunker-busting like RKO "Shmel" and other disposable thermobaric launchers.
Jamesons Travels Thats a big myth. 9/10 it won’t erupt in flames. There’s no oxygen inside the tank. Just a neutral propellant. A tracer yes, but far and few individual soldier had tracers. Believe it or not your safer to have a flamethrower on your back than you are driving a vehicle with an unpressurized gas tank.
Imagine the ptsd those rowers would have had and no one would’ve even known what was wrong with them. Respect to all who take up arms for their countrymen and to those who had to serve while in bondage.
I can’t imagine how they got so many people to go down in them. Even if they were more comfy to be in, the very thought of the strong possibility of drowning, should be enough to deter most people. That’s worse than being burnt with a flamethrower.
@@JamesonsTravels We put them in our rucksacke and used the smaller tape antennas when possible. Hell,i even wrapped wire around my helmet and used that as a concealed antenna. Just a mic cord hanging out.
Damn Jameson I was about to go sleep now you keeping me up another 22 minutes 😂love the content, keep it up 💯🇿🇦❤️ Edit:just finished watching, it was great 👍🏻
Rowing at a high level can be quite physically demanding since it utilizes every major muscle in your body. In the earliest days of gallery rowing and naval combat, the ships weren't efficient enough for simply slave galleries. The trained rowers had to operate rather long and heavy paddles in open water which is often rougher than the rivers commonly used for rowing presently. They also were the power behind the ramming and boarding techniques utilized at the time, thus they often had to accelerate into a deliberate collision, withstand it then reverse out of the enemy ship and continue fighting. In some instances they were the last defense for a ship if it was boarded and thus required some combat skill.
Wow, some brave men for sure. Thanks for such an informative video! Love your content! Also thank you for service. My Uncle served in Vietnam, bronze star. He will never speak of the war. He always tells me, " son you dont want to know the things I had to eat to just survive, yet along the things I had to see, and things I had to do get back home " He always says we had No business fighting in that war
My great uncle was a machine gunner in Vietnam in the USMC. I have a picture of him hauling a huge machine gun, no sleeves on him. Just a Flak Jacket. He’s still alive today.
9:44 it depends on who's in the building with the enemy. Could be extremely effective but you might have to check a way or another in various situations prior using.
Like George Carlin said, whoever invented the flamethrower thought to themselves; "I wanna light those people over there on fire but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."
Flame throwers instantly kill you by incineration. It's not as slow as you think it's actually painless. Napalm burns at the melting point of steel. Forgotten weapons has a great video on them.
At 68 inches and 120 pounds I was tunnel rat for C 4/3 11th Inf, in 1968. Didnt wear a helmet, carried a 45 and issue flashlight. Cleared many a tunnel. Made it home and I still enjoy spelunking, much easier now, but dont do it much now as im 72.
Respect to the tunnel rats. We used to joke in the Aust Army that the scout in an contact would live 5-10secs, so we should just strap a claymore to their chest and they just turn in the direction of the enemy and clack.
Hey Jameson, I'm 15, I live in Australia and I'm thinking about joining the army, however, I'm intending to do a trade (plumbing) whilst I'm in the army. Do you think I should do it as a normal apprentice or in the military. Thanks.
If you want to do plumbing it would be a great place to start. Generally, military training is pretty good. Better than most outside and they pay you at the same time. Why not.
@@JamesonsTravels Also I think that it is a lot easier to get into other jobs when you have ex-military on your c.v. Thanks for the help, much appreciated.
You should do a bit of research. When I was doing a mechanics apprenticeship the garage trialed a newly discharged REME mechanic who I guess had been doing that job for 30 or so years. The guy was would have been excellent at fixing tanks, trucks and anything else the military could throw at him but he was declined as he wasn’t up to date on modern vehicle technology. I’m not saying don’t do it but in the case of plumbing, ensure you keep up to date with aspects that will help you in civilian life as well such as all aspects of domestic plumbing.
@@lukemorey1256 Don't let the recruiters catch you telling hard truths like that, especially using your real name here on RUclips.. Almost everyone I know who's had a career with the ADF felt like they were severely lied to about their opportunities within and beyond the ADF.. I know someone who felt so misled by the Navy recruiter that after 3 years in the force, he pretended to have psych issues so he could be medically discharged..
I did 5 years on a sub. I could not have done what the ground pounders did. We used to joke "There are 2 types of people. Those that could jump out of a perfectly good airplane and those that could sink a perfectly good boat." Subs have their challenges and they were worse back in WWII, but I can't imagine being on the ground instead. Massive respect!
flamethrowers aren't used anymore because they go against the geneva conventions due to the large amount of irreversible damage they do to combatants and inability to be limited only to damaging millitary personnel and assets. If you bomb a millitary airfield only the buildings next to the airfeild are in danger but if you torch an airfeild with flamethrowers you run a high risk of starting a brush fire that engulfs the nearby town. Basically countries have agreed to only damage millitary targets as long as you only attack millitary targets. if world war 3 occurs though total war could be implemented again where protection civilian life and property becomes much less important when facing collapse of your own country and way of life.
RE: reason for not using flamethrowers. There is the general ban on weapons that cause unneccesary pain and suffering in the 1904 Hague (IV) convention that could be interpreted to mean that this would include flamethrowers - doing so is in accordance with customary international humanitarian law. There is also the 1980 Geneva Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons that specifically restricts the use of incendiary weapons, but thats mostly about preventing harm to civilians/collateral dammage. A general specific ban on incendiary wepons is being worked on. The most widespread (including the official US) military legal view is that its legal to use incendiary weapons against military personnel UNLESS DOING SO CAUSES UNNECCESARY PAIN OR SUFFERING.
My dad was a Green Beret in Vietnam, he was a tunnel rat. Hes only told me very few stories but it really makes me wonder how I even exist let alone how he's still alive today mostly unscathed, he got shot in the arm once. One time I was helping my dad do some work, this guy we were getting the job done for kept prying him about how he was a tunnel rat in Vietnam. My dad didn't like talking about it but he told the man about the starved snakes as booby traps, they had a nickname for the snakes but i can't remember it. Now, this guy wasnt too bright, he asked my dad "Why didn't you just turn on your flashlight?" My dad turned to him and said, "Yeah, and why not just start hollering at them? I preferred to use my hands, I didn't want them to know I was in there." Just the look in my dad's eyes as he said that to him spoke plenty to me, just the shit he's had to see and endure. He's a badass man.
I strangely really love tight spaces, I probably would have volunteered to fight in the cooler temp tunnels over the hot steamy jungle (I'd rather die cool and comfy than hot and sweaty). I worked pipeline tie-ins in 798 welders union for awhile and was always the guy volunteering to go into the pipe to fix welds. The tightest I did was 24in. diameter .375in wall thickness. I always went in first then they send in the welder so I was sealed in by the hot weld the welder and all the gear and couldn't crawl or be pulled out until the weld was done, cleaned and everything else was extracted. I never worried about the tight space just about someone dropping the pipe or dropping something on the pipe while I was inside. All that being said, I think the worst job would definitely be the galley rower would be the worst, NO THANK YOU.
@@baronvonfaust lol I have a very little bit, but would love to do it more for sure. I rock climb regularly and I've been through a few tight slot canyons but no real caving.
My late uncle was in England in WW2 and signed up with the RAF. He only worked as ground crew as his eyesight wasn’t good enough be air crew. After he’d had a few drinks he used to tell horror stories about fixing up Lancaster and other bombers after they returned from Germany. Stuff like picking up chunks and hosing out bullet-riddled tailgunner positions, as a crane sat there with new guns and equipment to repair the tail of the plane before the water was even dry, and similar things. He was only 17 when he was doing this.
An old patient of mine was a radio operator during the Ardennes Offensive. He never said much about his experiences but he used to joke about always getting shot at wherever he hid until he realized the Germans could see his antenna above the bushes.
If I was a flamethrower operator... I'd probably smuggle a stick of dynamite on my person. So if the tank is hit and catches fire and I do get engulfed in flames, at least I'd die quickly once the dynamite catches flame. It can take a long, agonizing time to die if you're on fire.
@@bluemonday2000 Well as far as I know, other troops tended to keep their distance from friendly flamethrower operators if they could, because if the fuel tank is punctured and the fuel catches flame, they'll be just as likely to get immolated as the flamethrower operator. Also a single stick of dynamite in your own kit isn't very likely to injure people in your vicinity anymore than the burning fuel will.
@@malcolmxraw1342 Napalm does not burn you to death instantly. What flaming napalm does is stick to you. You can't get it off. But it still burns you alive and it takes several agonizing seconds to die when immolated.
I have 2 Uncles that are still with me today, "Tunnel Rats" in Vietnam....love and respect them both...good luck getting them in a elevator...God Bless our Veterans.
6:56 I'm sure the olympic champions would frown upon hearing that. There's skill in everything. Even painting a wall proper requires practicing a craft and learning that trade.. sure, rowing may be a lot of brute force, but the technique and the ability to cooperate cannot be denied.
5th video of yours I watched today and I absolutely love them. always upset at myself for not having the balls to enlist when I was a kid but I can live vicariously through you and your videos kind of LOL. thank you RUclips algorithm for putting this man's channel in my feed 👍✌️
Based on his reactions, Jameson seems to hate enclosed spaces, and he seems to hate snakes, so being a tunnel rat would probably be a worse fate than death for him 😂
@Jamesons Travels Regarding rowing, it is a skill and it certainly requires strength and more. Some of the key elements in rowing are learning to set yourself in for the long haul, stamina is more important than strength for endurance rowing, being able to synchronize well with the others means you avoid colliding oars and reduce drag when working in unison so having a feel for tempo is tremendously important and is the reason that flags/drums or orders were shouted below deck to aid in coordinating the rowers. Controlled breathing is also very important when rowing, you inhale when leaning forward and straightening your arms then exhale when leaning back and pulling your hands toward your clavicle bones and rolling your shoulders before resetting for another rotation; rowing involves a circular motion much like the bars on old school train wheels if you can picture what I am speaking about. You are also correct in saying you don't need to hit the gym if you row, I am almost forty years old, rowed on and off for a long time and I am in better shape than most twenty year old lads today. You will not ruin your spine if you have good form.
I agree "Tunnel Rats" have the most "Creasy job". I have meet one at the VFW. I will do "ANYTHING he asked of me". Not now, but right NOW. I will go out of my way for that MAN, any time. And I DID & was proud to do it.
Jamesons Travels I agree because when defusing a bomb you got support and you are in constant contact with your squad. You also know what to expect when being EOD and you don’t gotta worry about dying in pain since explosives are instant. However as a tunnel rat I mean damn. Vietcong booby traps are gruesome, painful, and overall terrifying. You are all alone in the dark with no support at all. And I don’t think they are gonna go to get your body also. So dying in the dark, dying in pain, no body retrieval. Absolute worst way to die.
@@shadowteam9943 i hear you. TR is my idea of hell. eaten, crushed or burnt is how i DONT want to go. but belly crawling up to an ied, in almost 20 year long ied war is a hell of a gig. plus, the wait can break a tech. imagine spending your time off trying not to think about whether or not the next time you go to work, you may eat a bomb, face first, even if you do everything right. mental stress bcause for all they know, some guy has eyes on and just has to make a phone call. boom! plus, no pain? only if you die. you could be looking over at your lower half....20 yds away. bombs do that too. plus, support or no, only eod is on that bomb. also, especially for techs opping with the teams, etc., every guy on his/her teams life depends on him/her (females can go diver & eod in the worlds finest Navy & do) going down and clearing for team. they are the breachers. stress central. In these wars we are in right now, E.O.D. is the unsung hero, for me.
I was in Vietnam for some work in 2019. During the weekend I went to visit the Chu Chi tunnels which are a tourist attraction. You can actually enter a section of some of the remaining tunnels. Three layers of tunnels are there. The first level you gotta bend at the waist. Level two crawl on fours and level three you have to crawl on your belly. 20 metres (I think) through level two felt like forever, not to mention painful for all us civvis. We didn't venture into level 3. There are ACs now but it's difficult to not feel claustrophobic. And when they switch off the light, for the experience, you can't see your hand in front of your face, then we switched on our cell phone 😁. Respect to all forces/individuals who had anything to do in those tunnels.
My grandfather was a Marine in Vietnam and he told me stories about tunnel rats. Cant think of a worse job, so much respect for those guys! Your the best youtuber on here sir! Im an Army vet and a big fan
"Funny" thing i've heard. Even the rest of the waffen ss were quite disgusted with the existence of the dirlewanger brigade and found their mo rather wrong. From what i've heard at least
Rowing actually requires insane amount of synchronisation with others. And you have to keep it up for hours no matter how tired you are. Smallest desync causes oars to collide, which might easily result in chain reactions. With oars being long to maximize the propulsion, we talk about huge speeds of said collisions, which easily breaks said oars. And at the sea, there ain't much you can do in the way of spares, with ships having limited space between relatively small size and tons of "essential equipment". One particularly bad screw up might result in propulsion loss bad enough to make you run out of supplies way before you got to place where you can resupply.
Fun as ever. I wonder if you would do something on Col David Hackworth, who's books like 'About Face', and 'Steel My Soldiers Hearts', appalled and inspired me, and a great many others. An iconic story regarding him is that an admiral challenged his claim of ten silver stars, and an official investigation was launched. Turned out he had eleven. He'd forgotten about one. Also EIGHT purple hearts. I have been unable to find anything suitably action packed, but the man was certainly pretty special, and deserves some posthumous praise.
My grandpa was a tunnel rat, he has a large stab scar on his skull. He’s a badass and he’s still here with me
Tell him we said hello.
Man if he will try to listen to every story he tells. My grandpa shared stories but he passed away about a year before I became interested in history. I really regret not realizing what hed been through before.
@@LPJMagicmusic agreed.
@@LPJMagicmusic look up nostressmike. He is a Vietnam vet who has been through alot.
Sure he was
Learnt about the tunnels in Vietnam for a research paper... Absolutely awful.. Hats off to those guys so brave..
Working with my 1st Sgt. He never said word about it but you could see the look. 5'5 ish. Hard as hell. At that point 21 years in the Corps.
@Kip Kruse Except there were many documented cases of officers/sargeants getting mentally-handicapped grunts to do such dangerous tasks. So, in that case those guys never refused because they didn't fully comprehend what they were really getting into..
Tunnel rats 69 great film those men were nuts crawling around your own grave thats the stuff of nightmares
@@JamesonsTravels had family as a tunnel rat (australia) managed to get one story out of him.
chased a VC down a tunnel lost sight of him, next minute heard a engine turn over.
turns out they had a tank buried near the surface, didnt take em long to disable it but still was up long enough to take out a few of the platoon
My grandma's boyfriend was a tunnel rat.
This is no joke. Im 51, My father's good friend went to Nam. Spent 2 tours. His name was Joseph, he passed away from cancer about 10 years ago. He was small in stature, but a tough son of a gun.He was sent into tunnels to clear them. When he left the states he had solid black hair. When he returned after duty he had a white streak of grey hair off the top. I liked Joe, he played amazing guitar and was a good dude. We all got drunk one night , i asked him about his time in vietnam, he just said this, " We slept in , ate and breathed Agent orange. I asked him about the tunnels. He would not talk about it. Here's to you Joe. we miss you.
My wife's father was a tunnel rat.
He was a tiny dude with a really short fuse. Two of the very prominent things my wife got from him.
Your wife is a Tiny Dude?
@@weaversarms 😂😂😂
My grandad fought in WW2 in the British Navy. I believe it was battle Taranto he was in, but he didn't like to talk about it so much. He was 16 when he went to war and lied about his age to fight for our country. He is my hero and I miss him.
Wow they completely missed the radio operator who's life expectancy during a battle, especially whilst on patrol is between 5 to 6 seconds. If you're lucky you might survive 30 seconds. This was especially well known during the Vietnam War. As a Sig Operator we were constantly told during training who was probably going to be the first person killed whilst on operation/battle lol....
Yep. The wipe antenna with a message " here I am"
@@JamesonsTravels Well shit. I enlisted in the Marine Corps as a 0621 Field Radio Operator and I leave for P.I. in December. Oh well, I'd rather do the shitty jobs so the others don't have to. Love the videos as always
My grandfather was a radio operator in the army but he never was in vietnam he was in the navy but I don't what his job was
@@Max-sz8zi wtf are you talking about, dipshit. You inbred? stfu. Yo grand whoever is full of shit
My grandpa was a radio operator in WWII. The only thing he told my mother about the war was that they put him in a backwards arrow formation and he was on the end of the arrow because of his job, so he was put in front of everybody. He survived the whole war, and while he was ready to go back home at a army base a grenade accidentally went off and almost killed him. He got the purple heart for that
My grandpa carried a flamethrower in the pacific 2nd marine division. I couldn’t even imagine what that must have been like.
Once of the bravest jobs. Here GI, put this bomb on your back and run toward the machine gun a blazing.
heavy
Amazing and super effective weapon. The only thing worse than being an operator would be the enemy facing down the flamethrower.
Probably smelled like a 4th of july barbeque.
@@JamesonsTravels Fun Fact the Flametrower was invented by a German Firefighter during WW1.
My grandfather survived D-day as a flamethrower unit clearing pillboxes, shout to you pops, you’re a badass.
Your grandfather is badass man. D-DAY has fascinated me all my life.
The most safest military jobs
1: there is none, all are dangerous
2: camera man
3. Radio operator
MoSt SaFeSt
drone operator lol
@@tracyfargason3986 Radio operators are one of the most dangerous, at least in Vietnam their casualty rate was super high.
@@xArmorOfGod my dad kept getting sent to Germany and ft rielly Kansas his job was classified his unit went to Vietnam he went to Germany he volunteered to go into the army they sent him a daft notice while he was in basic training but he went to college to learn how to be an RTO i guess he was the lucky 1s but he had his regrets he was not a coward or a daft Dodger but he saw almost 60,000 orders come though his teletype at least 3 times he did escape from the fake tiger camp at ft Polk and walked 20 miles on 1 flip flop a towel and in his boxers lol a local farmer picked him up and took him to the base and dropped off almost 2 miles from the base before he got out of the truck he invited my dad to have a family dinner before he went to (Vietnam) Germany the reason why the farmer dropped my dad off 2 miles from the base he did want to be called a traitor for turning in an American soldier escaping from a POW CAMP
12:44 - Why not use flamethrowers?
Because it is cheap and easy to make. The nightmare of every arms contractor company.
It is considered inhumane now. Protocol 3 of the Convention of new conventional weapons bans their use on personnel.
He is point is taken that we drop bombs and stab and shoot people still, but frying someone alive (many times they will live with severe burns or die very slowly over weeks) is particularly horrible. We don't use napalm anymore either.
@@JackCarregan Yup. I think they stopped using flamethrowers because it was too cruel and was suicide. Not every enemy would immediately die by the fire, it would just cause unnecessary pain. And then eventually the flamethrower unit would get blown up by their own gas tank.
@@JackCarregan Don't we still use white phosphorus tho?
@@yothatsprettygayheadass6290 chemical watef are right? Because it was banned I think
@@yothatsprettygayheadass6290 White phosphorous is used for the purposes of creating smoke, the wording in the geneva convention mainly covers use on personnel. It would only be a violation of the geneva convention if it was deliberately used against troops rather than to conceal movement.
The tunnel rat to me seems like the scariest job to have. All alone in a confided space in the dark with only a handgun, bayonet and a torch. Surrounded by traps and enemies.
Sometimes not even a handgun. It was discouraged to fire inside the tunnels because you’d blow your eardrums
@@admiralsand They allowed civilian weapons and added silencers to the pistols to save the ears
Scary and dangerous are two different things. Going out on a night patrol is both!
I thought so too. Until i ask my grandpa a former tunnel rat how he even went down there alone. From what he told me, he wasnt trapped with the vietcong, the vietcong were trapped with a marine and his 1911.
@ChristianMuzikEndTimes all those young men that died just didn’t pray hard enough huh?
"Hold on guys. I'm lighting up a cigarette. This flamethrower's stressing me out."
Yeah, that's the reality of war.
you'd be fine 99.9% of the time actually ,more likely to be shot
I'm sure smoking was fairly safe. If the fuel is anything like gasoline it needs a spark or open flame to ignite. A cig dropped in a puddle of gasoline doesn't light up like in the movies
*uses flamethrower to light cigaret*
@@clocker12e91, lol.
Tongue in cheek, but Kamikaze pilot has to be a tad risky :-) . To be more serious, B17 ball turret gunners had a very bad deal. Unable to get out without help from within the fuselage. No help, no get out. Bomb disposal is a bad deal as well. Several highly decorated Britsh bomb diposal people in Iraq, although highly experienced , eventually lost their lives in course of their duty. First war aviators had a bum deal to. NO Parachutes. Rickety aircraft, need a medal to get in one in the first place. Flame throwers are very restricted in their use. Whilst not banned entirely, they are banned in an anti personel role , and can only be used in clearing foliage. Scary weapon. In fact, in the case of British Crocodile tanks , I have read that in some instances the crew would intentionally delibetely narrowly miss the target (bunker, etc) with their first spray, to give the occupants chance to surrender. Seeing that, I'd be hands up smartish
agreed. see why they feed them Meth
I believe the crocodile crews used to do a "wet shot"; spray the target without igniting the fuel.
@@bobthebomb1596 Yep normally being soaked in flammable liquid is enough to make most units surrender. Remember it makes even shooting back incredibly dangerous because you could always accidentally light the fuel when firing.
Do ball turret gunners include the tail gunners as well?
@@gamerleal9265 I beleive the tail gun position on B17's was one of the better places to bail from in the event of trouble. Ball turret you were effectively locked in from outside the turret.
My grandfather was a Cpl in the Vietnam war and he died as a tunnel rat. He was the bravest man my father new and I wish I could’ve heard his stories. Every year, remembrance Sunday, I watch videos and read about Vietnam war stories. Lest we forget and god bless all of us past and present serving personnel.
I had a family friend who was a tunnel rat in Vietnam. He never told me about it but told my stepdad since they used to be roommates in the 90’s. He was a damn good cook and didn’t have much family. We would invite him to our thanksgiving since he didn’t have much family. He cooked at our local VFW and everyone LOVED his cooking. Our family loved his sour kraut and my stepdad makes his recipe to this day. He past away from health complications earlier this year. Rest In Piece Steve, you will be loved and never forgotten..
That’s a great story nice of you guys to invite him over ver on holidays too
RIP Soldier “Steve” Thank you for your service and sacrifice for the betterment of your countrymen and/or the many unknown others❤
The most dangerous job is being a drone pilot
Carpal tunnel. Sh0t hurts
@@JamesonsTravels door gunner
With today's media I agree lol
Drone Operator : *Gets his drone shot down*
Supervisor : "Well... That's a few million dollars right there, you better prepare"
Being a drone operator is like playing video games except you’re blowing up real people
A friend I grew up with joined the Navy as a submariner but right before he shipped off for Navy boot camp he started spazzing out he all the sudden didn't like the thought of being underwater for all that time and he flaked out and refused to follow orders and got kicked out of Navy boot camp. I'm an Army vet and one thing he does that pisses me off is he still going around telling everyone hes a Navy vet even though he didn't even make it through two weeks of boot camp, were no longer friends.
Before joining he freaked. Better then vs before he got in the sub for 6 months.
@@JamesonsTravels He was the laziest human being I've ever known and I honestly think he couldn't bare the thought of working for 6 years straight lol.
I had a boss years ago that was a Sapper with Royal NZ Engineers and deployed to Vietnam with NEWZAD (NZ Army Detachment. The Kiwis were all volunteers, no conscription like Oz or US.
This guy was just over 5ft. Lean. Amazing sense of humor and one of funniest guys I ever met. He only told me he was a 'tunnel rat' once and never talked about it ever again.I lost contact when I moved jobs then found out he died of Cancer a few years back. RIP Brother.
The worst combat job would be the USSR
anti-tank dog.
I remember watching a Vietnam documentary where a former Medic said: "The smell of burning flesh will forever change the way you cook your food."
My initial thought. Not on why not to use it but just generally for the person that did and came back home
nasty! flesh free diet for sure
I guess they banned flamethrowers from international warfare. We had them in Switzerland to some point in the 80s i guess, but guys died during training, then they scraped it completely.
They weren't banned, but they are extremely not practical in both a logistical sense and modern combat sense.
@@orlock20 but the use against combatants is banned. so it's indeed pointless to bring one
@@FY--my5gg Actually despite popular belief, it isn't.
They cannot be used on combatants on a certain distance to civilians. Other than that its free game.
This of course isn't accounting for the other 5000 reasons why not to use one.
I would think bc of geneva convention?
@@danielheady2786
Yea like you can punish the winners of a war for breaking that lol
(1) I still think Tunnel Rat is first, especially when you consider the claustrophobic environment they had to work in. Most of the time the only equipment they had was a flashlight and pistol. A Flamethrower operator would definitely be a runner-up, considering they were immediately targeted on the battlefield.
Not only that but firing your gun inside a tunnel is basically a death sentence. Due to the small quarters and echo of the tunnels you basically give away your location to any enemy near and you have no space to dodge or take cover. I am also guessing that such a loud noise amplified by the small quarters could cause some serious damage to your ears with the best case leading to disorientation or dizziness coupled with vomiting and in the worst you could have internal bleeding and pass out for minutes coupled with the above symptoms in a situation where time is of the essence.
@@frking100 if you ever get a chance, check out some of the pieces of equipment the tunnel rats experimented with (with varying degrees of success). Head lamps with bite switches, various suppressor setups, revolver cartridges with pellet loads. As far as I know most of the whizz-bang ideas didn't end up working very well, but the attempts to tailor gear to such a specific, unforgiving role were really interesting.
@@baronvonfaust I know they switched to revolvers (the 1917) and tried to use their own pistols with smaller calibers and suppressors. And that the vast majority chose not use gas mask due to how inconvenient they where ( sadly most tunnel rats now suffer from overexposure to agent orange due to this).
As an old man once said hell no… To the no no no!!! HELL NO!!
Kinda like the flame thrower idea except the exploding part
It was actually “hell NAW to the NAW,NAW NAW” lmfao I love that song
My father was a tunnel rat And I remember waking up to him screaming
The old school flamethrower was replaced by the modern M202 FLASH. Reasons for not using flamethrowers throughout campaigns in Iraq/Afghanistan include unconventional warfare without a clear identifiable enemy or fixed military targets. The enemy generally dresses in local, civilian attire, hides amongst the population and conducts unpredictable attacks. Flamethrowers are banned from being used on areas near concentrations of people and buildings. In addition, media coverage including photographs, video and images of civilians being burned alive during war fighting does not serve to win hearts and minds and is detrimental to Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs units. The flamethrower seems to be fair game in conventional war, however, it doesn't translate to overall mission effectiveness during modern warfare.
Im a new viewer, have been binge watching your videos recently I find the military to be so fascinating, also thank you for your service 👍🏻
Awesome brother. Always putting good stuff out.
The skill of the Galley rower is probably in reference to their ability to synchronize their oars for turning, ramming, and dodging.
100%, I did 3 years of rowing in highschool and i rowed a little bit in my freshman year of college and its definitely different. Modern rowing is definitely different because modern rowing the seats move and you can use your legs more. This type of rowing is probably mostly upper back, core, and back. You also have to have a lot of endurance depending on how fast people the cadence is. Being in sync is also really hard and can be very difficult.
If one oar doesn't move correct, it'll hit some other oars that then also are thrown out of sync. On a galley, you have hundreds of rowers with really long oars, so it's easy for just one guy to completely mess things up.
And not only have you be able to row in sync with everyone, you also have to keep it up for 15-20 minutes or more, with a battle going on, and still stay in sync.
There was skill in being a galley rower, as you had to keep a steady rhythm to keep in time with your fellow rowers, as well as being able to know the commands/maneuvers to turn the ship/different speeds, or retract the oars when being rammed to keep them from being broken. It was a very difficult job, with an incredible amount of risk.
My dad said he went down into two of those tunnels. I love my dad more than anything. Great channel. 👍👍
Hi JT, a mate I used to work with had 22 years in and he told me about clearing tunnels and bunkers in boznia, it was the worse job he did, he was hard as nails and always looked like was carrying a carpet under each arm, but he told me he was scared. it takes a certain kind of person for that job, count me out!!
7:00 When rowing, brute force will only get you so far before the technique is the only way to get better. An example of this is that a rower that has trained technique is almost guaranteed to win a 2000m race on a rowing machine against a person doing CrossFit. The technique is critical for maximizing how long you can go for the same amount of work done on the oar.
My great uncle Bobby was a flamethrower who fought on iwo Jima on the first wave and was killed by a sniper 4 days before the island was fully taken.
I was a 7051. In school we had to crawl through a tiny ass hole while fully geared with an o2 tank on our back. I was about 195 at the time and semi jacked... it wasn't easy. As a Marine i was super impressed by the 295 pound Jackson,(airforce) who had to have his sleeves specially cut, made it through the same hole that i struggled with.
The only reason we don’t use fire as a weapon today; we signed a contract from NATO that forbid the use of fire during wartime.
Had the honor of meeting Hershel “woody” Williams. Very sharp and kind. He’s a boss
Me as a tunnel rat: "YALL IN THERE?!"
"Size, private?" - "It's 5"4, Sir!" - "Congratulations, you are now a specialist!"
Me as a tunnel rat. Farts at the entrance after eating beans.
@@Nightserk I read somewhere that some Navy SEALs in Vietnam started to eat diets exclusively of the kinds of food that only Vietnamese peasants ate so that they'd "smell local." I imagine some Tunnel Rats did that too. Though yeah, a fart joke is always funny. :)
Not hearing anybody anybody answer back: "Must be empty. Good enough for me"
“Marco”.....”Marco”..., “all clear men”
The only reasons we do not use flamethrowers anymore are: 1) They are highly situational and are extremely heavy to be constantly lugging around in modern doctrine, such as on patrol.
2) They are considered inhumane (Which is a funny word to describe weapons meant to kill people)
Overall I think flamethrowers still have a place on the battlefield, and we'll probably bring them back into use in another major war.
I read about use of old WW2 era flamethrowers in Grozny city by militia back in 1994. With very heavy weight, fuel lasts only 5 to 7 seconds and distinctive look this weapon was highly situational and stored in truck or APC untill very specific operations. Operator was using it and PM pistol with couple of magazines, often not wearing body armor. Gun was iInvaluable asset for unit of fresh conscripts and low rank police officers (patrolman mostly), because they was not trained in CQB. "Dont take firebug alive" is also not a concern here, since chechens did not taked any professional soldiers or MVD officers as prisoners, often executing them on site, conscripts had slightly better chances. If slavery can be called "better chance".
Fired similar weapon once burning bushes and poisonous grass ("борщевик"). Fuel lasts only few seconds, but it feels like very long time, tank is heavy and its hard to maneuver with it. Especially after firing burst or two: liquid shifts as you moves, making runing harder. Range was about 30 meters, sounds like a lot when not considering effective range of a rifle.
They're inhumane because of how they kill people. It's like comparing lethal injection to the electric chair.
Flamethrowers can still be used according to the Geneva Conventions.
> Which is a funny word to describe weapons meant to kill people
It's only funny if you don't realize that slowly burning alive is the worst way to die, Sherlock. The suffering is such that even the one who inflicts it is traumatized.
@@futsk01 I don't think most flamethrower operators were traumatized from killing the enemy. There are also many, many, many horrible ways of dying in warfare compared to fire. Starvation, infection, and being gut shot to name a few.
"Whats the good in no longer using the flame thrower"
Hellfire missles. Cheap to make, easy to use. Also we have so many effective explosives, why set fire to it when you can just blow it up.
The reason they stopped being used is because it’s a big announcement of where you are to everyone on the battlefield, as well as an explosive target on your back
I’m guessing a 92% casualty rate may have had something to do with the discontinued use of flamethrowers.
The skill involved in rowing is really teamwork and rhythm. The boat moves much more efficiently when the rowers are in unison. Also, there’s no rudder. You steer the boat by moving the oars differently based on what maneuver you’re trying to do.
It’s similar to the old
“go to jail/prison or join the military”
They used to do
18:50 When you are so despicable that even the freaking SS despises you.
Pretty sure the SS despised anyone that wasn't SS or their Fuhrer.
RoofDogBlues "Other SS commanders" which implies he was also SS.
Then again, also the SS contributed to the many developments of specialised forces worldwide. Started as Hitlers bodyguards and secret state police, up to Otto Skorzeny’s special trained team to liberate Mussolini... Apart from the atrocities of mass murder, it was meant to be the same as Caesar’s pretorian guards and a concept that still exists today. In the end any warrior will admire the tactical background and specialised advantage of the enemy in order to learn and counter attack. Evolution goes on and on and time changes warfare. Back in the day we were out in the field, disconnected from friends and family, far away from home... today you go out on patrol and have a videochat with your mates, wife and kids... that sometimes raises my Wtf eyebrow.
I love how you stop everyso often and involve your audience. Its nice not alone do that. Thank you for you service I never had the chance to serve I really wish I did.
RE: skill of galley rowers. Imagine a standard battleship from the Hellenic era - a trireme had 100 rowers on each side pulling oars organized in 3 parallel lines at different height. I suspect pulling them oars in sync fast and over significant time might require some skill - you couldnt just have individual rowers pulling at their own pace since that would have lead to the oars geting entangeld in each other.
Yea flamethrower is bad
One shot in the tank. Good night now.
It’s definitely bad because it a target on your back
chris hammond is that a joke??cuz considering that they Literally carried a tank full of some kind of fuel most of the on their back...........,.,yeah I’m pretty sure you get where I’m going with this
@@JamesonsTravels Carried old ROKS-2 flamethrower to burn grass and bushes once. Bulky, heavy, weight of fuel shifts as you move and when going prone it will stick from any cover. Cant imagine using this weapon in combat.
Now there are better options for bunker-busting like RKO "Shmel" and other disposable thermobaric launchers.
Jamesons Travels Thats a big myth. 9/10 it won’t erupt in flames. There’s no oxygen inside the tank. Just a neutral propellant. A tracer yes, but far and few individual soldier had tracers. Believe it or not your safer to have a flamethrower on your back than you are driving a vehicle with an unpressurized gas tank.
Imagine the ptsd those rowers would have had and no one would’ve even known what was wrong with them. Respect to all who take up arms for their countrymen and to those who had to serve while in bondage.
I'd rather jump 10,000ft with a paper bag for a parachute than stay 6 months in a sub.
Id rather go on Omaha beach 100 times over then do that tunnel rat shit
Fuck imagine being one of the first to go in into the first submarine ever built!?
@@ChuxDiaz so back in 1776?
I can’t imagine how they got so many people to go down in them. Even if they were more comfy to be in, the very thought of the strong possibility of drowning, should be enough to deter most people. That’s worse than being burnt with a flamethrower.
You could handle it. I did.
My great great grandpa was a ww1 soldier he captured lots of enemy's with a speer I still have the speer
Many tunnel rats were small and thin FNGs. Some are still there,count on it. I was a 2531,radio man,also prime targets.
Radioman always struck me as dangerous as hell. Large whip antenna and LT. Prime targets.
@@JamesonsTravels We put them in our rucksacke and used the smaller tape antennas when possible. Hell,i even wrapped wire around my helmet and used that as a concealed antenna. Just a mic cord hanging out.
Jameson Semper Fi from West Virginia brother!!!
Go Mountain Toppers.
Damn Jameson I was about to go sleep now you keeping me up another 22 minutes 😂love the content, keep it up 💯🇿🇦❤️
Edit:just finished watching, it was great 👍🏻
Good bed time story.
@@JamesonsTravels indeed it is, thank you for letting me dream well 😂💯
Jameson has no sympathy, the guy is like a machine, he never sleeps!
@@outdooradventuresuk8008 facts lol
Rowing at a high level can be quite physically demanding since it utilizes every major muscle in your body. In the earliest days of gallery rowing and naval combat, the ships weren't efficient enough for simply slave galleries. The trained rowers had to operate rather long and heavy paddles in open water which is often rougher than the rivers commonly used for rowing presently. They also were the power behind the ramming and boarding techniques utilized at the time, thus they often had to accelerate into a deliberate collision, withstand it then reverse out of the enemy ship and continue fighting. In some instances they were the last defense for a ship if it was boarded and thus required some combat skill.
In terms of skill it's also important to be able to time your strokes with everyone else so your ship stays on a straight course.
Wow, some brave men for sure. Thanks for such an informative video! Love your content!
Also thank you for service. My Uncle served in Vietnam, bronze star. He will never speak of the war. He always tells me, " son you dont want to know the things I had to eat to just survive, yet along the things I had to see, and things I had to do get back home " He always says we had No business fighting in that war
My grandpa was a tunnel rat in Vietnam and he’s still alive today.
Is it possible to talk to him?? That would be a dream come true for me. I want to hear these heroes stories before they’re gone..
My great uncle was a machine gunner in Vietnam in the USMC. I have a picture of him hauling a huge machine gun, no sleeves on him. Just a Flak Jacket.
He’s still alive today.
Plastic Productions That’s crazy
9:44 it depends on who's in the building with the enemy. Could be extremely effective but you might have to check a way or another in various situations prior using.
Like George Carlin said, whoever invented the flamethrower thought to themselves; "I wanna light those people over there on fire but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."
Flame throwers instantly kill you by incineration. It's not as slow as you think it's actually painless. Napalm burns at the melting point of steel. Forgotten weapons has a great video on them.
especially if you're the operator it's a bomb on your back boom you're gone
but there's video of enemy soldiers running and screaming in flames so on that end it ain't always painless
Flame throwers rarely killed, most of their kills were from infected burn wounds
Painless? You must be joking
At 68 inches and 120 pounds I was tunnel rat for C 4/3 11th Inf, in 1968. Didnt wear a helmet, carried a 45 and issue flashlight.
Cleared many a tunnel. Made it home and I still enjoy spelunking, much easier now, but dont do it much now as im 72.
I love the pic of the flamethrower operator smoking what looks like a pipe while he gives the mile stare.
Lol 4 real
Respect to the tunnel rats.
We used to joke in the Aust Army that the scout in an contact would live 5-10secs, so we should just strap a claymore to their chest and they just turn in the direction of the enemy and clack.
Those guys have serious balls. I cannot imagine anyone doing this job in today world.
Hey Jameson, I'm 15, I live in Australia and I'm thinking about joining the army, however, I'm intending to do a trade (plumbing) whilst I'm in the army. Do you think I should do it as a normal apprentice or in the military. Thanks.
If you want to do plumbing it would be a great place to start. Generally, military training is pretty good. Better than most outside and they pay you at the same time. Why not.
@@JamesonsTravels Also I think that it is a lot easier to get into other jobs when you have ex-military on your c.v. Thanks for the help, much appreciated.
Also the benefits from service and the honor of serving your country
You should do a bit of research. When I was doing a mechanics apprenticeship the garage trialed a newly discharged REME mechanic who I guess had been doing that job for 30 or so years. The guy was would have been excellent at fixing tanks, trucks and anything else the military could throw at him but he was declined as he wasn’t up to date on modern vehicle technology. I’m not saying don’t do it but in the case of plumbing, ensure you keep up to date with aspects that will help you in civilian life as well such as all aspects of domestic plumbing.
@@lukemorey1256 Don't let the recruiters catch you telling hard truths like that, especially using your real name here on RUclips.. Almost everyone I know who's had a career with the ADF felt like they were severely lied to about their opportunities within and beyond the ADF.. I know someone who felt so misled by the Navy recruiter that after 3 years in the force, he pretended to have psych issues so he could be medically discharged..
My grandpa told me a lot of stories when we was a tunnel rat. He was featured in a book. Hats off to all our troops❤️
I did 5 years on a sub. I could not have done what the ground pounders did. We used to joke "There are 2 types of people. Those that could jump out of a perfectly good airplane and those that could sink a perfectly good boat." Subs have their challenges and they were worse back in WWII, but I can't imagine being on the ground instead. Massive respect!
flamethrowers aren't used anymore because they go against the geneva conventions due to the large amount of irreversible damage they do to combatants and inability to be limited only to damaging millitary personnel and assets. If you bomb a millitary airfield only the buildings next to the airfeild are in danger but if you torch an airfeild with flamethrowers you run a high risk of starting a brush fire that engulfs the nearby town. Basically countries have agreed to only damage millitary targets as long as you only attack millitary targets. if world war 3 occurs though total war could be implemented again where protection civilian life and property becomes much less important when facing collapse of your own country and way of life.
Gotta love the Australians and kiwi always being there for us Americans
Yeah if you want a job done once done right ask a Kiwi.
"Alright I take that all back, I don't want to be a galley rower" me too chief haha
when they were talking about the flamethrower i couldnt stop thinking about anakin burning on mustafar
RE: reason for not using flamethrowers. There is the general ban on weapons that cause unneccesary pain and suffering in the 1904 Hague (IV) convention that could be interpreted to mean that this would include flamethrowers - doing so is in accordance with customary international humanitarian law. There is also the 1980 Geneva Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons that specifically restricts the use of incendiary weapons, but thats mostly about preventing harm to civilians/collateral dammage. A general specific ban on incendiary wepons is being worked on.
The most widespread (including the official US) military legal view is that its legal to use incendiary weapons against military personnel UNLESS DOING SO CAUSES UNNECCESARY PAIN OR SUFFERING.
My dad was a Green Beret in Vietnam, he was a tunnel rat. Hes only told me very few stories but it really makes me wonder how I even exist let alone how he's still alive today mostly unscathed, he got shot in the arm once. One time I was helping my dad do some work, this guy we were getting the job done for kept prying him about how he was a tunnel rat in Vietnam. My dad didn't like talking about it but he told the man about the starved snakes as booby traps, they had a nickname for the snakes but i can't remember it. Now, this guy wasnt too bright, he asked my dad "Why didn't you just turn on your flashlight?" My dad turned to him and said, "Yeah, and why not just start hollering at them? I preferred to use my hands, I didn't want them to know I was in there." Just the look in my dad's eyes as he said that to him spoke plenty to me, just the shit he's had to see and endure. He's a badass man.
My grandpa was in a 2men submarine in WWII. He was claustrophobic for the rest of his life.
I strangely really love tight spaces, I probably would have volunteered to fight in the cooler temp tunnels over the hot steamy jungle (I'd rather die cool and comfy than hot and sweaty). I worked pipeline tie-ins in 798 welders union for awhile and was always the guy volunteering to go into the pipe to fix welds. The tightest I did was 24in. diameter .375in wall thickness. I always went in first then they send in the welder so I was sealed in by the hot weld the welder and all the gear and couldn't crawl or be pulled out until the weld was done, cleaned and everything else was extracted. I never worried about the tight space just about someone dropping the pipe or dropping something on the pipe while I was inside.
All that being said, I think the worst job would definitely be the galley rower would be the worst, NO THANK YOU.
Do you go caving, just out of curiousity?
@@baronvonfaust lol I have a very little bit, but would love to do it more for sure. I rock climb regularly and I've been through a few tight slot canyons but no real caving.
Ive heard the tail-gunners of bombers had absurdly high casualty rates, Id probably stick that somewhere on the list too
My late uncle was in England in WW2 and signed up with the RAF. He only worked as ground crew as his eyesight wasn’t good enough be air crew. After he’d had a few drinks he used to tell horror stories about fixing up Lancaster and other bombers after they returned from Germany. Stuff like picking up chunks and hosing out bullet-riddled tailgunner positions, as a crane sat there with new guns and equipment to repair the tail of the plane before the water was even dry, and similar things. He was only 17 when he was doing this.
An old patient of mine was a radio operator during the Ardennes Offensive. He never said much about his experiences but he used to joke about always getting shot at wherever he hid until he realized the Germans could see his antenna above the bushes.
Thank you for your survey for defining our country
These are all terrible but I’d have to put running across no mans land or being apart of the first wave at DDay up there too
If I was a flamethrower operator... I'd probably smuggle a stick of dynamite on my person. So if the tank is hit and catches fire and I do get engulfed in flames, at least I'd die quickly once the dynamite catches flame.
It can take a long, agonizing time to die if you're on fire.
What if the dynamite hits your buddies?
@@bluemonday2000 Well as far as I know, other troops tended to keep their distance from friendly flamethrower operators if they could, because if the fuel tank is punctured and the fuel catches flame, they'll be just as likely to get immolated as the flamethrower operator.
Also a single stick of dynamite in your own kit isn't very likely to injure people in your vicinity anymore than the burning fuel will.
@@sevenproxies4255 what about the fragmentation from all your kit being blown up? I know this is just a hypothetical but still...
They used napalm which burned people to death instantly
@@malcolmxraw1342 Napalm does not burn you to death instantly.
What flaming napalm does is stick to you. You can't get it off. But it still burns you alive and it takes several agonizing seconds to die when immolated.
I have 2 Uncles that are still with me today, "Tunnel Rats" in Vietnam....love and respect them both...good luck getting them in a elevator...God Bless our Veterans.
6:56
I'm sure the olympic champions would frown upon hearing that.
There's skill in everything. Even painting a wall proper requires practicing a craft and learning that trade.. sure, rowing may be a lot of brute force, but the technique and the ability to cooperate cannot be denied.
5th video of yours I watched today and I absolutely love them. always upset at myself for not having the balls to enlist when I was a kid but I can live vicariously through you and your videos kind of LOL. thank you RUclips algorithm for putting this man's channel in my feed 👍✌️
Based on his reactions, Jameson seems to hate enclosed spaces, and he seems to hate snakes, so being a tunnel rat would probably be a worse fate than death for him 😂
Video: "Tunnel rats were volunteers"
Jamesons Travels: "I don't know if it was punishment or something"
Voluntold... last time you Volunteer is when you sign your papers. But this time was a draft...so Voluntold.
I'm a 5'3" infantryman during my time in the Army i was 140lbs, I would have been forced to be a tunnel rat, thankfully my era was Iraq.
I’m in the Canadian navy as a combat systems engineer, I’ve been thinking about becoming a submariner recently.
@Jamesons Travels Regarding rowing, it is a skill and it certainly requires strength and more. Some of the key elements in rowing are learning to set yourself in for the long haul, stamina is more important than strength for endurance rowing, being able to synchronize well with the others means you avoid colliding oars and reduce drag when working in unison so having a feel for tempo is tremendously important and is the reason that flags/drums or orders were shouted below deck to aid in coordinating the rowers.
Controlled breathing is also very important when rowing, you inhale when leaning forward and straightening your arms then exhale when leaning back and pulling your hands toward your clavicle bones and rolling your shoulders before resetting for another rotation; rowing involves a circular motion much like the bars on old school train wheels if you can picture what I am speaking about.
You are also correct in saying you don't need to hit the gym if you row, I am almost forty years old, rowed on and off for a long time and I am in better shape than most twenty year old lads today. You will not ruin your spine if you have good form.
The 92% casualty rate might be a good reason not to use them?
Can’t imagine there would be much of a rush to strap one on.
Legend has it he doesn't heart comments.......
❤️
He extra hearted this one 🤣
Penal soliders sounds like the inspiration for DC's suicide squad
I agree "Tunnel Rats" have the most "Creasy job". I have meet one at the VFW. I will do "ANYTHING he asked of me". Not now, but right NOW. I will go out of my way for that MAN, any time. And I DID & was proud to do it.
Unknown5, Love that channel. Every doc they put out is so well-researched and read in such a soothing voice!
You should watch the movie "Das Boat". Life in the WW2 U-boat.
Das Boot - Series is also worth looking!
The Japanese with tie themselves to the tree so if you shot them you don't know if you got them the flamethrower took care of that
E.O.D. and tunnel rat
Tunnel rat is my vote.
Jamesons Travels I agree because when defusing a bomb you got support and you are in constant contact with your squad. You also know what to expect when being EOD and you don’t gotta worry about dying in pain since explosives are instant. However as a tunnel rat I mean damn. Vietcong booby traps are gruesome, painful, and overall terrifying. You are all alone in the dark with no support at all. And I don’t think they are gonna go to get your body also. So dying in the dark, dying in pain, no body retrieval. Absolute worst way to die.
@@shadowteam9943 i hear you. TR is my idea of hell. eaten, crushed or burnt is how i DONT want to go. but belly crawling up to an ied, in almost 20 year long ied war is a hell of a gig. plus, the wait can break a tech. imagine spending your time off trying not to think about whether or not the next time you go to work, you may eat a bomb, face first, even if you do everything right. mental stress bcause for all they know, some guy has eyes on and just has to make a phone call. boom! plus, no pain? only if you die. you could be looking over at your lower half....20 yds away. bombs do that too. plus, support or no, only eod is on that bomb. also, especially for techs opping with the teams, etc., every guy on his/her teams life depends on him/her (females can go diver & eod in the worlds finest Navy & do) going down and clearing for team. they are the breachers. stress central. In these wars we are in right now, E.O.D. is the unsung hero, for me.
EOD are some crazy badasses. Initial success or complete failure. 5th Bomb wing
@@tonyh2181 Hooyah, Brother. -EODMU 3-foxtrot platoon.....the dolphin boys
I was in Vietnam for some work in 2019. During the weekend I went to visit the Chu Chi tunnels which are a tourist attraction. You can actually enter a section of some of the remaining tunnels. Three layers of tunnels are there. The first level you gotta bend at the waist. Level two crawl on fours and level three you have to crawl on your belly. 20 metres (I think) through level two felt like forever, not to mention painful for all us civvis. We didn't venture into level 3. There are ACs now but it's difficult to not feel claustrophobic. And when they switch off the light, for the experience, you can't see your hand in front of your face, then we switched on our cell phone 😁. Respect to all forces/individuals who had anything to do in those tunnels.
My grandfather was a Marine in Vietnam and he told me stories about tunnel rats. Cant think of a worse job, so much respect for those guys! Your the best youtuber on here sir! Im an Army vet and a big fan
My grandfather was a tunnel rat, he volunteered for that shit. He inspired me to join the USMC, leaving September 8th, OORAH
Tunnel rats = tunnel heroes
"Funny" thing i've heard.
Even the rest of the waffen ss were quite disgusted with the existence of the dirlewanger brigade and found their mo rather wrong. From what i've heard at least
communists deserved it
@@ilimes what you say has no importance.
@@squeakyproductions3055 shut up kid
Rowing actually requires insane amount of synchronisation with others. And you have to keep it up for hours no matter how tired you are.
Smallest desync causes oars to collide, which might easily result in chain reactions. With oars being long to maximize the propulsion, we talk about huge speeds of said collisions, which easily breaks said oars.
And at the sea, there ain't much you can do in the way of spares, with ships having limited space between relatively small size and tons of "essential equipment".
One particularly bad screw up might result in propulsion loss bad enough to make you run out of supplies way before you got to place where you can resupply.
Turning would have been a bitch.
The syncing was done with drums
Fun as ever. I wonder if you would do something on Col David Hackworth, who's books like 'About Face', and 'Steel My Soldiers Hearts', appalled and inspired me, and a great many others. An iconic story regarding him is that an admiral challenged his claim of ten silver stars, and an official investigation was launched. Turned out he had eleven. He'd forgotten about one. Also EIGHT purple hearts. I have been unable to find anything suitably action packed, but the man was certainly pretty special, and deserves some posthumous praise.