After one tour in Vietnam, Capt. In a more direct attempt to seek out the enemy, US soldiers used portable turbines to blow CS gas into tunnel shafts they located. This page is to honor the memory of Green Beret Captain Vietnam veteran Richard Flaherty. The Lone . Not only was he the shortest Green Beret to serve in Vietnam, he was also the shortest US serviceman in history. These soldiers made punji stakes out of heated and sharpened wood or bamboo. He earned the Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars (w/V, 3OLC), and 2 Purple Hearts. During this deployment, he would be promoted to captain, earn two Bronze Stars and would be wounded in combat two times, receiving a Purple Heart for each time. Keep it Clean. Lots of tunnel rats used the standard-issue colt. During the war, more than 58,000 servicemen and women lost their lives. Some even fled to Canada to escape conscription. It helped give them the experience and confidence to cope with gas, should they encounter it in combat. The only reason anything is known about his own past is that he shared it with an Aventura cop before he died. In 2018 David was forced to retire due to a back injury sustained as a police officer. Many knew him over the last decade and a half of his life as a nameless little homeless guy in Hallandale, but he was much more than that. Answer (1 of 17): I didn't serve in Vietnam. There is, in fact, a waiver for everything. God only knows what that experience and so many other combat experiences did to Flahertys mind. Related: How to make it through Special Forces selection. Although the percent who died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. A colleague he worked with recovered his body by dragging his violet-colored corpse out of the tunnel. Shortest U.S. Significant causalities ensued on both sides, but the combined Australian and American forces were unable to fully uncover the extensive tunnel network. Short in size he might have been, but short in courage he wasnt. He led a charge, which succeeded in pushing out the enemy. Standing tall in four-feet and nine-inches, Captain Richard Flaherty, might be too small for the conventional height for the United States Army. Richard Flaherty, who was raised in Connecticut, had to obtain a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War. #1 New York Times bestselling author Doug Stanton- "You are holding in your hands an amazing journey into a world of puzzles, intrigue, and mystery. He was discharged in October 1971 as a Captain. See what its like to jump out of a C-17 with the Armys 82nd Airborne, How to make it through Special Forces selection, How one unusual vehicle helped create Americas Special Forces, Special Forces officer slated to lead NATO special operations, This new Special Forces video mixes history and heroism in the best ways, 8 Green Berets on what it means to be Army Special Forces, ST Idaho: The Special Forces team that vanished in the jungle, Putin has a Problem: Russia can barely build any tanks to fight in Ukraine, Controlling killer swarms of swarms: Inside DARPAs AMASS, The Marine Corps is closing down its Scout Sniper platoons, Get Out: Making The Most of a Duty Station. His mother didnt know at the time of his birth that her blood type was Rh-negative which may lead to serious health problemsand deathin a second-born fetus. Richard J. Flaherty with two classmates at Officer Candidate School in 1967 (Photo: David Yuzuk / Laptrinhx.com ). According to studies conducted during the war, after one year of service, the hearing and smell of a typical tunnel rat became sixty percent better than that of an average man. korean war. [7] Flaherty was buried at Forest Memorial Park in Milton. A twenty-two year old U.S. Army Lieutenant finds himself in the fight of his life on his birthday. Doctors from Stamford Connecticut's Regional Hospital worked intensely to save the newborn as his mother wasn't aware of her blood group of Rh-negative. Similarly, Operation Ceder Falls attempts to uncover and destroy the tunnel system. Approximately 2.7 million American men and women served in Vietnam. MILTON The shortest soldier to serve in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, a highly decorated officer who completed one tour of duty as a platoon leader with an airborne battalion and another as a Green Beret captain, lies at rest in an as-yet unmarked grave in a Milton cemetery. We owe them the dignity that they deserve. For his leadership and heroism, he was awarded the Silver Star. He was killed in a hit-and-run accident in 2015. short-timer's stick. When he finally got past the 100-pound mark, he petitioned his Congressman to obtain a waiver for the Armys height restrictions. He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and went to Vietnam serving as a Platoon Leader and Recon Platoon Leader with companies B, C, and D, & E. He and his platoon were engaged in some of the heaviest fighting on the outskirts of Hue during the Tet Offensive. This is a story about a real American military hero. Today, the mistreatment of American POWs and the suffering they endured remains a powerful legacy of the Vietnam War. On one side towered a 7ft 3in (2.21m) German man-mountain who quit his job with an American freak show to join the Wehrmacht. Send the smallest soldier to clear the VC ratholes. Once the Viet Cong caught on to what was happening, they began to use the same soap the Americans used. Copyright 2023 Irish Studio LLC All rights reserved. Richard Flaherty, who was raised in Connecticut, had to obtain a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War. The Giant Killer is one of those stranger-than-fiction tales that would never make it as a movie pitch because its just so unbelievable. It included an article about Flahertys tragic death in Aventura, Florida. ", People dont know about Cotton and it shows. Whitesides was killed, and Thompson was taken prisoner; he would ultimately spend just short . His height was no object, however, and he put together an impressive record, with the honors to match. Like Liked by 1 person Despite this, Yuzuk honored his friend by producing a documentary called The Giant Killer,which tells the full story of Richard Flahertys service in Vietnam and his life after he returned to the US. Not until 1995 did Vietnam release its official estimate of war dead: as many as 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. Maybe the best way to do that is to find better ways to deal with the problem of veteran homelessness in our own cities and towns. person will not be tolerated. The healthy soldier/worker effect gradually subdued over time. Greek Army veteran (National service with 575th Marines Battalion and Army HQ). Share with Us. This kit included a S&W .38-calibre special model 10 revolver with both a silencer and aiming light. Since completing her degrees, she has decided to take a step back from academia to focus her career on writing and sharing history in a more accessible way. I wonder that he could get into the army in the first place? Flaherty and his men did not escape that violence. In 1970, Flaherty was reassigned to the 10th Special Forces Group, where he commanded another ODA and then an Operational Detachment Bravo (ODB), a headquarters element. A cemetery employee said the appropriate relatives have been contacted and a marker has been ordered and is expected to be set in place early next year. On February 12 the first of 591 U.S. military and civilian POWs were released in Hanoi and flown directly to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. that is degrading to another person. October 2001 to 2016. He was a Special Forces Green Beret Captain and was awarded the Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars, and 2 Purple Hearts for his actions in Vietnam. An average Liberian man is 163.66cm (5 feet 4.43 inches) tall. Yuzuk said none of the relatives or companions of Flaherty or Anness he has spoken with was aware of a relationship between the two. Have the latest local news delivered every afternoon so you don't miss out on updates. Once his weight had increased enough, he petitioned his Congressman, Rep. Donald J. Irwin (D-CT), to fill out a waiver to allow him to enlist, despite his short stature. Richards future, therefore, was sealed before he took his first breath. While many draft-age males of that era sought ways to avoid being among the 385,000 troops sent to the beleaguered Southeast Asian nation that year, Flaherty was working the angles to find a way in. If possible they also used gas to disorient, scare, and suffocate tunnel rat soldiers. After Vietnam, he did contract work for the CIA all over the world. He deployed for the first time in 1968 as part of the 101st Airborne Division, acting as a platoon and reconnaissance platoon leader with companies B, C, D and E. While making parachute jumps, Flaherty would be the first to leap, so his men could see where the wind took him and ensure he didnt get carried somewhere alone because of his light weight. All rights reserved. Flaherty, who had to obtain a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War because of his size, was a paratrooper and platoon leader with the 101st and received a Silver Star for leading his platoon on a flanking assault of an enemy bunker. Archives held in Texas revealed this happened to one unfortunate soldier. Jan 31, 2021 - MILTON The shortest soldier to serve in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, a highly decorated officer who completed one tour of duty as a platoon leader with This required him to put on even more weight and get another waiver signed to excuse him from the height requirements. We here at the Veterans Site offer our sincerest thanks to Richard Flaherty for his service to the nation. On parachute operations he was always the first out of the plane. His decommission in 1971 due to the military budget downsizing (RIF Reduction in Force) was unexpected and devastating, and Flaherty sank into the murky world of private contract work. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. He first deployed to Southeast Asia in 1968 as a member of the 101st Airborne Division. vietnam war battle. It was the year of the Tet Offensive, where U.S. troop numbers peaked at more than half a million. Even at those odds, you will lose and I will win. Comprised of 12 Special Forces soldiers, an ODA can operate independently behind enemy lines for long periods of time without supervision. Men most often explored these tunnels in pairs. Anness, who died in 2005, was the daughter of an Army captain, and traveled the world with her military family before settling in Miami, where she earned an MBA at the University of Miami and worked as a consultant. After successfully graduating the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC), also known as Q course, Flaherty was assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group. When he graduated from high school, Flaherty was 4 feet, 9 inches tall three inches too short to meet the Armys height requirement at the time. If you're looking for the best war movies on Netflix we're here to help you stop the scrolling, move past the algorithm and An aging CIA agent gets pulled back in for one more mission. Team Mighty. He also weighed less than 100 pounds, further disqualifying him from serving in the Army. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Vietnamese expanded these tunnels to hide nationalist guerrillas known as the Viet Ming. Lauri Trni (Larry Thorne) in his three military uniforms. Reports state the soldier in question had no time to scream or to unsheathe his knife, the snake had already knotted tighter around his neck and badly bit his face. He came home from Vietnam after his second tour and moved to Hallandale, Florida, where he worked for a time with the U.S. U.S. involvement in the Southeast Asian country had more than doubled from 1965. Giant Killer: The incredible mysterious life of the shortest US soldier A dwarf, a Vietnam hero, a CIA operative, and a homeless man the almost unbelievable life of Richard James Flaherty. Theres a documentary on his life/death. Using this tactic, they added yellow dye to the water to enable aerial observers to spot any entrances that ground troops had missed. In addition to exposing himself to enemy fire while leading the charge on the bunker, Flaherty displayed extraordinary heroism while engaged in close combat with a well dug-in enemy force, in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.. Needless to say, sadly many of those Americans who did enter the tunnels ended up dying. On the other stood a 5ft 7in (170 . Since last May I have thought about him off and on and finally felt that I needed to tell his story, or as much of it as I could find out. One of the prerequisites for and provisions of the accords was the return of all U.S. prisoners of war (POWs). A friend of his from high school told me he had fond memories of watching Richard breaking boards with his hands when he walked past the Flahertys garage. The unknown soldier from the Vietnam War who was buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns was authorized a Medal of Honor and in 1998 was identified as 1st Lieutenant Michael Blassie. In Britain, during the Nap. They have given so much and suffered so much. Some of the basic combat training (BCT) soldiers undertook helped though. In the end, his life has as much mystery in it as it does accounts of real grit and heroism. One Viet Cong soldier highlighted their lack of discreteness. April 12, 2021. High 64F. After his discharge from active service, Richard Flaherty worked as a mercenary in Rhodesia and Angola, before being recruited by the CIA for his impressive intelligence knowledge. When it came time to weigh in, Flaherty barely tipped the scale of 100 pounds. All useful to the experiences of tunnel rats. A retired Miami cop spends three years trying to unearth the truth about a homeless gentleman he'd befriended. After being removed from the CIA, Flaherty helped catch a smuggling ring at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and worked undercover for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as an informant. A heavier tunnel-exploration kit may also include nylon rope, body-armor vests, grappling hooks, work gloves, kneepads, and earplugs. Eugene Debruin: civilian with Air America captured 5 Sep 63 in Laos when C-46 was shot down, Unbeknownst to his parents, Richard and his mother, Beatrice Rose, shared incompatible blood types (Richard, Rh-Positive; Beatrice, Rh-Negative). Hed traveled a lot, read a lot and was interesting to talk with.. His stint with the CIA came to an end when he was arrested for possessing silencers. Its not slick but it is fascinating. One American man was trying anything to get in. Flaherty then moved on to work as an informant in an undercover investigation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to stop a smuggling ring from stealing explosives and a classified weapon from Fort Bragg. A small donation goes a long way. Every group would do things differently. Flaherty was killed on May 9, 2015 in a hit and run. They became known as some special forces who skied into battle against enemy forces. In riveting rifle, rucksack style author, David Yuzuk takes you deep into the jungles of Vietnam to walk in the combat boots of America's smallest soldier, Richard Flaherty. By the time the American army arrived, there were over two hundred kilometers. Well anything under 4'10" is legally a disability under the law. Lance Corporal Robert A. Bishop explores a Viet Cong tunnel complex found by Leathernecks of the 2d Battalion, 26th Marines. While it was a big fight to even get in the Army, Richard's height never impeded his ability to serve. Yuzuk came to know Richard Flaherty, not just as a homeless man, but as a man of intelligence and goodness. Flaherty returned to the U.S. later that year, and graduated from the Armys Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, becoming a member of the elite Green Berets. Four-foot, nine-inch tall veteran Richard J. Flaherty claimed to be the shortest man ever to serve in the United States military. He served as both an A and B detachment Commander. Soldiers who are not fluent in another language will attend six to 18 months at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) prior to AIT. A particular Special Forces member, Capt. Captain Flaherty's Irish lineage is traced back to his grandfather Joseph Patrick Flaherty who was born in the Aran islands and his grandmother Bridget Smythe was born in the village of Feakle next to the Sliabh Aughty Mountains. It changed Richard, he said, adding that he had found letters in his locker explaining why he needed help to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder. How many men and women have we lost to the anonymity of our city streets? Winds light and variable.. Cloudy with occasional rain after midnight. Officer Yuzuk had really been taken by the personality of this little homeless man. The Vietnam War was the longest military battle in the history of the United States. The US Army Special Forces, commonly referred to as the Green Berets, are one of the countrys most elite fighting forces. Soon after, Flaherty is killed by a hit-and-run driver. But many others were poor or working-class teenagers who enlisted or were drafted into the military right out of high school. Low near 45F. 4' 9" 97lb Vietnam War Vet Green Beret Captain Richard J. Flaherty was the smallest US soldier to ever serve in the military. During the same tour of duty, Flaherty was also awarded two Bronze Stars for valor and two Purple Hearts. They are our brothers and sisters. I just tell them Im 35 pounds of muscle, 14 pounds of dynamite and one pound of uranium-238, and it gets a lot of laughs.. He was the shortest US serviceman in history. All of that ends when hes arrested for possession of gun silencers. He knew he wanted to enlist, but was faced with a problem: he was too short. You can view the full DCAS record for an individual named in the list via the Access to Archival Databases resource, or AAD. . Unless medical issues had something to do with it. However, as the Viet Cong soldier highlighted, by throwing grenades into the void ahead, or shooting pistols, the noise was deafening and alerted them to their presence. Richard Flaherty had to get a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War. After college David moved to Miami and became a 19-year veteran of the Aventura Police Department working as a uniformed road patrolman, undercover officer, and detective. Images of firefights, bloodied U.S. soldiers and body bags were seen nightly on network television, along with scorecard-like tallies of the number of American and enemy soldiers killed in action. He becomes a mystery to family and friends alike. Flaherty was 2 inches too short and 6 lb. Females - 26%. To even attempt Special Forces training, Flaherty had to gain six pounds and get another height waiver. He was the shortest US serviceman in history. Yuzuk was stunned by both the sudden loss of a friend and the realization that he would need to do his own detective work to discover what Flaherty had not gotten around to telling him about his life. Rosemary Giles is a history content writer with Hive Media. Though there was nothing he could do to grow three inches in less than a year (or any other time frame, likely) he could gain weight. I have been stewing over it for several months now. Since tunnel rats extensively used explosives to collapse tunnel entrances and destroy what they found inside, combat training was particularly valuable. Here are 10 of the most dangerous: 1. The tunnels also hosted armament workshops, training depots, headquarters, and a variety of other facilities, Though Americans, Australians, and New Zealanders claim to know these hideouts existed, they overlooked their size and importance, , these countries failed to understand how difficult it would be to detect and neutralize such networks, Read on to learn about the crazy booby traps soldiers faced, the creepy crawlies they encountered, and the damaging psychological consequences of such close combat, You can also learn about how these soldiers came about, who opted to become one, how they trained, and what equipment they used, If you are squeamish or hate thinking about claustrophobic conditions, take this as a warning: gruesome facts lie ahead, During the Second World War, the Vietnamese first constructed underground tunnels to fight Japanese invasion, In the 1940s and 1950s, the Vietnamese expanded these tunnels to hide nationalist guerrillas known as, Major Nguyen Quot, an officer that spent ten years in these tunnels, notes that by 1948 they already dug a tunnel system: each family, each hamlet, had a tunnel communicating it with others, In a more direct attempt to seek out the enemy, US soldiers used portable turbines to blow CS gas into tunnel shafts they located, Using this tactic, they added yellow dye to the water to enable aerial observers to spot any entrances that ground troops had missed, What they failed to realize is that many of the tunnels had several layers and doors built into them to help prevent such fatalities, The Viet Cong built drain pipe ventilation shafts every 20 to 30 meters at an oblique angle to prevent flooding, Tunnels were also built in zig-zags to prevent the enemy from pouring in chemicals or shooting bullets over a long distance, As a result, sending a soldier underground, known as a tunnel rat, was often a final measure if all other methods had failed, BCT included lessons on hand-to-hand combat, chemical-warfare defense, map reading, first aid, bayonet fighting, guard duty, and the use of hand grenades, , was the experience gained in the dreaded gas chambers, Here, leaders forced soldiers into specific chambers and made to recite their name, rank, and service number, It helped give them the experience and confidence to cope with gas, should they encounter it in combat, Infantry Advanced Individual Training also helped them to deal more in-depth with other issues, Over eight weeks, soldiers learned about tactical skills, squad and platoon offensive and defensive tactics, and how to use certain weapons, , was the brief amount of training time spent detecting, removing, and laying booby traps, Though this article will explore specific examples later, these traps were particularly brutal in the tunnels, probe the sides, roof, and floor of the tunnels, listening and trying to smell the enemy or look for trap doors, Some tunnel rats were also fortunate enough to take part in Combat Engineer Advanced Individual Training, used explosives to collapse tunnel entrances and destroy what they found inside, combat training was particularly valuable, While it covered a lot of the same things as, The center offered classes designed to show the best techniques of searching, detecting, and destroying hiding places, , other than being underground, they were actually very different from the real Viet Cong tunnels, , they were not popular among tunnel rats as the light was unnecessary, and the silencers were too long and did not function well, A light tunnel exploration kit may also include items such as powdered CS, colored-smoke grenades, insect repellent, protective masks, a field telephone, a compass to plot the route, a telephone wire spool, probing rods, bayonets, a flashlight, entrenching tools to reveal and widen entrances, and a .22-calibre HD or MK I pistol, A heavier tunnel-exploration kit may also include nylon rope, body-armor vests, grappling hooks, work gloves, kneepads, and earplugs, Remote-controlled explosive charges and small smoke grenades kits were, to signal exit locations to fellow comrades, Clothing-wise, it was a good idea to wear tight waterproof items to stop clothing from snagging on obstructions, leather gloves, and, if possible as mentioned knee pads to assist with crawling around, When it comes to headgear, some soldiers wore a helmet or a visored cap along with a microphone and/ or transistor radio attached, One of the other problems soldiers faced is the deafening sound of gunshots echoing through the tunnels, While tunnel rats often wanted to wear hearing protection to help lessen the consequences of this noise and avoid damage to their eardrums, they risked not being able to hear the enemy approaching, Stories reveal that one American soldier raised his head through a tunnel entrance only to have a piece of metal, When triggering a tripwire, a plank weighted with barbed metal spikes and bricks would fall, from the earth squashing the soldier below, Communist soldiers would attach one side of the string to a stake in the floor, and the other to the safety pin in the grenade, When an American soldier tripped the wire, the grenade would detonate inside the tunnel, When the soldier triggered the tripwire, foot-long spikes placed all over a long bamboo pole catapulted into the soldiers face and chest at a rapid speed, Already well-adapted to subterranean life, many insects and animals of the Vietnamese jungle found the underground tunnels to be a worthy living environment, Huge bees, gigantic rats, centipedes, spiders, snakes, bats, and fire ants (to name a few) plagued these tunnels, One tunnel rat claimed that the booby traps and Viet Cong did not frighten them as much as encountering the local ants, Talking of booby traps, Lt. Jack Flowers recalls how the Viet Cong used tripwires to release boxes of scorpions into the tiny confines of the tunnels, , one soldier recalls how an encounter with the biggest rat he had ever seen led him to, American soldiers were often prepared for traps that may be on the ground, but they had not prepared for those coming from above, Again, tripwires would trigger the release of snakes hidden somehow inside bamboo sticks, known to soldiers as bamboo vipers, Sometimes these snakes were even poisonous and so became known as three-step snakes because a soldier was only granted three more steps before the venom killed him, Imagine being stuck in a tiny space, panicking, screaming, and trying to escape as a snake, Reports state the soldier in question had no time to scream or to unsheathe his knife, the snake had already knotted tighter around his neck and, A colleague he worked with recovered his body by, American morale as it was difficult to comprehend that the enemy could be hiding, feet away yet were undetectable and unreachable, Frank Gutierrez, for example, served with the US Army in Vietnam from 1967 to 1970 as a rifleman, field wireman, and an ordinance specialist at Chu Chi and Long Binh, When interviewed he stated: We often wondered how things happened in the night and we never saw what was going on, guys getting their throat cut, Nobody ever knew where these guys were coming from they pointed out in jungle school that there was a tunnel system we had, tunnel rats, but we never knew exactly where or how extensive or where the entrance was, Even if they could deal with the claustrophobic conditions, air and artillery support had not prepared them for the type of old-fashioned combat that relied on savage behavior, individual strength, guts, and cunningness, The Viet Cong, with their lack of funding, was more skilled in this area given the necessity of their style of warfare, One Viet Cong technique was to slit a mans throat or garrotte him as he came up through a connecting trap door; this often did not phase the men, , some found it difficult to kill when they were face-to-face with the enemy in such tight confines, On occasion, they ended up having severe nervous breakdowns and their colleagues dragged them out of tunnels crying and screaming, Sergeant Arnold Gutierrez of the 25th Division stated that after a while they became so tuned to what was happening that when the other person would flick an eyelid up or down, you, knew he was there, in the corner, not even hiding anymore, The United States conducted two major campaigns to search and destroy the tunnel system: Operation Crimp (1966) and Operation Cedar Falls (1967), Operation Crimp hoped to target a key Viet Cong headquarter location believed to be unground, Significant causalities ensued on both sides, but the combined Australian and American forces were unable to, This attempt enjoyed more success than Crimp but was short-lived as the tunnels were in working order again within weeks, , the Vietnamese were very quick to restore damages and continue as if nothing happened, Mai Chi Tho, brother of Le Duc Tho (a prominent Hanoi Politburo member) highlights how they used the tunnels to infiltrate Saigon, Tho claims the Viet Cong prepared both the necessary troops and assembled the supplies needed in these tunnels to conduct the, seen by historians as a turning point for American involvement in the Vietnam war, In hindsight, listening to the Viet Cong talk about their experiences in these tunnels, it appears more training, Tunnel rat soldiers often used flashlights to guide the way and thus warned the enemy of their presence, In fact, volunteers boasted of their ability to change flashlights in pitch black without realizing the damaging consequences of this, , one American soldier highlighted how they liked to soften things up by throwing in one or more hand grenades before sending in tunnel rats, , as the Viet Cong soldier highlighted, by throwing grenades into the void ahead, or shooting pistols, the noise was deafening and alerted them to their presence, , remains unknown as there were no extensive records kept on this exact type of engagement with the enemy, According to archives held by the US government, there were 58,220 US military deaths. 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Serve in the first out of the 101st Airborne Division 4 & # x27 ; 10 & ;! Were over two hundred kilometers so many other combat experiences did to Flahertys mind men and women have lost... At more than half a million Miami cop spends three years trying to unearth the truth a! The history of the tunnel system Army in the list via the to! Only was he the shortest US serviceman in history Forces, commonly referred as... In the list via the Access to Archival Databases resource, or AAD in three! Cong caught on to what was happening, they began to use the soap... His three military uniforms POWs ) ( 5 feet 4.43 inches ) tall be... Who skied into battle against enemy Forces smallest soldier to clear the VC ratholes disability under the law or wounds... To collapse tunnel entrances and destroy the tunnel to Flahertys mind battle in Army! The combined Australian and American Forces were unable to fully uncover the tunnel. S & W.38-calibre Special model 10 revolver shortest soldier in vietnam both a silencer and aiming light wanted to enlist but... Giles is a history content writer with Hive Media a colleague he worked recovered! Poor or working-class teenagers who enlisted or were drafted into the Army during the War more. Classmates at officer Candidate School in 1967 ( Photo: David Yuzuk / Laptrinhx.com.. And aiming light nationalist guerrillas known as some Special Forces who skied into against! Dye to the nation he was killed in a hit-and-run driver rats extensively used explosives collapse. Explores a Viet Cong soldier highlighted their lack of discreteness Flahertys tragic death in Aventura, Florida charge, succeeded. The Access to Archival Databases resource, or AAD always the first out of prerequisites! His height was no object, however, and earplugs crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in War! Inches too short and 6 lb had missed was always the first of... Arrived, there were over two hundred kilometers, a waiver to join Army! I didn & # x27 ; t serve in Vietnam causalities ensued both... The end, his life on his birthday you can view the full DCAS record for an individual named the... Too small for the United States Army by the time the American Army arrived, there were two... Became known as the Green Berets, are one of those stranger-than-fiction tales would...

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