A war no one should have fought, the Vietnam War killed many and left just as many coming home damaged, suffering from PTSD, or "Vietnam Syndrome." What's truly sad is that when these soldiers returned home, they were called foul names like "baby killer" and treated with disdain rather than respect. According to MSN.com page Back in Time Today, and writer Samuel Cole, here are 19 brutal realities soldiers had to face in Vietnam
1. Constant humidity that rotted out everything
-Because of the high humidity in the Vietnamese jungle, everything rotted. Soldier's bodies never fully dried off because of the humidity. It was usually running at 90% humidity most of the time, and that type of weather is the perfect breeding ground for fungal infections that attacked the groin, underarms and feet. Despite constant cleaning, weapons rusted overnight. The clothing on the soldier's backs become rotted out and leather boots virtually disintegrated just weeks into wearing them. Food spoiled very quickly and ammunition had to be wiped down almost constantly. The moisture even leaked into the technology and other items being used. Radios failed, maps disintegrated, troop morale went very low as they fought nature in addition to the enemy forces
2. Leeches dropping down like rain
-These parasitic bloodsuckers made life in Vietnam even worse. When out on jungle patrols, soldiers had to worry about leeches dropping from trees. Daily jungle patrols was like ringing a dinner bell for these parasites. They would attach themselves to exposed skin without warning, especially in watery areas. When soldier's removed them improperly, infections set in through the open wounds because their heads could remain in the skin. Veterans of this war recall using salt packets from their rations or burning cigarettes to force them to detach
3. Traps around every corner
-On any patrol, soldiers never knew what they were going to encounter around the next corner. They didn't know if the Viet Cong had booby trapped the trail with two claymore mines attached by a trip wire to trees. Or if there was dangerous wildlife waiting for them. The Viet Cong created deadly traps for the patrolling soldiers. Punji stakes, which are sharpened sticks of bamboo set in a pit, was covered with a light covering that would give if someone stepped on it. These stakes were covered in fecal matter, which guaranteed a slow, agonizing death from infection. Trip wires triggered to ignite explosives were another reality, while trip wires or bent trees would activate a nail studded board to swing out into patrols at face or chest level, impaling the victim and subjecting them to a slow, agonizing death
4. Venomous snakes!
-The Southeast of Asia is known for having venomous snakes. The jungles of Vietnam alone had 140 species of snakes, dozens of them being terribly deadly. Such as the bamboo pit viper, whose nickname is the "three step snake", because the victim would only make it three steps before dying from the potent venom. King cobras were another one. They can reach up to 18 feet in length, with enough venom to kill elephants. Soldiers had to sleep with almost one eye open, keeping their boots on and checking their sleeping bags on a regular basis. While medics did carry antivenin, in remote areas, these snake bites proved fatal before any sort of evacuation was possible. Many units reported casualties from snake bites and other wildlife encounters than from contact with the Viet Cong during certain missions
5. Relentless mosquitoes
-Mosquitoes are said to be the deadliest creature on the planet. They carry more diseases than one can imagine or even want to imagine. Hot, humid, tropical environments like Vietnam are considered the dream home of mosquitoes. Soldiers stationed in Vietnam had to battle these disease-riddled parasites. Between the constant buzzing and relentless itching, these soldiers were fighting an additional battle. These insects carried diseases like Japanese encephalitis, malaria, dengue fever. At least 40,000 troops were affected by malaria, despite the preventative methods used to eliminate the mosquitoes. Soldiers bathed themselves in military-issued insect killer containing high concentrations of DEET. While this irritated skin, it proved to be little protection. Mosquito nets became precious luxuries, but using them on patrol was near impossible. For many soldiers, it was psychological torture, having to lie awake, listening to the constant buzz of mosquitoes waiting to strike a victim
6. Monsoon rains that never ended
-Because Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia, that region is subject to monsoons each year. Those storms would transform battlefields into watery nightmares. Heavy rains could turn jungle paths into rivers and fill foxholes with mud, turning them into ponds. Operations slowed down tremendously due to helicopters not being able to fly in low visibility. Soldiers developed immersion foot, also known as trench foot, from their constantly wet boots. This caused painful skin infections that led to amputation if left untreated. The psychological damage was also a reality. The constant beating of rain on helmets and jungle canopies drove some men to their limit during patrols
7. Invisible enemies using guerilla warfare tactics
-Viet Cong fighters were almost like ninjas. They seemingly disappeared after attacking, leaving the US troops to wonder if they were fighting phantoms. Viet Cong used underground tunnels to appear and disappear at will. These tunnels also held caches of weapons, ammo, hospitals, sleeping quarters and more. They could virtually live underground in these tunnels, which stretched for miles, without stepping foot above ground. Troops who would patrol these tunnels would be referred to as "tunnel rats." This job in itself was terrifying; it was psychological torture at its best. The soldier doing the patrol didn't know what was around the next corner. If it was an armed Viet Cong, a highly poisonous Chinese cobra, a trip wire set up to trigger explosives. The thought of fighting an enemy who could appear / disappear at will caused high anxiety among soldiers
8. Immense heat draining strength
-During the day, temperatures soared to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit with high humidity. Carrying heavy amounts of gear made it worse. The soldiers were often carrying around 70+ pounds of gear, meaning they were subject to heat exhaustion and heatstroke during daytime patrols. This often required a medical evacuation. Discipline with rations also became a reality. Soldiers had to learn how to ration their water, despite their bodies requiring more. Some patrols carried three gallons per man to just avoid dehydration, which was an impossible task in itself to carry. The heat made simple tasks into nearly impossible goals. The heat alone caused men to lose 10-15 pounds in their first weeks because their bodies were struggling to adapt to this brutal environment while also staying battle ready
9. The Devastating Psychological Toll on Soldiers
-The hot, steamy jungle created the perfect storm of psychological damage. There was the constant threat of an ambush, booby traps were lurking within the shadows, dangerous wildlife waiting to strike. This all combined kept the soldiers in a highly tense state of hypervigilance and it drained the mental reserves they had. Sleep deprivation was a very real thing and made these symptoms far worse. Many man developed what is known as the "thousand yard stare"- blank, unfocused gazes indicating severely deep psychological trauma, even after extended combat tours. Unlike the wars before that had clear front lines, there were no clear front lines with Vietnam. There were no safe zones where soldiers could relax and decompress. There was the constantly present thought that danger lurked everywhere, it could come from any direction. It created and bred anxiety disorders that many veterans, years later and to this day, still fight
10. Insects everywhere!
-In addition to disease-riddled mosquitoes, the Vietnamese jungles were crawling with insect life along with other wild life. Fire ants swarmed the tents, crawling over soldiers and inflicting painful bites that resulted in welts and allergic reactions. Giant venomous centipedes hid in the darkness of boots and equipment. Large spiders, some with leg spans going past 6'', would fall from trees on to unsuspecting troops. Termites and beetles wreaked havoc on the wooden rifle stocks and other equipment. The most irritating insect of all were tiny biting midges that could penetrate the mosquito netting. They would bite soldiers, leaving them with itchy welts that quickly became infected in the hot and steamy conditions
11. Contaminated water
-It was a battle in itself just to find clean drinking water. The waters in the Vietnamese jungle were rife with bacteria, parasites and chemical contaminants. If ingested, intestinal distress soon came calling. Soldiers had to choose between dysentery and dehydration. They soon received water purification tablets that rendered this dangerous water safe. Despite giving the water a chemical taste that many could not stomach, it led some men to drink the tainted water out of desperation. This resulted in painful waves of diarrhea that left troops in a weakened state during the most critical operations. When supplies ran low,, especially during extended patrols, soldiers got creative. They would filter water through t-shirts to remove visible parasites before drinking the water. It was a crude, but effective way before adding the water purification tablets
12. Flesh-Eating Bacteria and Infections
-Any sort of minor scrape or cut became a life threatening situation in the hot and steamy environment that was Vietnam. Jungle ulcers-painful infections that expanded and ate away at flesh-became a reality. These would develop from the smallest cuts. Without immediate medical attention, these could go down as far as bone and cause sepsis, or blood poisoning. Antibiotics became a dream come true for those who suffered from jungle ulcers. They were essential on patrols. Medics were fighting a battle themselves against the many tropical diseases that seemed to lurk out there, diseases that had no American versions they were familiar with. The mixture of constant moisture, heat, various microorganisms and parasites signaled that even properly treated wounds often festered. Many soldiers carried extra socks not for comfort but for foot infections, infections that could make a man unable to walk within days
13. Dense Vegetation Limiting Visibility and Hiding Enemies
-Despite being the middle of the day, the dense jungle canopy made patrols think it was nightfall. Visibility was strongly limited to only a few feet ahead. Triple-canopy forests blocked out sunlight completely, forcing some soldiers to resort to using flashlights, even if it was the middle of the day. They had to move slow through this dense jungle, using machetes to clear away dense brush. This would slow troop movements and announce to the enemy that there were patrols out there. It would literally announce the movements and location of soldiers. The limited visibility combined with the darkness from the canopy created a perfect breeding ground for ambushes and made it nearly impossible to spot any booby traps before they were triggered. Calling in for air support was all but useless when troops could not see any sort of landmark or even the sky for when the chopper would show up. Many soldiers eventually would develop claustrophobia from the constant feeling of being closed in by the suffocating vegetation
14. Becoming Disoriented from Jungle Noises
-The various noises of the jungle would challenge the sanity of even the toughest soldier. Nights brought on noises that bordered on deafening, such as insects and frogs, which would hide the sound of approaching enemy troops. US soldiers struggled to tell the difference between natural jungle noises and human movement. Monkeys screeched in the jungle canopy overhead, mimicking human screams. This caused false alarms and frayed nerves. The constant noise made communicating with others nearly impossible. Hand signals replaced verbal commands on patrols. Some veterans state that the sudden, unusual silence when wildlife detected a threat was the most terrifying noise of all-it signaled that enemy troops were in the vicinity
15. Inadequate equipment for jungle warfare
-US troops were ill equipped for fighting soldiers who were well trained in the art of jungle warfare. Early in the war, US troops received equipment better suited for European battlefields, not rainy, swampy Southeast Asian jungles. Standard-issue boots fell apart within weeks in the wet conditions, heavy cotton uniforms took days to dry when soaking wet. The M16 rifles issued to soldiers jammed constantly in the muddy conditions, leading to fatal results in firefights. Soldiers often took AK-47s from fallen Viet Cong, which proved reliable to them. Radio equipment struggled to work in the high humidity while the dense vegetation limited the range. Many soldiers and units got creative and improvised a solution. They would wrap equipment in plastic, modified uniform items and developed unofficial gear rules that contradicted what the official military guidelines instructed. But these improvised rules worked and kept soldiers alive
16. Mud, mud everywhere!
-The mud in Vietnamese jungles was of the variety that it was sticky clay. It stuck to everything it touched. Monsoon season made it worse, allowing this mud to reach thigh-high heights on jungle pathways, making each step more exhausting than the last. These exhausting steps burned precious energy and calories. Vehicles constantly got stuck, forcing troops to abandon the medical transport and move forward with their own two feet. The suction the mud created could quite literally pull boots off of soldiers' feet. In addition to the physical challenge of the mud, the constant presence of this clay mud bred psychological fatigue. Men gave up the hope of ever feeling clean or dry. Veterans of this war state the mud as one of their most unpleasant memories
17. Limited opportunities for medical evacuation
-When injuries were inflicted in deep jungle, medical evacuations were literally life or death situations, a race against time. Helicopter evacuations required a cleared landing zone by cutting down trees. A process that could take hours while the injured slowly succumbed to their injuries. Many areas had extraction points where the injured had to be carried to just to get evacuated out. These extraction points often had soldiers walking through hostile territory. The threat of hostile territory combined with the physical toll of carrying stretchers through the jungle bred exhaustion in even the toughest soldier. During bad weather, medevac helicopters couldn't fly at all. This forced field medics to perform emergency medical care with limited supplies. Many veterans remember the haunting sound of wounded comrades calling for medics in areas deemed too dangerous for an immediate rescue
18. Physical demands exhausting troops
-Soldiers going out on patrols often had to carry 70 pounds or more of gear. Toss in the challenging terrain to this and it often left soldiers physically exhausted. It was a mission in itself to climb mountains in jungle terrain while also remaining on high alert for enemy movement. Typical infantry supplies included a weapon, ammunition, grenades, mines, food rations, tools for digging trenches, poncho, canteen for water, first aid kit and equipment for communicating. During some operations, some men lost up to 30% of their body weight. The demands for energy were so high that the military increased rations to 3,600 daily calories, which proved to still be insufficient for the requirements of the soldiers. Many veterans recall the constant exhaustion as their most vivid memory
19. Being isolated from the outside world
-Being on operations deep in the Vietnamese jungle, soldiers often went weeks or months without contact from home. Mail delivery was unreliable. Letters would often arrive either not at all or after long delays. The psychological impact of not having contact from home proved to be completely devastating to the soldiers. Many of the men missed the births of their children, deaths of family members, important life events. This created a feeling of being disconnected from everyday life. The only news from America came through via Armed Forces Radio or heavily censored newspapers. These formats offered a limited view on the growing anti-war protests. Many of the men felt they were fighting in a different world. They felt completely cut off from the world they were trying to defend
