We Gotta Get Outta This Place

On Friday, we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels. It was one of the most jarring and amazing experiences I wish to never have again.

The morning started with a bumpy two hour bus ride. Upon arriving, we met a tour guide who had a close relationship to these tunnels. He was the one that guided us through the tunnels for the day, and in my mind, he was the one responsible for my life that afternoon.

The Cu Chi tunnels are the most ingenious set of tunnel systems that took 15 years to make. Built by men, women, and children before and during the Vietnam War, the entire village lived down underground for years. I am convinced that this type of intelligence was why the North Vietnamese won the war; they were surrounded by the US troops, but no American forces knew where they were hiding, because they were not seen for years. Bombs, agent orange, and troops were poured onto the land, and the Viet Cong only buried themselves even further underground.

Our tour started with a walk through the jungle and then we sat down to hear from our tour guide. He talked about everything the VietCong did to make themselves virtually invisible. What struck me the most by his words and the documentary we viewed after was the participation of women and children during the war. Hearing from our guide and other professors in the past two weeks, I have learned that women and children were essential to the Vietnam war, and that the Viet Cong would not have won the war had it not been for them. Our guide talked of little girls winning awards for being known as "American Killers," and women were to disguise themselves as innocent, yet they were sharp shooters and guerrillas themselves. Women and children played a key role to the North Vietnamese, which made the war all the more real and horrifying for everyone in Vietnam. It was a peoples' war to them, everyone was involved.

Once the documentary was over, we descended into the tunnels. Now, the next events that transpired are not my best moments. When we entered down into the deep, dark, hot tunnels, panic quickly set in. I began to sweat as I was crawling through these tiny passages. Then, I started to freak out a little bit. We were only down in the first tunnel for about five minutes, but it felt like a year. I think what was so unsettling to me was when our tour guide explained that these tunnels had been hollowed out to be able to fit tourists, yet I felt as if I couldn't even fit in them. And to think that there were men and women who lived down there for years. Horror doesn't even begin to describe my feelings towards these tunnels.

There were three levels of tunnels, one being the "easiest" and three being the most difficult. Embarrassingly, I could only do the first three tunnels. But I truly got the gist of what it was like for the people of Cu Chi.

The Cu Chi tunnels were probably some of the coolest places I have been to. I love Vietnam War history, and since coming to Vietnam, I have learned more about it than I ever have in my entire life. Being in the tunnels made it all the more real to me, and it gave me a completely different perspective of both sides.