The Bloodthick  Deliverance  --  Into the Shadows of the Abyss

Throughout any war in history you will find countless heroes and military units with loyal and indomitable crust to fight for their country beyond of what is asked or required --- some are readily recognizable, others are not. This is the story of one of those units: A small band of fearless commandos officially named the "Tunnel Rats." 

During the lengthy and brutal Viet Nam War this American band of mavericks would blindly descend into the dank darkness to meander, creep, seek out and encounter the enemy where even the most courageous were unwilling to venture --- the dreaded and combat-terrifying jungle tunnels built by the North Vietnamese forces consisting of  both the regular North Vietnamese Army and the armed and cunning Viet Cong, firmly entrenched in the shrouding jungles of  the South.

This famed Rat band was led by former Staff Sergeant Thomas E. Wergen, who operated during the height of the Viet Nam campaign. Husky and boldly rugged with a thick shock of red hair, Wergen volunteered to lead the Rats when they were only informally acknowledged and regarded as a "blue collar" group of the special fighting squads. Loosely established without any particular training or guidelines, they were afforded no extraordinary recognition, if any at all. There were no fancy uniforms, no decorative berets or self-serving ballads, and virtually no famed reputations similar to those that the other elite corps of the Special Forces had already earned. But that would soon change as the war escalated and demand for the Rats' lethal and devastating skills accelerated to face and challenge the vicious enemy warfare.

 (A small cloth tab worn only by them on the upper right sleeve of their fatigue jacket. ) 

In October 1967 this "Tunnel Rat" squad finally achieved its well-deserved notoriety after Wergen's Rats spearheaded the major tunnel-destruction operation in Saigon, dubbed AKRON III, which would severely impede the Viet Cong Tet Offensive. From then on as the exploration and denial of hundreds of enemy tunnels became a widely critical and strategic defense mechanism for the U.S. effort, the "Tunnel Rats" gradually became one of the most sought after fighting forces in Viet Nam. While most divisions had brave men who would explore tunnels when discovered, Wergen's unit was regarded as the best and most professionally equipped to deal with anything out of the ordinary "hole in the ground." Independent, yet loyal, the Rats would rove the Viet jungles to carry out their destructive tasks whenever and wherever their priority had been gained.

When not laying tunnels to waste, the Rats served on covert missions with numerous Special Force teams, and with the 11th Armored Cavalry Division under command of Colonel George S. Patton III. They were always amid "the thick of it" and became known as "the ghosts of Di-An" (their home base). Here one day and gone the next, the Rats would be ferried from one hostile "hellhole" to another --- sometimes twice a day. And usually with no landing zones available, they would be chopper-rappelled through the jungle canopy and hauled back up when their perilous work was completed. They'd usually arrive back to base camp blood-spattered, more combat-hardened and silent, wearing nothing but tatters that had been the "uniform of the day" whenever they had begun their mission.

Of course, the Rats also received a lot of unfavorable attention from the enemy. With soon realizing the devastating force of the Rats, the high powers of the North offered valuable rewards for their hides, especially Wergen's. The bounty was without avail, as Wergen would survive his war tour and go on to be awarded the prestigious Bronze Star and also the medal he cherishes most, the Combat Infantry Badge --- earned for over thirty days of sustained ground combat. He shrugs off his four Purple Hearts that he earned, but never officially received.

Come along and follow Wergen's "Tunnel Rats" as they skulk through the steamy and ruthless elements seeking out the enemy and descending into the jungle abyss during one of the most treacherous and censored warfare periods in history.

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