As a student, she worked in a variety of research positions, including as an archivist. lkunl/Shutterstock. It has a rating of 7.4 on IMDb. Phases of captures. 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. The Veterans Site asks that you take a moment out of your day to consider donating to help house homeless veterans. Weve got a clip from the movie that details Richards ruthlessness in combat. Your e-mail address will be used to confirm your account. According to newspaper files, her grandparents operated a restaurant in Milton. War is hell. Finally, this list will look at how successful these attempts were in the grand scheme of things. David Yuzuk's police radio blared from his shoulder as he leaned against his patrol car outside Boston Market in Aventura. Despite his size Richard Flaherty had all the heart in the world and it showed when he was platoon leader in Vietnam. He served as an SFODA Commander in companies A and B. One of the other problems soldiers faced is the deafening sound of gunshots echoing through the tunnels. Yuzuk also found papers showing that Flaherty had paid a deposit for a burial plot in Miltons Forest Memorial Park, with a request to be buried near Lisa Davis Anness, whom the Vietnam vet described as the love of his life. So began a wild adventure involving guns, cash, and High Altitude Low Opening parachute jumps into the Florida Everglades swamps. Photo credit: The New York Times. Maybe its because, as a high school student, I knew him, if only from a distance. . When he graduated OCS and his Special Forces training, he volunteered for combat duty with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. Flaherty was tasked with training the Royal Thai Army in counterinsurgency, in preparation for being sent to Vietnam. by Tom Rosenbeck. Archives held in Texas revealed this happened to one unfortunate soldier. Consequently, given the average smaller size of Vietnamese men, tunnel rat soldiers, by necessity, were the shortest, skinniest, and most limber men in the army: a maximum height of 1.58 meters. Capt. One of his men got stung and came out screaming, refusing to ever go into a tunnel again. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. As a Green Beret, he served from 1969-71, before being honorably discharged. A lot of the time it really depended on the size of the soldiers in the infantry division. Stories reveal that one American soldier raised his head through a tunnel entrance only to have a piece of metal automatically speared through his neck. . At the time, Yuzuk was a police officer and Flaherty was a member of Aventuras homeless community, camping under a palm tree off one of the citys main boulevards. Since tunnel rats extensively used explosives to collapse tunnel entrances and destroy what they found inside, combat training was particularly valuable. Low near 45F. 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. 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. Not only was he the shortest Green Beret to serve in Vietnam, he was also the shortest US serviceman in history. He had been the victim of a hit-and-run car accident. Historians, for example, estimate that booby traps caused around 11 percent of US causalities in the Vietnam War. He says of Flaherty, I think that Vietnam tortured Richard.. But it wasnt until 2015 that Flaherty first spoke of his time as a platoon leader and Green Beret in Vietnam. Unbeknownst to his parents, Richard and his mother, Beatrice Rose, shared incompatible blood types (Richard, Rh-Positive; Beatrice, Rh-Negative). Some of the basic combat training (BCT) soldiers undertook helped though. Flaherty was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant after attending Infantry Officer Candidate School on 31 August 1967. Some even fled to Canada to escape conscription. He knew he wanted to enlist, but was faced with a problem: he was too short. According to archives held by the US government, there were 58,220 US military deaths overall as a result of the Vietnam War. He deployed with the Screaming Eagles to Vietnam and served as a platoon and recon platoon leader. We often look at college students as punk kids, lazy frat guys or any other kind of social stereotype. Lots of tunnel rats used the standard-issue colt. 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. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. This required him to put on even more weight and get another waiver signed to excuse him from the height requirements. Watch on. Private contractors? To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Flaherty would be considered a dwarf in medical terms, meaning that his height was less than 4 10.. Use the 'Report' link on Why they volunteered varied person to person, but one American soldier speculated volunteers were trying sometimes to make up for problematic lives back home or to prove their manhood in truly testing conditions. The same soldier noted that once rats conquered their fear, assuming they survived, some even came to like their work for the rats, the light at the end of the tunnel was usually a VC with a candle.. 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. July 21, 2015. 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. The American Soldier in VietnamMore than 2.5 million American men served in Vietnam during the war. After Vietnam, he did contract work for the CIA all over the world. vietnam war battle. This is similar to the selection effect of underwriting requirement provision in the insurance industries. Postal Service. It was a horrendous ordeal to face and brought even the toughest of men to tears. So for a combat soldier, there was about a 10% chance of being killed in action. The World War Two story of David and Goliath - an Allied 5ft 3in soldier who captured Germany's tallest soldier at 7ft 6in has been uncovered. Four-foot, nine-inch tall veteran Richard J. Flaherty claimed to be the shortest man ever to serve in the United States military. If the army located an entrance and needed it explored, the team lowered a tunnel rat into the area to scout out the surroundings. As a result of their lunchtime talks, Yuzuk had decided to make a documentary about Flaherty. Start Reading. This way, they smelled the same as the GIs and the dogs became unable to locate the enemy. 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. Richard Flaherty, was certainly a standout. This is a dangerous condition that can lead to serious complications for the fetus or even death. U.S. involvement in the Southeast Asian country had more than doubled from 1965. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy. He came home from Vietnam after his second tour and moved to Hallandale, Florida, where he worked for a time with the U.S. Reads: 47 Comments: 1. . That did not deter Flaherty. Current standards for men is 60-80 inches tall. The War also claimed the lives of approximately 200,000 allied soldiers in Vietnam, nearly one million North Vietnamese/ Communist allied deaths, and an incomprehensible number of civilians. Photo credit: Funker530. world war ii. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. We owe them the dignity that they deserve. Have the latest local news delivered every afternoon so you don't miss out on updates. A retired Miami cop spends three years trying to unearth the truth about a homeless gentleman he'd befriended. 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. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, perfectly summarised the problem in 1969: The conventional army loses if it does not win, the guerrilla wins if he does not lose. Females - 26%. Alternate title, "Dating on tinder when you're 5'11" or shorter". Be Nice. He went back to Southeast Asia with the 46th Special Forces Company as a Special Forces Operational Detachment A (SFODA) commander. He began to eat and stay in fighting shape, as he was an avid sportsman in high school, especially good at martial arts. After completing basic training, he qualified for Officer Candidate School, from which he graduated as a second lieutenant, before receiving orders sending him to Vietnam. [1], Flaherty was born on 28 November 1945 in Stamford, Connecticut. In most cases, tunnel rats were engineers, infantrymen, cavalry scouts, or chemical specialists. 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. When he reached adolescence, Flaherty was small compared to his peers. That way, when a soldier fell into a pit and became trapped, he would call for a colleague who would rush to his aid and collapse into the trap next to it. The complications caused a hormonal imbalance that stunted his growth. Approximately 2.7 million American men and women served in Vietnam. He showed his fearsome warrior spirit during the Vietnam War, and later entered the roster of the Army's elite task . Trni was a dedicated and brave soldier, and he quickly rose to the rank of captain and took command of a group of ski troops. You can also learn about how these soldiers came about, who opted to become one, how they trained, and what equipment they used. Col. Floyd J. Thompson, who endured nearly nine years of torture, disease and starvation in Vietnam as the longest-held prisoner of war in American history, has died. Well anything under 4'10" is legally a disability under the law. Still, his skills, tenacity, and leadership can tear down an entire enemys. Bob Roberts, who was photographed when Jakob Nacken was captured, has been awarded France's highest military honour, the Legion d'Honneur, by the French . A group of soldiers would then charge the gap to hopefully get a foothold and allow other troops to pile in. Flaherty was 2 inches too short and 6 lb. That month, his platoon came under heavy automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fire from a North Vietnamese Army force. When it came to Americans, however, some found it difficult to kill when they were face-to-face with the enemy in such tight confines. How many men and women have we lost to the anonymity of our city streets? Many American men were trying to avoid serving the U.S. military in the 1960s and 1970s. 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. Phil Bucklew: The Father of US Naval Special Warfare. 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. The two maintained a long friendship. The Giant Killer (available to rent now on iTunes, Amazon and other VOD platforms) aims to unravel the truth of his post-service life and mysterious death. He is believed to have worked as a military contractor throughout Africa and most notably in Rhodesia and Angola. 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. Afghan war. Tunnel rat soldiers often used flashlights to guide the way and thus warned the enemy of their presence. Flaherty was born to a mother who, unknown to her, had a blood type that made her second-born son vulnerable to oxygen deprivation in his infancy, which stunted his growth. He was a Platoon Leader and Recon Platoon Leader with companies B, C, D, & E. Flaherty participated in some fierce combat outside of Hue City during the Tet Offensive which earned him a Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars and 2 Purple Hearts.[4]. After his tour of duty was over, he applied for Special Forces training. I never thought of him after that until I received an email last May from one of my old high school friends. Using this tactic, they added yellow dye to the water to enable aerial observers to spot any entrances that ground troops had missed. As a Vietnam veteran he is my brother. Flaherty and his men did not escape that violence. One tunnel rat claimed that the booby traps and Viet Cong did not frighten them as much as encountering the local ants. Richard James Flaherty was born on November 28, 1945. . If they hesitated at all, it is highly likely they would be the ones to die in such close confines. Jeremiah Purdie (center) is led past a stricken comrade after a fierce firefight for control of Hill 484. It turned out to be a lot. Richard Flaherty had to get a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War. Just sitting and waiting. One battalion also found an underground complex that covered 2,000 meters and yielded cameras, films, printing presses, and type, in addition to the usual cache of weapons and ammunition. Shockingly, a US soldier even uncovered a missing M-48 tank buried six feet deep; the Viet Cong were using it as a command center. It helped give them the experience and confidence to cope with gas, should they encounter it in combat. But he may have left me with more mysteries than Ill ever be able to solve.. Females have other settings, but still, they're also not allowed when not being tall enough). The United States conducted two major campaigns to search and destroy the tunnel system: Operation Crimp (1966) and Operation Cedar Falls (1967). And there was more; he was homeless. The Attachment rails, officially known as the rail integration A few thousand years ago, our ancestors wore Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! His investigation raised more questions than it answered. Some 385,000 American troops were sent to Vietnam in 1966, the year Richard Flaherty graduated from high school. Yuzuk started digging and discovered that Flaherty had worked undercover with the Feds during the 80s. 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. Soldiers learned to carefully probe the sides, roof, and floor of the tunnels attentively listening and trying to smell the enemy or look for trap doors. Retired, David enjoys writing, walking on hikes, and spending time with his dog Simon. Submitted photo. 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