700 volunteered. Only 33 came home.

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]You are 19 years old. You weigh 140 lb.

[00:00:03]>> [music] >> They needed someone small. Your unit found the tunnel an hour ago, a hole the size of a manhole hidden under banana leaves on the jungle floor.

[00:00:12]Your sergeant gives you a flashlight, a.45 [music] pistol, a knife. Nothing else fits.

[00:00:18]You drop in.

[00:00:19]>> [music] >> The air smells like wet earth and something else. The walls are packed dirt, 2 ft wide. [music] You crawl on your stomach. You can't turn around. Your flashlight beam catches a tripwire, bamboo spikes, [music] a rotting body the Viet Cong left to scare you. Then your light catches movement, a face, a [music] pistol pointed at yours. There are no orders down here, no backup, no medevac.

[00:00:43]In 1965, 700 men volunteered [music] for this job. By 1972, only 33 came home alive.