Army Veteran Talks About Life as a Vietnam ‘Tunnel Rat’

Of all the uniquely dangerous jobs soldiers had during the Vietnam War, Army veteran C.W. Bowman’s task ranks near the top of the list. 

Bowman was a “tunnel rat.” 

Bowman, a former staff sergeant, volunteered for the highly stressful but important position of finding enemy intelligence rummaging through the Viet Cong’s vast underground tunnel system. He has plenty of wild stories of overcoming fear and what he encountered in those dark, dank tunnels. Bowman shared a few of his memories during a presentation at the Richland Library Main on Feb. 13 in Columbia, South Carolina, according to The Post & Courier. 

Receiving his draft notice at age 19, Bowman joined the Army, shipping off to Vietnam in 1967. He was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division where his tunnel investigation days would soon begin.  

Life of a Tunnel Rat 

Tunnel rats weren’t found in every unit in Vietnam, but the companies that did use them selected volunteers for the ultra-dangerous job few envied. 

For Bowman, it all began when his sergeant asked if he could investigate a Viet Cong (VC) bunker. Not knowing what would await him underground, the young soldier crept down into the hole in total darkness. He looked straight ahead, spotting the only light he could see, coming from the other side of the bunker. It was the exit. 

“I just started walking. I didn’t look left or right, I didn’t look at anything,” Bowman said. “I said, ‘If I make it through that door, I’ll be alive.’”

The fact he survived was good enough for his sergeant – Bowman was officially designated the unit’s tunnel rat. He thought about his age, compared himself to others in his unit, and decided to volunteer. 

“I was 20, and a lot of those guys were married and had kids,” Bowman said. “I really didn’t have much to go back to, so I said … what the hell, it didn’t matter to me, you know?”

A Job Filled with Fear 

Raising his hand for such a deadly occupation didn’t mean Bowman wasn’t fraught with fear every time he shimmied down those Viet Cong tunnels. One story in particular highlights how close the young soldier was to becoming another casualty of war. 

Stationed in Cu Chi in 1967, Bowman ventured down another tunnel, but this time came across something he had never seen before – an underground hospital with VC troops staring back at him, just as shocked to see him as he was of seeing them. 

The VC drew their guns. Bowman reacted quickly, unloading shots from his .45 caliber pistol. He scrambled back out of the tunnel, dropping a C4 explosive down the hole just to be safe. 

That wasn’t the first time he thought his heart would pound out of his chest. 

The fear of the unknown never faded, but the more tunnel trips he made, the more Bowman shifted his focus to what was around him and not the thumping of his heartbeat, which consumed him the first time he went into a bunker.  

“The more I did, it was more of a concentration on what was around me, because a lot of the tunnels had booby traps in them,” Bowman said. “The pounding heart went away.”

His goal was to investigate anything he could find on the VC’s movements and operations. The tunnels revealed all kinds of items, from maps to weapons. In one search, he stumbled upon more than 200 German Mauser rifles. 

“Everybody got a rifle to take home in the company,” Bowman said. “There was no telling what you’d find down there.”

Harsh ‘Welcome’ Home 

After surviving the tunnels of Vietnam, Bowman had other obstacles to overcome, reacclimating to civilian life and an antiwar public that wasn’t kind to many returning soldiers. 

“We were all shunned. We were harassed,” Bowman said. “Yeah, the homecoming, to me, was worse than fighting in the war.”

Bowman returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1970, came home and married his wife, Ruthie. Born and raised in Bordentown, New Jersey, Bowman moved to South Carolina in 1973. Following the war, he spent two years as a drill sergeant at Fort Jackson, South Carolina before leaving the Army. 

Library Series Invites Veterans’ Stories 

Bowman’s presentation was part of the library’s Noon Debrief series, which it hosts in partnership with a military history museum, the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Museum. 

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster recently appointed Bowman to the museum’s board of commissioners. His presentation attracted about 30 participants, including Matthew Padgett, a military history buff from Columbia.

“I thought it was just gonna be a movie — but (the library staff) were like, ‘No, an actual guy who was crazy enough to go be a tunnel rat’s gonna be speaking,’ and I’ve never met one,” Padgett said.

Melvin Rest, from Cayce, South Carolina, was also moved by Bowman’s presentation. He said it made him realize the sacrifices of so many veterans, including his father, a World War II soldier.  

“He just never would talk about his time in World War II,” West said. “We could have learned so much more from people (if we’d) been more open about talking about it.”

One attendee posed an interesting question – having gone through it, would Bowman volunteer for tunnel rat duty again? 

“Sure,” he said. “It was gathering intelligence and weapons and ammunition, but it was also proving myself.”