In some parts of Vietnam, the Viet Cong lived for months at a time underground, in elaborate tunnel systems so sophisticated they included hospitals, training areas, and storage facilities as well as barracks. But from the surface, they just looked like holes in the dirt that only a snake would crawl into. And sometimes there were snakes there.

But during the Vietnam War, American soldiers had to slither into them alone with nothing but a flashlight and a .45-calibre pistol and search for the enemy. These rare volunteers were called “tunnel rats.” And C.W. Bowman was one of them.

Bowman will return to the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum Friday, June 30, to tell what it was like, in a free lecture at noon. His program, “Tunnel Rats of Vietnam,” is part of the museum’s monthly Lunch and Learn series and is open to the public.

Founded in 1896, the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum is an accredited museum focusing on South Carolina’s distinguished martial tradition through the Revolutionary War, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, Vietnam, the War on Terror, and other American conflicts. It serves as the state’s military history museum by collecting, preserving, and exhibiting South Carolina’s military heritage from the colonial era to the present, and by providing superior educational experiences and programming. The museum is located at 301 Gervais Street, sharing the Columbia Mills building with the State Museum. For more information, visit crr.sc.gov.

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