BCT included lessons on hand-to-hand combat, chemical-warfare defense, map reading, first aid, bayonet fighting, guard duty, and the use of hand grenades. Copyright 2023 Irish Studio LLC All rights reserved. When he graduated high school in 1966, the 4-foot-9-inch man . The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. We here at the Veterans Site offer our sincerest thanks to Richard Flaherty for his service to the nation. After one tour in Vietnam, Capt. ~15 years. Flaherty led his platoon in a flanking assault on the enemy position, during which an NVA bunker was spotted. Many knew him over the last decade and a half of his life as a nameless little homeless guy in Hallandale, but he was much more than that. Copyright 2023 Military.com. 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.. It included an article about Flahertys tragic death in Aventura, Florida. This way, they smelled the same as the GIs and the dogs became unable to locate the enemy. * Born and raised in Brooklyn N.Y., David Yuzuk attended the University of Stony Brook on a football scholarship. This restoration was pivotal as it enabled some of the key successes enjoyed by the Viet Cong. In a 1977 interview with the Associated Press, a Vietcong survivor recalled how the Americans wasted so much time pulling their dead back that it gave them time to re-group and prepare accordingly. Neither family, nor friends know why. Richard James Flaherty (November 28, 1945 May 9, 2015) was a captain in the United States Army who served in the Vietnam War.Due to his small stature (he was just 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 m) tall), he was known as "The Giant Killer". A life warrior. He was the shortest US serviceman in history. According to federal law, the United States' military involvement in the Vietnam War began in February 1961 and lasted until May 1975. God only knows what that experience and so many other combat experiences did to Flahertys mind. Flaherty began to open up and talk to Yuzuk about his life only a few weeks before his tragic and lonely death as a hit-and-run victim last May. What are we doing that causes the disease of homelessness? Richard Flaherty was just a kid I knew briefly in high school. Richard Flaherty, who was raised in Connecticut, had to obtain a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War. Lots of tunnel rats used the standard-issue colt. After being removed from the CIA, Flaherty helped catch a smuggling ring at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and worked undercover for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as an informant. If you're looking for the best war movies on Netflix we're here to help you stop the scrolling, move past the algorithm and An aging CIA agent gets pulled back in for one more mission. For his leadership and heroism, he was awarded the Silver Star. He earned the Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars (w/V, 3OLC), and 2 Purple Hearts. In his new life as a civilian, Flaherty studied at the University of Miami in Florida, but entered a period of despondency after a girlfriend died in a car wreck in 1975. He came home from Vietnam after his second tour and moved to Hallandale, Florida, where he worked for a time with the U.S. He also fell below the Army's weight requirement of 100 pounds. [6] After Flaherty's death, Yuzuk went to look into his history and uncovered troves of information from Flaherty's storage unit, such as his passport with stamps from Cambodia, Venezuela, Iraq and Jordan. It has been well-documented in epidemiology studies . Yuzuk started digging and discovered that Flaherty had worked undercover with the Feds during the 80s. These homeless veterans deserve more from us. After graduating from the Special Forces Qualification Course, Flaherty was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) as a detachment commander and sent to southeast Asia with the 46th Special Forces Company. Jeremiah Purdie (center) is led past a stricken comrade after a fierce firefight for control of Hill 484. Communications, public relations, and marketing professional, and content creator during free time. Published March 04, 2022 06:48:08. Abandoned by the CIA, Flaherty locates a smuggling ring stealing tons of explosives including a classified weapon from inside a U.S. Army base, and signs on to work the investigation undercover with the Federal law enforcement agency the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. In Britain, during the Nap. What it also doesn't mention in the video is how absolutely ruthless this dude was. 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. He had crossed the DMZ back into South Vietnam where he was shot as he was recaptured. *The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. These tunnels hugely impacted American morale as it was difficult to comprehend that the enemy could be hiding just feet away yet were undetectable and unreachable. When it came time to weigh in, Flaherty barely tipped the scale of 100 pounds. Tho claims the Viet Cong prepared both the necessary troops and assembled the supplies needed in these tunnels to conduct the Tet Offensive of 1968. Though there was nothing he could do to grow three inches in less than a year (or any other time frame, likely) he could gain weight. We had built the runway surface with 2 ft by 12 ft Marston Mat aluminum planks with interlocking grooves along each edge. Frank Gutierrez, for example, served with the US Army in Vietnam from 1967 to 1970 as a rifleman, field wireman, and an ordinance specialist at Chu Chi and Long Binh. . Significant causalities ensued on both sides, but the combined Australian and American forces were unable to fully uncover the extensive tunnel network. Marines who score 285 or higher on BOTH the PFT and CFT are exempt from height/weight standards. The Tropic Lightning Tunnel Rat School at Cu Chi base camp provides an example of this. Captain Flaherty is the shortest man to have served in the Army's Special Forces Regiment. Not until 1995 did Vietnam release its official estimate of war dead: as many as 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. Communist soldiers would attach one side of the string to a stake in the floor, and the other to the safety pin in the grenade. Remote-controlled explosive charges and small smoke grenades kits were primarily to signal exit locations to fellow comrades. The tunnels also hosted armament workshops, training depots, headquarters, and a variety of other facilities. He was working on finding a way to join. U.S. involvement in the Southeast Asian country had more than doubled from 1965. Send the smallest soldier to clear the VC ratholes. In the battle of Quang Tri, during the Tet Offensive in 1968 . These story remain nothing more than bits and pieces of a life that seems to have become shrouded in anonymity. If they were feeling particularly cruel they may point the sticks downwards at an angle. If they hesitated at all, it is highly likely they would be the ones to die in such close confines. Photo credit: Rare Historical Photos websites. Oct 15, 2015 Ian Harvey, Guest Author. He returned to the U.S. that same year to attend the Army Special warfare School at Fort Bragg, where he earned his green beret. 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. Later that year, he was reassigned to the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Devens. The action took place on April 20, 1968, when Flahertys platoon was ambushed and came under withering enemy fire. In a contemporary interview, he had said that Ive taken a lot of kidding about my size. All rights reserved. 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. He was awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts during his service. 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. He was the smallest man on campus. One of the prerequisites for and provisions of the accords was the return of all U.S. prisoners of war (POWs). I never thought of him after that until I received an email last May from one of my old high school friends. In 1970, Flaherty was reassigned to the 10th Special Forces Group, where he commanded another ODA and then an Operational Detachment Bravo (ODB), a headquarters element. Larry Burrows / Getty Images. She also worked as a teaching assistant in the History Department. 11 talking about this. They became known as some special forces who skied into battle against enemy forces. Richard Flaherty, was certainly a standout. But Flaherty spotted the bunker, rallied his soldiers and led a charge under heavy fire that cleared the area of enemy troops. Richard Flaherty returned to the U.S. and trained at the Army's Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, becoming a member of the Green Berets. After successfully graduating the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC), also known as Q course, Flaherty was assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group. You see, he was so light, everyone would watch to see which way the wind would take him, so that they would not lose him. 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