Geoff and I cleared our way to the flipped vehicle, with me using the mine detector and Geoff prodding with his bayonet. We soon learned that the battalion’s 7 Platoon had hit the mine, and that about half of the 24-man platoon were casualties. Geoff knew that one of our fellow tunnel rats, Sapper Robert Earl, known as Yogi, was the No. During the final days of the operation, we heard how several other elements of the regiment and their tunnel rats had also been involved in mine incidents. Our tunnel rat unit was small, with at most 120 men in the country at any time, and a total of around 700 who served from 1965 to 1972.

Source: New York Times February 10, 2018 00:22 UTC