PRINTER FROM THE FIERY DEPTHS OF HELL
Travis Ryan 6/1/08
P.5 Mr. Flynn
Throughout history, there have been many changes and advancements in every aspect of life; from science and developmental research to entertainment and recreation, and even combat and warfare. Upon its introduction, guerrilla warfare completely changed strategical combat and has even adapted itself to the conflicts of modern times. Guerrilla warfare started as a name for a disorganized type of combat in which participants would attack at random, often with makeshift weapons rather than trained soldiers battling on front lines with modern firearms. Since that early era, which encompassed the American Revolution, it has built itself up to fit the needs of Japanese Kamikazes, Vietcong, and Middle Eastern terrorists.
During the American Revolution, the colonists fought against Great Britain’s highly disciplined and intensively trained military. The side of the colonists, however, was made up of state militiamen, young volunteers, farmers, and common rebels. They used muskets with bayonets, like Britain’s military, but once their limited ammunition ran out they were frequently forced to use anything they could find, even stones or other blunt objects. After the infamous “shot heard ‘round the world” at Lexington, farmers and rebels shot at a retreating British army and killed more than 250 of them. Another specific showcase of guerrilla style tactics was the Battle of Bunker Hill, where American soldiers dug themselves into the hill, and waited until the British soldiers advanced up the hill, at which point the soldiers open fired and killed half of their force, losing about 400 of their own. They eventually ran out of ammunition, however, and British troops took the hill. The tactics the Americans employed ultimately led them to achieve independence. (The History Place)
Many years after the American Revolution, guerrilla warfare was employed again in a distant nation - Japan. Japanese Kamikaze fighters were not ones to line up face to face with another army and fire on command; instead they used their own interpretation of guerrilla warfare. Kamikaze pilots were young volunteers, mainly around age 20 and were primarily introduced during World War II. Since many were unskilled, pilots would have to be aware of the possibility of friendly fire, which contributed to Japanese casualties. Most pilots flew standard fighter planes, some with machine gun attachments, and often alongside bomber planes. Bomber planes, as implied by their name, simply dropped bombs, while the suicide pilots drove their planes directly into their targets. This type of warfare was prominent during the Battle of Okinawa, in which 3000 Japanese suicide missions took place. This battle between America’s 5th Fleet and Japan’s Kamikaze fighters yielded a 1 in 5 success rate for the fighter pilots, with 3000 total average deaths per day. A suicide pilot had a multitude of options when considering inflicting damage upon the enemy. They could make full contact for maximum damage, or if they just clip a part of their target, damage will still be sustained. They also sometimes performed a mass kamikaze called kikusui, which is Japanese for “floating chrysanthemums”. They even planted mental damage; American soldiers were intimidated by the radically committed Japanese pilots. Though the Japanese were eventually defeated, guerrilla warfare resurfaced again in another Asian nation. (Hellish Prelude at Okinawa, Alexander, p. 18)
Guerrilla warfare had been taken another step up by the Vietnamese, specifically the communist Vietnamese groups called the Vietcong. These people were comprised mainly of teenagers with minimum training, motivated by pressure and the shame of alternatively refusing to fight. Unlike the Japanese Kamikazes, the Vietnamese guerrilla fighters were intimidated by the highly trained American soldiers who were heavily armed. The Vietcong used light machine guns, rifles, mortars, and sometimes rocket-propelled grenades. They would also make home-made bombs and booby traps, using pieces of material they could salvage from already detonated enemy bombs. The Vietcong were also famous for their Punji traps - pits of spikes covered up by flimsy materials so soldiers running through would fall to their death. Hit-and-runs and ambushes were frequently put to use as well. During the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese troops were each required to dig 3 feet of tunnel per day, which led to an extensive underground tunnel system that they could use to their advantage. The Vietcong had one unique contribution to unconventional guerrilla warfare - they disguised themselves as average citizens. Americans had difficulty telling Northern Vietnamese from Southern Vietnamese apart, which they were aware of. They acted as normal townspeople by day, and were soldiers by night. This is how they came to defeat America, and communism prevailed. (Battlefield: Vietnam)
The most modern type of guerrilla warfare, referred to as ‘terrorism’, is being practiced today in Middle Eastern countries. Most Palestinian soldiers are educated, middle class men who fight for their own glorification. This egoistic motive leads to a large amount of volunteers, who tend to have no careers and want to avenge the humiliation brought upon them by the Israelis. The primary tactic of modern day terrorists is suicide bombing. A volunteer will generally fashion a bomb or multiple bombs to himself, position himself in an area with a high concentration of their target, and detonate, sacrificing his life and killing many others. This type of combat strategy is not centralized, and is based on enthusiastic volunteers. Contrastingly to their typical method of bombing, on September 11th, 2001, terrorists from Saudi Arabia working under Al Qaeda were able to hijack several American planes and crash them into the two World Trade Centers and a section of the Pentagon. Though this was still a suicide or ‘one way’ mission, it was different in that it was more complex than average terrorist endeavors, and involved hijacking enemy apparatus. This type of guerrilla warfare is currently having war waged against it, and the outcome is still under a veil. (In Cold Blood, Jordan, p. 55; Open-Source Warfare, Henley, p.61)
The world is home to a variety of constantly changing situations. Its inhabitants and the inhabitants’ creations evolve and contort themselves, and the concept of guerrilla warfare is no different. Since the American Revolution, when colonists would unload the entirety of their ammunition on the British soldiers and turn to throwing stones once their materials had depleted, guerrilla warfare then made its way to Japan, where fighter pilots crashed their planes into American ships. From there, it sprung up in Vietnam where the Vietcong disguised themselves as normal citizens, lived in underground tunnels, and carved pits out of the ground to fill with spikes. Finally, it is seen today in the Middle East, with voluntary suicide bombing and hijacking of enemy vehicles. Like any other aspect of life and its products, guerrilla warfare has evolved.