Since the outbreak of the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

in 1946 and later the bloodier

Second Indochina War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

of the 1960s and 1970s, countless numbers of

land mines A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automatic ...

have been planted in what is now the

Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

. Many of these devices that did not detonate at some point or another remain a very dangerous menace that continues plaguing the country and surrounding areas.

Ordnance and use of mines

French mines

The French made limited use of mines in the beginnings of the independence war in Indochina.

American and South Vietnamese mines

The

M14 mine The M14 mine "Toepopper" is a small ( diameter) anti-personnel land mine first deployed by the United States circa 1955. The M14 mechanism uses a belleville spring to flip a firing pin downwards into a stab detonator when pressure is applied. Once ...

blast-type

anti-personnel mine Anti-personnel mines are a form of mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to anti-tank mines, which are designed for use against vehicles. Anti-personnel mines may be classified into blast mines or fragmentation mines; the latter may ...

used by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

during the Vietnam War was known as the " toe popper." Earlier examples of the toe-popper were the Soviet-made PMK-40 and the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

" ointment box." The United States also used the

M16 mine The M16 mine is a United States-made Bounding mine, bounding anti-personnel mine. It was based on captured plans of the Second World War, World War II era German S-mine and has similar performance. The mine consists of a cast iron body in a thin ...

, a copy of the German "

Bouncing Betty The German S-mine (''Schrapnellmine'', ''Springmine'' or ''Splittermine'' in German), also known as the "Bouncing Betty" on the Western Front and "frog-mine" on the Eastern Front, is the best-known version of a class of mines known as bounding ...

North Vietnamese mines

The North Vietnamese forces made extensive use of a variety of homemade booby traps including the old French

trou de loup In medieval fortification, a trou de loup (French for "wolf hole"; plural trous de loup, also commonly referred to as a tiger pit in the East) was a type of booby trap or defensive obstacle. Each trou de loup consisted of a conical pit about de ...

set with Bengali

punji stick The punji stick or punji stake is a type of booby trapped stake. It is a simple spike, made out of wood or bamboo, which is sharpened, heated, and usually set in a hole. Punji sticks are usually deployed in substantial numbers. The ''Oxford English ...

s. The North Vietnamese termed the smaller mines đạp lôi ( đạp lôi "step-mine") or mìn muỗi ( mìn muỗi "mosquito mine"). Their equivalent of the American toe popper was a

booby trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...

made from an empty

.50 caliber This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the to caliber range. *''Length'' refers to the cartridge case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods), a package of related merchandise * Cartridge case or casing, a ...

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

shell filled with gunpowder or other explosive powder and scrap metal. The casing is sealed in wax and placed in a bamboo cylinder with a nail in the bottom, which is then buried in the ground so only the wax on top is showing. When a person steps on the wax top the casing is pressed in to the nail which then blows scrap metal into the soldier's foot. Dap loi is rarely fatal but can blow a toe off and causes very painful wounds. Its most prevalent use was during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Vietcong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

guerrillas attempting to find simple methods to slow the advancing U.S. forces down. The

MD-82 mine The MD-82 is a Vietnamese anti-personnel blast mine, that is broadly similar to the United States M14 mine, although the fuzing system is different. Specifications * Height: 57 mm * Diameter: 53 mm * Weight: 100 g approx * Explosive c ...

was a Vietnamese copy of the M-14 "toe popper."

Casualties

Vietnamese

American landmines caused extensive casualties and amputees within among the Vietnamese civilian population.

American

Landmines were a leading cause of American casualties. In 1965 alone, 65–70% of

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

casualties were caused by mines and booby-traps.

After the war

After the

Fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of ...

in April 1975 and the end of the

, the Vietnamese government was left with the legacy of both Vietnamese and American mines. The

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

has recently given some financial assistance for humanitarian mine action.Landmine Monitor Report - Page 726 2003 Total US humanitarian mine action funding to Vietnam was $3.638 million in US fiscal year 2002. ... in April 2002 for assistance in clearing mines and UXO along the route of the Ho Chi Minh Highway.90 International NGOs working in mine ..."

References

{{Land mines by region or country

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Military equipment of the Vietnam War