Rat Six

by Jack Flowers

Based on a true story, Rat Six tells the story of Clifford Price who, like hundreds of thousands of other young men in the 1960s, was drafted into the United States Army and served in Vietnam. Price was from Indiana, where he was a college student who had recently returned from a year studying abroad in Denmark. He came from a long line of soldiers; his two grandfathers served in the First World War and his father in the Second. Vietnam proved to be his turn to fight. Little did he know that his war would not only be a conflict on the battlefield, but a conflict in his mind. Torn between his anti-war sentiments, which had been reinforced by his year abroad and the proud heritage of his forefathers, Price had to choose between right and wrong, survival and death, love and war. Having been a commissioned officer in the Army Corps of Engineers shortly after being drafted and selected for Officer’s Candidate School, Price ended up in Vietnam in 1968. After three months of commanding a platoon of bridge builders, mine sweepers, and truck drivers, Price was offered the job of Rat Six, one of the most dangerous assignments in the war. Rat Six was the code name for the leader of the First Infantry Division Tunnel Rats. The Tunnel Rats were some of the most courageous soldiers to fight in Vietnam. All were volunteers, slightly built, cunning, rebellious, trained in demolitions, and dedicated to ferreting out the enemy below. In the beginning of the war, entering a tunnel with only a flashlight and a pistol was almost suicidal. Over time, the Army learned to successfully navigate the underground labyrinths, retrieve vital intelligence, and destroy the tunnels. The most organized of the Tunnel Rat teams in Vietnam was that of the First Infantry Division’s First Engineer Battalion. The team was led almost from the beginning by Sergeant Robert Bateman, a crusty, hard-nosed non-commissioned officer from New Jersey. He was dubbed “Batman” by his men and his reputation spread far and wide. He became even more famous among the enemy, of whom he had killed many, than among other warriors in the Army. “Batman” was on the Viet Cong’s “10 Most Wanted List,” which included the most prominent generals and not one other non-commissioned officer. Lieutenant Price was put in charge of the team and the conflict with Batman was immediate. Although there was no rank underground, Rat Six and Batman slowly built a mutual trust and the team’s exploits and reputation grew even more. Harrowing missions and close calls engulfed the two men and their team. The tunnels were the setting and the enemy inside was just as fearsome as the men who pursued them. After four months of working together, Batman was sent home after his fourth reenlistment for Vietnam was denied. Suddenly Price was alone and vulnerable. The fear became insurmountable, climaxing on his last mission. Rat Six tells one of the most important yet little known stories of Lieutenant Clifford Price and his men. They were known as the Tunnel Rats, and their courageous exploits during the war in Vietnam are breathtaking and extraordinary.

362 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 7, 2018

About the author

Jack Flowers' life has been remarkable in depth of both love and war. He is a product of the romance of the Kennedy era and the Vietnam War. His two seminal works, 'Flowers a Love Story' and 'Rat Six' are complimentary, yet distinctively different. His business career is somewhat eclectic as well.

Born near the end of World War II and raised outside of Indianapolis, Indiana, Jack traveled a most unusual and adventurous path through life. A traditional education took him through his sophomore year in college and then a life changing experience happened during his junior year abroad in Denmark. This was in the turbulent 1960s with the war raging in Vietnam and the civil right movement enveloping the United States.

After being drafted and attending Officer's candidate school in1967, Jack found himself as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers stationed near Saigon. He volunteered for one of the most hazardous duties, the leader of the 1st Infantry Division Tunnel Rats. This too was a life changing event from which he has never quite recovered but always remembered. Long lasting fears led him to write 'Rat Six' a catharsis cleansing his soul and putting into words the horrors of a war he had opposed.

After leaving the army, he returned to college and graduated with a degree in Mathematics and Economics. He found a job on Wall Street and worked as a stockbroker and investment banker. 'Rat Six' was never published but in 1983 Jack was approached by two English authors to tell his story in a book entitled 'The Tunnels of Cu Chi.' The chapter about him and his sergeant was later excerpted in an article in Life Magazine entitled 'Down, Dirty and Deadly.' He also appeared on 60 Minutes, Good Morning America and Charlie Rose. MGM optioned his story around this time but the movie never made it to the big screen.

Over the years Jack always had difficulty ordering flowers from a florist due to the confusion over his last name-Flowers. He came to realize that florists filled in their receipts by hand. A receipt, as he discovered, contained a lot of information; who, what, where, why and when. He knew there was a story in there someplace. Then one day while visiting clients on Cape Cod, the idea struck him; a love story told in florist receipts and the letters and cards that were usually enclosed. The literary device was an epistolary novel which he began to write. He titled the book 'Flowers, a Love Story.' After a couple of years the book was finished and roughly illustrated. But like 'Rat Six,' the Flowers book lay dormant for many years.

Semi-retired and living in Maine with his family since 2002, Jack was asked by an old friend in 2013 to help him start a new company in Atlanta called Infrasonix. The company's goal was to revolutionize cardiovascular disease detection with a newly discovered technology. Jack came to believe the venture could save millions of lives if perfected, and it appears that it just might.

Jack brushed of the dust of the Flowers book and 'Rat Six' and meanwhile Hollywood called again. This time it was Warner Brothers. Both ' Rat Six' and 'Flowers a Love Story' had new life. Jack is spending his time these days equally between his two books and Infrasonix and another venture, Braiset Innovations, a new braille printer company. He believes all four will have happy endings.

Reviews

[John Podlaski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack flowers' memoir provides readers with a snapshot of his life in the late sixties and early 1970's. He lived, went to school, and taught English in Denmark for a short period of time during which he fell in love with both the culture and a certain female. When he returned to the States and dropped out of college, he soon found himself drafted in the U.S. Army. After basic training, Cliff Price - his protagonist - decides to become an officer and completes OCS with orders to Vietnam. During his 30-day leave prior to reporting to California, Lt. Price returns to Denmark to visit acquaintances from the past, especially the girl he left behind.

When he arrives in Vietnam, he is surprisingly assigned to an Engineering battalion in the 1st Infantry Division. For the next few months, Lt. Price develops his group of engineers into a highly efficient team, who are proficient in mine clearing, demolitions, building bridges and bunkers, and tearing down jungles. He is soon recognized by higher-ups and is asked to volunteer for the open leader position in the division tunnel rat platoon, which is an "all-volunteer" outfit. His call sign would be "Rat Six".

Upon his acceptance, he finds the unit to be highly efficient themselves and were lead by a sergeant nicknamed "Batman" - on his third tour and well-known throughout the division. Lt. Price and Batman soon learn to work together and his training begins. He also learns that the previous officers did not last too long in the position.

I was quite interested in their missions through the Iron Triangle and Michelon Rubber Plantation as those were the areas I worked in while assigned as a grunt with the 25th Division. The author has a knack for keeping up the suspense and holding readers to his every word. Every grunt I know felt that the tunnel rats were hugely courageous and didn't consider themselves to be brave enough to go underground and flush out the enemy. The missions were harrowing and truly required a special breed os man.

I enjoyed the story and learned a lot about this special group of soldiers and what they did. Unfortunately, I did come across many typos in the story and was disappointed that the author didn't tell us what happened to Lt. Price's two women in the story. Highly recommended for those interested in learning more about this special breed of men and what they did during the war.

[Josh Flowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure I am this Jack Flowers's son, so take what I say with a grain of salt as I am at least a little biased.

Rat Six is a fictionalization of his time in Vietnam as part of the Tunnel Rats, a group of soldiers who would go into underground tunnels containing anything from ammunition stockpiles to enemy soldiers. The job is simple; blow up the tunnels. It was dangerous work that almost killed him plenty of times whether from cave-ins or

That's the short version, the long version is the novel follows a huge portion of his fictional persona, Clifford Price, military career, his love life, and his internal struggle with fighting a war he doesn't particularly want to be fighting. It's a military novel with the trappings one would expect. If you are a fan of procedures as much as action, then you'll enjoy this book a great deal.

That said, there are a lot of hard to read moments in the novel that reminds us all what a terrible war Vietnam ended up being for a lot of people. There are a good half dozen moments in the novel that still haunt me as I think about them.

Overall its a good read and if you think it would appeal to you, then you'd probably enjoy it.

[Freddie Kelvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

While war is always scary, some roles are far worse than others. Jack Flowers, despite having misgivings about the need for the war in Vietnam, volunteered for one of its most dangerous jobs. Known as Rat Six, he was the leader of the 1st Infantry Division Tunnel Rats.
The mission of the Tunnel Rats was to flush out any Vietcong (VC) hiding in one of the many tunnels that they built to infiltrate the US Army's positions. The Tunnel Rats worked as a carefully coordinated team that was heavily reliant on split-second timing to assess what undisclosed dangers might lie ahead. These men were lowered headfirst into the tunnels never knowing what to expect; the lead guy, known as the point man, was at the highest risk. Most times, there were bulletproof trapdoors that needed to be opened, behind which a VC may lie waiting ready to toss a hand grenade at the point man who barely had room to move. Equally frightening and unexpected, the VC would sometimes tie a poisonous snake to a bamboo pole hanging from the tunnel's roof. The snake was more than ready to strike at anyone crawling under it.
Twice, Rat Six was close to being killed by an exploding grenade; this potential threat existed with every tunnel mission that was carried out. He was charged with training the other members of his team, as well as dealing with senior officers who often did not understand the enormous danger that he and his men faced every time they entered a tunnel. Not surprisingly, most tunnel rats did not live to survive the repeated ordeals to which they were subject.
Jack Flowers felt that he needed to write this terrifyingly realistic novel based on his experiences in order to try to distance himself from his remembrances of the horrors that he had encountered. It took five years for him to write it; these must have been five agonizing years. He repeatedly asked himself whether this was a war that could be justified. Despite this, for almost a year, he never flinched from carrying out his duties as a leader. This is not just an account of being a tunnel rat but, more broadly, is an honest and moving story of a man compelled to grapple with the circumstances in which he found himself engulfed while doing his level best to try and preserve his sanity and authority throughout it all. Jack repeatedly confronts us with the terrors of the Vietnam War. Through this meticulous account, we learn a great deal about the many different behaviors of the men surrounding him, some of which were quite irrational. In the process, we learn much about human nature as he takes us ever deeper into the dilemmas of the men fighting an enemy hiding both above and below ground.

[Stewart Mims · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rat Six is a first hand and extraordinary account of war on and under the ground, in this case the war in Vietnam. It is told in the first person. It takes you through all of the emotions, expectations and dealing with getting called up, of arriving in country and heading into harm’s way. The last chapter is of a literary quality of All Quiet on the Western Front. It is unforgettable. A definite good read.

[Daniel J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book about a misunderstood time in our nation’s history. It is clear that the Mr Flowers is the real thing. I recommend this book to everyone.

[Debra Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Respect!

As a REMF I totally respect the courage the tunnel rats displayed. Much of the happenings in the book I can relate to. This brought back many memories.

[George Rodibaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book. Captures the feeling of what it was like to fear the draft in 1968, then go on to be soldier in Vietnam. A true survival story and realistic look at that war. Plenty of heroic moments. Bravo to Jack Flowers for writing this memoir.