Engineers Clear the Way
$450.00 – $740.00
Counted among the enemies in Vietnam was the jungle – triple canopied, thick, claustrophobic, and deadly with tunnel networks and snipers, bunkers and booby traps. It was a battlefield of the enemy’s choosing. Along convoy routes and near friendly base camps and villages, it became apparent that vegetation had to be removed.
The Army Corps of Engineers modified for war the famous “Cat bulldozer”, manufactured by Caterpillar Inc., by adding steel armament, a driver’s cage, a special cooling system, and a unique front blade complete with a menacing two-foot long spike that could be rammed into the massive jungle trees, splitting them for easier removal. Moving an echelon, and backed by armored cavalry support from units like the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, overhead helicopter observation and supporting fire, these dozers and their courageous drivers cleared thousands of acres, facilitating the destruction of tunnels, bunker systems, and countless enemy supplies and weapons.
The U.S. Army Combat Engineers literally re-worked the very surface of the earth to facilitate their operations against the tenacious enemy at home on his own ground. Purple Hearts were numerous, but their inexorable drive ripped the battleground from the grip of the enemy and cleared the way for others to follow.
Original Commissioned by the Engineer Regimental Association.
Release Year: 1990
