Vietnam War Story: How This Cellar Saved My Friend

One day, I saw my neighbor Jerry slowly climbing out from somewhere below his backyard.

At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but looking closely, I saw stairs leading into the ground and realized he must have built something…like a hidden basement. To say I was intrigued would be an understatement. Why? Jerry is a 70-year-old disabled war veteran living on a fixed income.

How To Build a Small Bunker in Your Backyard with $400

He became a prisoner of war after stepping on a mine and losing his leg in Nam. For a whole year, he was taken from camp to camp and bunker to bunker and endured incredible hardships. Through forced labor, hunger, and constant beatings, Jerry found one thing to focus on to keep himself sane. He planned to escape one day and reveal all he had seen and learned during his captivity. One thing in particular caught his eye more than anything else – the bunkers being built with a speed and ease Jerry had never seen before.

When he served in the U.S. Army, Jerry helped build the American bunkers, which took 5 men working for weeks to make and were quite exposed. The Vietnamese bunkers, on the other hand, were completely different.

You see, the Viet Cong had become master builders because they were forced to adapt to some of the deadliest conditions known to man. They didn’t have bricks or mortar, but they still managed to build underground shelters that were strong enough to withstand the constant pounding of powerful American bombs. This is where they kept all their food and tactical supplies. The Viet Cong bunkers were so efficient that the CIA estimated that for every 100 bombs dropped on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, just one North Vietnamese soldier died.

On the day he was rescued, Jerry weighed 95 pounds at the most. He was so fragile they had to feed him through a tube for days. The intel he provided on enemy tactics ended up saving countless American lives…so the army gave Jerry a medal and a plane ticket back to the U.S.

While the war was soon over and American soldiers were happily returning to their families, for Jerry, the struggle continued. Things that most people take for granted don’t come easy at all for Jerry. Losing his leg early in life meant he had to learn to do things differently, without hard physical work or breaking the bank. Jerry never complained about his disability and never asked for or expected help from anyone. He is truly a hero, but he never bragged about it.

CellarInstead, he is probably the most self-reliant man I know.

What he built in his backyard was a unique kind of root cellar…but here comes the truly shocking part. It only took Jerry a week to get it done-on his own! When I went down the stairs, I felt as if I had traveled back in time… right to my grandfather’s root cellar.

While smaller, at probably 150 square feet, everything else was exactly the same-even that old smell I missed so much! Jerry had all sorts of cans, rice, beans, and jerky hanging from the ceiling, but he also had modern supplies like Progresso soup, pasta, peanut butter, dry goods, candles, water bottles, meds, an AR-15, a really big ammo box, and a lot more that I’ll tell you about soon.

Jerry affectionately called it his “life cellar”, and I could really see why. This thing could keep you and your whole family alive for months, even years, with no outside help. He also improvised a homemade ventilation system. When I examined it closely, I realized that his so-called charcoal “life-vent” would actually be able to filter out almost everything you can think of, including radioactive particles.

The life cellar he had built in his back yard was a brilliant mix of 3 things:

Jerry had always wanted to have an old-fashioned root cellar just like his great-grandparents had. This is where they kept all their harvest from spoiling. They had healthy, nutritious food on their table year round. The problem with this kind of root cellar is that they are quite flimsy and can become a death trap in anything more than a storm. And they are not that easy to build.

The second thing Jerry considered was the temporary American Army bunkers. They had a tactical advantage and provided safety from bullets, shockwaves, and floods. More than that, they were made out of inexpensive materials, but on the other hand, they were exposed in plain sight and were not that easy to build either.

And the third most important part was the Viet Cong secret method of building hidden, quickly bunkers which were so easy to buildthat two people could build one in less than a day. They don’t look like much from the outside because they blend in with the environment, but they are incredibly resilient to bombardment, grenades, and shelling. They also had a second exit so those inside would never get trapped. But they did not make use of good enough materials for these to last for more than a few short years.

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Growing encyclopedia of survival, your source of uncommon wisdom for dangerous times.

Latest comments
  • But how did he build it? Have I missed something? Thanks.

    • I don’t think you’ve missed anything, Shirley. I think they’re leading up to selling a book called “Easy Cellar” but I don’t see any links for it on this page. There are some articles you CAN click on at the end of the main article but otherwise the main article is pretty useless without them letting us know how Jerry built his cellar so quickly and cheaply.

  • I agree! Seems like leading up to a book or something but where and what??

    • they are.

  • the video about burying a shipping container

    • thats what was missing

    • Only the four corner posts are strong,the rest is light weight materials

  • WILL BE EXCELLENT KNOW HOW TO BUILD THAT CELLAR

    • Hello,

      Click on the image-banner at the end of the article for more details…

      Survivopedia team 🙂

      • It is still not clear where to get additional information. There is no “call to action button” I love your stuff but the interface design on this page is terrible.

        • Hello Christopher,

          One of my colleagues will contact you as soon as possible to help you get the needed info.

          • Where do I get the article or book or whatever to learn how to make my own?!

    • ii agree

  • Hi
    Jefferson NWEngland here.
    While the celler promotion sounds great ,
    I have a few queries I hope you can respond to?
    Let me be clear, I’m not looking for faults.
    I’ve purchased many items and information through clickbank and survivopedia, and I have absolutely zero complaints.
    They have all given myself valuable knowledge and improved my ability to survive numerous adverse situations.
    Ok enough good will sent-
    To my points;
    1 ) – Correct me if I’m wrong but EMP’s don’t effect equipment not turned on ?
    So you could have a electrical system in the cellar only to be turned on after the EMP?
    OR how will you power the Air filter system ?

    2 ) – Surely the problem with the shipping container collapsing was due to its length and a shorter container would not be as liable to collapse ?

    3 ) – “I do”want to purchase this cellar programme,especially for the dietary advice to prevent my body absorbing radiation (this is completely new to me and I’m extremely impressed).

    But please tell me there are no extra offers after the cellar purchase ?
    Almost if not every promotion has the “wait- available now only option ” immediately after the main purchase !
    I don’t want to miss these extra deals but the costs of the extra packages can quickly escalate.
    I would prefer to wait until my finances are less critical
    I’m currently mid way into “bulletproof home,solar power and box,h20 dynamo,and others.

    Will this programme still be active and any extras in 7 to 14 days time ?

    Again respect and thanks.

    • The EMP i believe only affects electricity that i s computer programed
      you can run a vehicle that was made before 1970 and it shouldn’t be affected

  • Jefferson,
    The Vietnam bunker cellar article rolls around every so often to purchase the digital version of whatever they are selling. The date on this article is July 28, 2019 if you didn’t notice. If you bury a shipping container, go ahead and put your headstone up because that’s where you will be found. The strength of a shipping container is at the corners. Buy yourself some of the large corrugated steel pipes or cement sewer pipes to make your bunker. It will be safer. If you want to test the strength of the sides of a shipping container while buried, go ahead but make sure you have an escape route. There are plenty of youtube videos so do a search for “buried shipping container collapse” to see your options on building. Good luck

  • Does anybody know if somebody purchased Jerry’s bunker build info and posted it on youTube?

    • Zippy,
      I bought the info and got my refund after reading it. It is BS, Here is the short plan, rent a back hoe, dig a hole and then make sand bags walls, build a rough with only one way in and out cover. So much for OPSEC, no one is going to dig a hole with a back hoe with out the neighbors seeing it and the neighbor of Jerry didn’t see this being built?

      • Thanks Ric, I thought it was too go to be true. I got the impression the old guy dug it by hand

  • Paid for the book and haven’t yet received it. It’s been 10 days.

    • Avatar photo

      Hello, Joni. One of our colleagues will contact you via email Thank you for your interest.

    • I also ordered and never received anything.

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