With a bit of luck, and thanks to the widespread use DDT, American homes basically seemed to be through with bed bug infestations in the 1960’s for the most part…although we know that the pesky critters were never really gone from America’s landscape.
American’s may have had their fill of the antics of bed bugs so many years ago, but American scientists were looking for a way to put these pesky nuisance bugs to work…rather, they wanted to send them off to war! Did you know that bed bugs were once considered for use in the Vietnam War? According to an article from Sunday, June 5, 1966 by The Miami News, scientists at the Army’s Limited War Laboratories in Aberdeen, Maryland were looking for a way for United States bed bugs to help fight the Viet Cong!
According to the article, the “combat bed bugs” that were used by the scientists were about the size of a thumbnail and a noisy species to boot. Scientists were not looking to make the enemy scratch themselves into surrendering, although I must admit that’s pretty funny to imagine.
The combat bed bug was found to make a “yowl” when they “sense the nearness of human flesh.” Because they are a noisy species, scientists wanted to place these giant combat bed bugs near enemy lines. The idea was that when guerrilla forces would move into ambush position, the bloodsuckers would be used to sound the alarm to American troops. Scientists at Aberdeen were working on a sound amplification system that would make their bed bug cries audible to human ears .
As the saying goes…all’s fair in love and war. If the US Army did use giant thumbnail sized bed bugs to root out the Viet Cong…I hope they left them over yonder.
