Delta Force Founder Blew Up the Largest Enemy Weapons Cache in Vietnam

About this video

A former EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) technician recounts his experiences in Vietnam in 1970, including hand-defusing armed 500lb bombs at a fire support base and being severely burned when an experimental incendiary rocket exploded. He describes responding to 380 EOD incidents in 11 months and his team’s destruction of Rock Island East, which he states was the largest enemy weapons cache in the Vietnam War at an estimated 328 tons. The guest details the technical challenges and dangers of diffusing various ordnance types and the near-disaster when destroying the massive cache with 288 cases of C4.

Key takeaways

• The guest recounts hand-defusing two armed 500lb Mark 82 bombs with impact fuses at Fire Support Base Camelot in Cambodia, unscrewing the fuses turn by turn while wondering if each rotation would detonate the bomb.
• The guest describes being burned when an experimental XM74 liquid incendiary rocket detonated, stating he initially thought he was dead until he felt pain, and notes the rocket should have exploded when they tried to extinguish it with mud but unexpectedly didn’t.
• The guest states his team destroyed Rock Island East, which he identifies as the largest enemy weapons cache of the Vietnam War at over 328 tons, using 288 cases of C4 explosive with multiple setbacks including having to relight fuses with matches after being ordered to cut them.

Episode details: published April 27, 2026 · 4.3K views · 25:47 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

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