'Tiger cage' display in Lower Burrell teaches brutal lesson about Vietnam War

A space four feet by four feet by four feet.

No room to stand. Not enough to lie down. Kept there for days, weeks, months.

During the Vietnam War, captured American soldiers were held in such cages. Made from bamboo, they were called “tiger cages.”

Two Lower Burrell men recently handcrafted a replica of a tiger cage at the request of Vietnam veteran Tom Rushnock of Arnold. Rather than being a macabre reminder of pain, the replica cage is meant to honor prisoners of war and teach people about their experiences.

An Air Force veteran, Rushnock served two tours in Vietnam but was never taken captive.

“People don't know what we went through in Vietnam. People don't talk about Vietnam today,” he said on Veterans Day. “This was part of it. Our prisoners of war were kept in these for weeks and months. They lived in these and defecated in these. They died in these cages.”

Rushnock is overseeing construction of the Alle-Kiski Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Lower Burrell Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 92. He asked Brian Barbieri, 35, a constable, and Larry Gizzi, 48, a mechanic, to build the cage for an August fundraiser for the memorial.

Barbieri and Gizzi are members of the Sons of the American Legion, made up of men whose parents or grandparents served in the military and were eligible for American Legion membership. Barbieri's grandfather served in World War II; Gizzi's father was in the Army toward the end of the Korean War.

“It was a real history lesson making this thing,” Barbieri said.

They're called tiger cages because they were adapted from cages that were used to keep tigers, said Edward Luttenberger, communications director for the National Vietnam War Museum near Mineral Wells, Texas.

“They were used by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese to keep prisoners in for torture,” said Luttenberger, who did two tours in Vietnam in the Army.

Prisoners held in the cages suffered pain and damage to their joints and muscles.

“Basically, they were bamboo cages that were too small to stand up in and too small to lay down in. You had to crouch in them,” Luttenberger said. “They were also used to transport prisoners of war by the Viet Cong when they were taking them north to North Vietnam.”

Luttenberger could understand Rushnock's intent.

“More and more of us are trying to get out the true stories of what happened in Vietnam. This is one of the things you don't hear about,” Luttenberger said.

Barbieri and Gizzi said they harvested the bamboo in Lower Burrell. Their cage measures 6 feet long by 4 feet high.

It took them 13 hours over a couple of weekends in July and August to build it. It was on display on Monday in the VFW post and is available upon request for display at veterans functions.

“These guys did a hell of a job,” Rushnock said.

Once the cage came together, it became real, Barbieri said.

“How could you put our people in there and torture them like that?” Barbieri said. “This was a learning experience for us.”

What did they learn?

“War is hell,” Gizzi said.

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4701 or brittmeyer@tribweb.com.