a long article I enjoyed, with a little about guns in Vietnam

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JohnhenrySTL

JohnhenrySTL

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http://www.cracked.com/article_22206_8-facts-about-vietnam-war-i-learned-as-viet-cong.html

I read this article expecting nothing. I found what the vietcong writer mentioned about using old American guns to attack Americans armed with Russian aks to be maybe phony. Im really not sure. Im wondering what you guys think.

If the article is too long and only loosely related to guns please take it down. I did indeed enjoy the whole article, and am still amused.
 
That whole story was written by an American not too long ago.

I call BS on the whole thing!!

Easy to forget until you met a goddamn tiger, that is.
Click to expand...
A Vietcong said that?

Really???? :banghead:


rc
 
Did not work around VC very much, when we did they had plenty of explosives and there was one fella who liked to put out 20 rounds of 7.62 tracers as we were moving at night. I was glad he had the m-14 and not me......my M-16 was one that worked. He never hit anyone, but he made me pucker up. This was on the Rivera where Lew Puller go hurt a few months later.
 
From my personal experience the VC had a mixture of weapons. Their strength was the ability to blend in, field craft, and fire discipline. The ARVN of the period didn't seem to have the ability to coordinate supporting as an example artillery fire effectively.

August of 1965 during Operation Starlite the VC learned The Marine Corps had no problem coordinating naval gun fire, artillery, and close air support under the direction of the 7th RLT composed of 2/4, 3/3, and 3/7 battalions.
 
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Read the article. Interesting. The average ARVN soldier and VNAF airman by the time I got there was just like his VC and NVA counterpart. About 16-17 years old and scared to death. The older guys were all dead. They were segregated into specific areas by armed guards (the troops had no ammo until deployed) on the flightline at Tan Son Nhut, and then herded into C-119s and flown upcountry.

The VC did in fact have mortars earlier than the author states. And 122mm rockets. They used them very effectively.

And yes, they were masters at making booby traps, called IEDs nowadays.
 
The VC were mostly disciplined vicious fighters with reasonable resources. It is true that Snakes and Tigers were a real threat and cost some lives. All in all this is a load of crap and not written by a VC. Not very likely to have been written by a GI either.
 
According to the TOB's I've talked to the Viet Mihn were as capable as our Special Forces until after the Tet Offensive. Just for giggles and grins I've done a page grab and will take it to the Veteran's Home next Thursday. I'm curious to see what the old Gunny has to say about it.

(TOB = tough old bird, at least in polite company. )
 
rcmodel said:
That whole story was written by an American not too long ago.

I call BS on the whole thing!!


A Vietcong said that?

Really???? :banghead:
"Easy to forget until you met a goddamn tiger, that is."


rc
Click to expand...
You evidently never came across a tiger in the jungle. I did one night in 1969 going up a hill while on patrol. It's roar was terrifying. I immediately had my platoon angle off to the right and got out of there fast.
 
The only tiger incident I personally know of occurred with Cpl Dave Schwirian lima company 3rd Bn 3rd Marine Regt. The incident occurred in 1967. He suffered extensive wounds to one arm.

I meant Dave while attending an education facility and we both worked 2nd shift at the same manufacturing facility. We made a joint visit to the VA facility/Federal Building and while there his story was concurred by a Marine Corps recruiter that had notified his parents when the event occurred.
 
Seems like a writer took some notes from the subject and sensationalized the rest which is not at all uncommon in todays e-rags.
 
Also the issue of tigers in Vietnam is interesting in and of itself. Nature has some powerful critters.
 
I saw a TV show where they interviewed a VC soldier. Much of what was written in the article was echoed by him (with less sarcasm and humor), but he was raised in the city and feared and hated the jungle. After decades of healing he said he can now go out there and appreciate the jungle.
 
I find it incredible that so many think this is faked. Faked for what purpose? Do you honestly think the VC were so different? They can't even have a sense of humor? Wow, just wow.

For those of you thinking this is a fake, how many of you have been out of the Country?

I find it completely believable.
 
total BS

This was written by an American. No former VC could master American-English vernacular like this.

Tigers? As some observed, there was one recorded incident involving a tiger attach against a Marine. Out of almost 3 million who served there.

The VC did not have volunteers. They were conscripted at threat of death to themselves/families/villages. ditto for the NVA.
 
I have no way of knowing if this is real or not, but I'm inclined to think that it is, just because the author doesn't shy away from admitting his role in perpetrating war crimes. Not exactly the kind of thing you'd include in a made up story.

I did find this point interesting, it's about the old hand-me down weapons they got from the Chinese:

Ironically enough, most of them were originally American made. M1s (I remember the iconic "ping" sound) and Thompsons were the norm in the early years.
Click to expand...

When I was in Beijing I was surprised to find that the national military museum was FULL of USA-made weapons like the Garand and Thompson. The guns were originally shipped to the Nationalist forces to fight the Communists, were widely used by both Nationalist and Communist forces against the Japanese, then ended up entirely in Communist hands when they took over China. I have no problem believing that these older weapons ended up in Viet Cong hands many years later.
 
I would repeat what my TOB said about the article but Sister Beatrice told me that nice girls didn't repeat that kind of language. In a nutshell Vincent Charles was a fanatic fighting for a cause he believed in. That <sexual activity> ignorant conscript <male bovine animal by-product> has been making the rounds since the mid 70's. Then he started on Carter giving clemency to the guys that went to Canada and the conversation went downhill from there.

In short, he seemed to think it was less than accurate.
 
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