I was in the Danang area of RVN in 70/71, attached to a Army Medium Boat Company. In the company area we were issued M-16s which were kept in the arms room, if you were stationed aboard a boat you were not issued a firearm. The smaller boats like Mike 3's and 8's were not armed, although there were provisions for M-60's on the Mike 8's when they went uprivers or special operations. The LCU's had M2's and 20mm anti-aircraft guns on either forecastle. I got stationed on an LCU and was designated sharpshooter and told to chose a weapon from the arms room. I chose an M-14 and was issued a pair of pouches with magazines and given a standard ammo box of ammunition. I kept the M-14 in the wheelhouse at all times. No one was trained on the M-2 or 20 mm cannons, I figured that stuff out with a little help from a friend and we had them all up and running before long. I was never trained with the 1911 but got my hands on one as soon as I could, I hated the idea of walking around unarmed when it was common sight to see "cowboys" running around on Honda 50's. I wore mine in a shoulder holster under my fatigue shirt and never had to pull it in defense, I did show it off a time or two to let people know I would not go quietly into that dark night. The 1911 has my respect for what it is...reliable and efficient.
Back in the time I was in RVN you could get your hands on literally anything you wanted for a price. We had our hands on everything from LAWS rockets to Claymores in the marine division. The LCUs we were issued had just come out of Luzon Harbor in the P.I. where they had been mothballed since WWII. They came to use fully intact with all the hatches welded shut, we had to cut the welds and bring the boat back to operational status, you never knew what you were going to find inside the compartments, it was a race to rummage around. Guys found Thompsons, Grease Guns, 1911's, lots of live ordinance like pineapple grenades, tons of junk mostly rusty stuff. The engine rooms were completely covered with cosmoline, those poor buggers had to clean it off with gasoline and pressurized steam. I was leading seaman/coxswain/designated rifleman. Our job was to scrape and paint the 150' boat. I figured out the mechanical stuff like the gasoline ramp motor and the M2 and 20mm cannons, which we were suppose to leave alone...right. Most of the crews just painted the cannons, I was working on one of them one day and decided to try to paint around the barrel and when I lifted on the barrel which looked like it was hinged it moved, I lifted it higher and higher until it was nearly pointed skyward when I heard a loud "Snick", then the spring pressure was relieved, I went around to the paddle trigger and pressed it, there was a rewarding "Snap". I had solved the issue of cocking the piece, the rest was straight forward. We had no instructions and nobody was around to have used them in WWII. My FIL said they sounded like Oerlichen guns, they were single barreled, magazine fed, automatic anti aircraft cannons. In operation they had a fairly lazy action but could truly put a hurt on anything within range, which seemed like 1000 yds. They were the best gun find I ever got a chance to fool around with while there. We were limited to ammunition and "borrowed magazines" from some of the other boats, who usually tossed them over the side and used the ammo lockers for something else.
