S&W In VietNam ?

[texagun]

I was issued a S&W Model 10-5, as a helicopter crewmember. I sadly, had to give it back after 10 1/2 months and 700 hrs. of flight time.

My best friend (now a retired physician) was an Army Flight Surgeon at Ban Me Thuot (up in the Central Highlands). He was also a helicopter pilot. He was issued a S&W .38 Special but didn't remember if it was a Model 10 or a Model 15....probably a M-10 since he was Army. He said he also carried a Colt .45 Auto on missions, plus two (2) M-16's. I asked him why he carried 2 M-16's and he said they were having so much trouble with them at that time, he checked out an extra one from the armory whenever he went on a mission.

 

[TomcatPC]

Hello

I'm not certain if I should be posting in this topic, seeing as I was in the Service a bit later (1989-1993).

Anyway, here is a photo of my 1966/1967 era made Model 10-5. So revolvers similar to mine were issued to Aircrew?

This is one of my only two S&W Revolvers, and I have used this photo already like 26 times, sorry about that LOL.
Thank you
Mark

 

[TomcatPC]

Hello again

This might be of a bit of interest. This is from a manual I have from my time in the Service in the late 1980's and early 1990's. The manual was printed in 1986.

Notice that the drawing of the revolver is of a WWII Era M&P with the commercial grips. Not exactly from a Vietnam era manual, but I thought it was a bit interesting.

Thanks
Mark

 

[106rr]

I served in the 196th Light Infantry Brigade in I Corps May 67 to May 68. I saw only three S&Ws that I can remember; a Model 15 Combat Masterpiece on the hip of an USAF Military Policeman (AP) in Danang, a Chiefs Special stainless given by my CO to our Army Chaplain for personal protection, and a decrepit Victory model rechambered to 38 Special.
I remember the Model 15 since I was astonished to find that most Airmen in Danang were not allowed to carry a weapon. The M16s were kept in a locked Conex container between the barracks and were to be issued only in emergencies. Only the APs were armed. I remember the Chiefs Special because I was assigned to bodyguard the Chaplain. The VC had made several attempts to kill him and had killed all of the local priests. I remember the Victory model because we had only 12 rounds of dirty old wadcutter ammo. The piece shot way low since the bullets were undersized for the .360 bore diameter of the Victory. Since the M16s were not working and the VC were not taking prisoners, we were desperate for anything
that would shoot. They did not usually issue revolvers for anyone in the Infantry in 67/68.All except the model15 were privately owned.

 

[Cyrano]

In Vietnam I traveled quite a bit. Somewhere in the delta, I came across a bunch of captured VC, hands tied, squatting on the gorund, waiting to be airlifted somewhere. There were several armed guards around, but the guy in charge was American, in civilian clothes, holding a clipboard, probably listing the prisoners. He had a Model 39 in a belt holster. Looked pretty good after all the parked 45s there.

 

[PALADIN85020]

One of my high school buddies went into the Army, through OCS, and qualified as a pilot on choppers and the Mohawk twin-engine observation aircraft. He carried an S&W in Nam, but I'm not sure if it was a Victory Model or more recent issue.

This is a pic of Lt. Edward B. Cribb in Vietnam. He's the tall guy with his back to the camera, inspecting a blown tire on his Mohawk. You can see his shoulder holster, and it's clearly a .38 revolver, with loops for extra ammo. Sadly for all of us who knew him, his wife and two children, Eddie was shot down by enemy ground fire in August, 1963. He ejected too close to the ground, and when he landed, his back broke in three places and he died an agonizing death. There's not a day go by that I don't think of my fallen friend, a true hero. Every Memorial day, I go to the Arizona Wall and salute his name.

 

[AKAOV1MAN]

The photo of the Mohawk brngs tears to my eyes. I flew them early on, when they carried ordinance (JOV1A). The Mohawk was the only Army AC to have ejection seats. They were the Martin-Baker type and were petty good. They were not the 0-0 seats that we have now, where air crew can eject literally on the deck and survive. IIRC there were only 2 Mohawks shot down in VN. They took a lot of damage and kept on flying. While I was flying them, the BG did not shoot at us because we could shoot back, with an impressive array of ordinance, later on when they were used as unarmed battfield intelligence AC, they took a lot of fire as the BG were quite quick to learn which AC were dangerous to them and which were not.
By the time they had disarmed the Mohawks I was back in country flying gunships, first the Hogs, then the Cobra. The BG would not pick a fight with a Cobra, so we trolled for them using a scout ship low and slow, and when Charlie or the VN started shooting at them we would come in from altitude and literally brighten their day.
We don't have any Mohawks left now, NOAA has a couple and the IDF have a few(they never throw anything away). Really neat aircraft, I kind of felt like a real fighter pilot, for a while anyway.

 

[PALADIN85020]

The photo of the Mohawk brngs tears to my eyes. I flew them early on, when they carried ordinance (JOV1A). The Mohawk was the only Army AC to have ejection seats. They were the Martin-Baker type and were petty good. They were not the 0-0 seats that we have now, where air crew can eject literally on the deck and survive. IIRC there were only 2 Mohawks shot down in VN. They took a lot of damage and kept on flying. While I was flying them, the BG did not shoot at us because we could shoot back, with an impressive array of ordinance, later on when they were used as unarmed battfield intelligence AC, they took a lot of fire as the BG were quite quick to learn which AC were dangerous to them and which were not.
By the time they had disarmed the Mohawks I was back in country flying gunships, first the Hogs, then the Cobra. The BG would not pick a fight with a Cobra, so we trolled for them using a scout ship low and slow, and when Charlie or the VN started shooting at them we would come in from altitude and literally brighten their day.
We don't have any Mohawks left now, NOAA has a couple and the IDF have a few(they never throw anything away). Really neat aircraft, I kind of felt like a real fighter pilot, for a while anyway.

If you want to see a Mohawk in the flesh now, the Pima Air Museum near Tucson, Arizona has one. Impressive aircraft, and it took guts to fly one in unarmed condition over BG territory.

 

[rushbeau]

Hi Marine1970,

My dad flew F-100 Super Sabres out of Phan Rang in 1966-1967. He flew over 400 missions and was shot down once. He carried a Smith and Wesson Model 15 "Combat Masterpiece" in a custom gunbelt he had made to wear with his G-suit before he left for Vietanm. He really liked his revolver. I've tried to find him a Model 15 for some time, now without success; so, I purchased a Model-67 (stainless version of the Model-15). He really likes it. My dad has several thousand photos from his tour, but he cannot find one with him wearing his revolver!

Best wishes,
Rushbeau

 

[rayb]

......... Had to respnd to report of survey. Lost 45 in crash and still had to pay $47.00 because I wasn't wearing it. Go figure. ........

I figure desk driver was the surveying officer...

but I could certainly be mistaken. At least they didn't charge you for the helicopter......

rayb

22 years in the green machins

 

[Zebulon]

Though I no longer have the article, I know I read that the famed "tunnel rats" carried and used some S&W revolvers with the barrels cut down to almost nothing. It was nearly a cylinder with a nub of a barrel....Perhaps someone can fill this idea out.....Zebulon

 

[BADSBSNF811]

The QSPR was an off the shelf S&W Model 29-2that was modified by AAI Corp.

 

[walkinghorse]

I believe it was Gizamo that posted a picture of a snub nose .38 on a book that was used by a tunnel rat in days long gone by. There was also some documentation from the period in the picture.

Great picture and history presented, but somehow that thread went awry, and harsh words or something came about.

Maybe he will chime in again with the picture?

 

[trex1310]

I carried a 4" M28 that was mailed to me by my dad with 2 boxes of shells. I sold it to my platoon sargeant when I left. Wish I had it now.

 

[Brian41]

I was a Viet era AF vet but not in that country. I was trained and issued a S&W Model 15 at the SASS site I was stationed to. After an Airman shot himself in the leg playing quickdraw at another site they took them away and issued M16-A1s as we were with an Army detachment instead of AF M-16s.
I later did carry my own S&W Model 19 on deployments with a Combat Comm. Gp. It was probally not 100% legal but my NCOIC knew and approved.

 

[AKAOV1MAN]

There is a Mohawk at the Army Aviation Museum at Ft Rucker in AL, as well as a lot of other Army AC. I have gone there a couple of times. As I get older, I think of the guys who did not get the chance to do so. I help out at the local VA hospital whenever I can, but it is depressing(not nearly as much for me as for the poor guys who are living there, strike that, existing there).
I am taking a sabbatical from there for a while as there is one guy who keeps asking me to assist him in killing himself. He is a quad amputee, with not much face left, I am afraid I just might. There but for the grace of God..............
I would certainly rather have been killed than exist like some of those poor guys. Sorry if I am bumming some of you out, but I think we need to remind ourselves about those who not only gave all, but who are still doing it, decades later.
Whenever someone thanks me for my service, I thank them for allowing me to do so, and survive with only a few sctatches, and live to have another career and a half. The only thing I would change is to have had fewer WIA, of course that is beyond my pay grade.
If you would, remember those who came back, and are still suffering. Not that I would have anyone forget the KIAs or MIAs, but the suffering of the permanently disabled has to be witnessed to be believed.
Gunfighter five, out.

 

[phils]

AKAOV1MAN,
Great story and history. Thanks for posting.
Make sure all the heirs know the full stories.

 

[Nathan Forrest]

I saved this from the forum a few years back. Don't know the history.

 

[Muley Gil]

That's interesting, a 1917 in Viet Nam.

All sorts of guns turn up in war zones. A friend of mine was clearing a bunker in 'Nam and found an 1861 British Enfield muzzleloading carbine, complete with sword bayonet. Someone stole it from him before he was able to ship it back home.

While I was in Kosovo, a Nazi marked MP40 was confiscated, and a number of early Mausers, including a few sporters, turned up.

In Afghanistan, there were lots of SMLEs, P14s and P17s, as well as Martini-Henrys, Sniders, and 1853, 1858 and 1861 Enfields.

 

[PDColson]

S&W Navy Survival Revolver

Can any one tell me the Model S&W Revolver issued to Naval Aviators in Vietnam.