Unusal guns of Vietnam
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Saigon1965
Member
Saigon1965
Member
Saigon1965
Member
I sure will - He's in Houston currently visiting my sister -
He's on the right side -
Look up Project: Eldest Son
Project "Eldest Son" - Top Secret U.S. S.O.G. Operation to Plant Sabotaged Ammunition in Enemy Hands
wyo-man
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I sure will - He's in Houston currently visiting my sister -
He's on the right side -
He's a Lieutenant Colonel, too. The other one a full Colonel. I was a thieu (?sp) ta.
Saigon1965
Member
Hello Cyrano - The other officer is Colonel Kiem - They worked for a time together at Tong Tham Muu -
Thieu Ta Cyrano - Welcome home -
Thieu Ta Cyrano - Welcome home -
Harkrader
Member
Guns carried by USAF in Vietnam
On my Trash-hauler (C7 Caribou) tour I was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay. I remember well the huge rats. They were only slightly more fearsome than the cockroaches.
We pilots were authorized the S&W .38. We served the Special Forces' remote camps so we were able to readily trade for other guns. I wound up with two Colt Government Models, one from a USArmy captain at Xuan Loc. That's 'nother story. I always had one in an Army shoulder holster, with 7 magazines in my flight suit pockets.
Our Flight Engineers were authorized the M16 or M79 grenade launcher. All the ones I remembered were M16s. Many of us, including me, carried a small rucksack with survival stuff. A number of us, including me, kept hand grenades in them. Probably not very safe, but it felt good.
I also wrangled a Thompson from a Special Forces A-team troop. It had a '28 lower and the M1A1 upper. I kept it in my hootch. The NVA loved to entertain us with their loverly 122mm rockets. Being pilots, we climbed up on the roofs to watch while lamenting that we didn't have anything to shoot back.
I touched the Thompson only once on base. One night the rocket entertainment began and we all ran for the roofs as usual. Now, this was just after we had evacuated Cambodian troops to US coastal bases for medical attention. Cam Ranh had a big hospital so many of them went there. One of the flight surgeons was a buddy of mine and he dragged me over to the wards to see "something." That turned out to be the Cambodians WITH ARVN ID'S ON THEIR CHARTS! Wouldn't want to contradict Tricky Dick when he said we were NOT in Cambodia! I, like a lot of other pilots, must have been using defective navigation charts.
Moving on, the NVA knew the patients were Cambodians and staged a raid to kill them, but also to embarrass the US with the truth.
Sooo, there we were on our roofs or walls enjoying the fireworks when we noticed people running through the blacked-out streets. Our guys, certainly, running for, uh, running for . . .
NOT GI's! NVA! Running between our hootches! I did a Superman leap off the roof and scrambled into my hootch, stomping a few cockroaches along the way, dug my Thompson out of the hole I was hiding it in and ran to the wall where a number of other astute pilots had stationed themselves with M16s.
The NVA was not in the least interested in us on this trip, though we were high-value targets. They ran to the hospital and tossed grenades into the tents hoping to kill Cambodians!
We got to stay up all night watching and listening to all the excitement. I don't recall any pilot firing a single shot. After all, we were not exactly in hardened bunkers. Drawing unwanted attention might also draw a toss of some of the NVA's highly respected noisy toys.
Somehow our squadron commander, a WWII vet and a man who could extinguish the fires of h&*l with a glance, found out about my Thompson. I was treated to one of his highly UNdesired closed-door meetings, just him and me. It was a nice chat . . .. Interestingly, he said NOTHING about courts martial, handcuffs or having me dragged behind an aircraft on takeoff. It was more along the line of "there are better guns available." Did he know how many pilots had guns in their hootches? He was NOT a stupid man. Perhaps he saw the value of us high-value targets having our own toys to play with.
I don't remember seeing any TAC Airlift pilots with guns from home.
On my fighter-bomber tour I was stationed at Korat, Thailand. Again, the issue gun was the S&W .38. Here I did see a number of pilots carrying their own guns. All the ones I remember were blue S&W .357s. The base was a tad more restrictive about keeping guns in our quarters (air conditioned with a four channel TV!), and I don't remember anyone who did. Of course, it was much less likely the the NVA might come over to play.
Besides, the only real purpose for a fighter pilot to carry a side arm was that it made us feel better.
Heh.
On my Trash-hauler (C7 Caribou) tour I was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay. I remember well the huge rats. They were only slightly more fearsome than the cockroaches.
We pilots were authorized the S&W .38. We served the Special Forces' remote camps so we were able to readily trade for other guns. I wound up with two Colt Government Models, one from a USArmy captain at Xuan Loc. That's 'nother story. I always had one in an Army shoulder holster, with 7 magazines in my flight suit pockets.
Our Flight Engineers were authorized the M16 or M79 grenade launcher. All the ones I remembered were M16s. Many of us, including me, carried a small rucksack with survival stuff. A number of us, including me, kept hand grenades in them. Probably not very safe, but it felt good.
I also wrangled a Thompson from a Special Forces A-team troop. It had a '28 lower and the M1A1 upper. I kept it in my hootch. The NVA loved to entertain us with their loverly 122mm rockets. Being pilots, we climbed up on the roofs to watch while lamenting that we didn't have anything to shoot back.
I touched the Thompson only once on base. One night the rocket entertainment began and we all ran for the roofs as usual. Now, this was just after we had evacuated Cambodian troops to US coastal bases for medical attention. Cam Ranh had a big hospital so many of them went there. One of the flight surgeons was a buddy of mine and he dragged me over to the wards to see "something." That turned out to be the Cambodians WITH ARVN ID'S ON THEIR CHARTS! Wouldn't want to contradict Tricky Dick when he said we were NOT in Cambodia! I, like a lot of other pilots, must have been using defective navigation charts.
Moving on, the NVA knew the patients were Cambodians and staged a raid to kill them, but also to embarrass the US with the truth.
Sooo, there we were on our roofs or walls enjoying the fireworks when we noticed people running through the blacked-out streets. Our guys, certainly, running for, uh, running for . . .
NOT GI's! NVA! Running between our hootches! I did a Superman leap off the roof and scrambled into my hootch, stomping a few cockroaches along the way, dug my Thompson out of the hole I was hiding it in and ran to the wall where a number of other astute pilots had stationed themselves with M16s.
The NVA was not in the least interested in us on this trip, though we were high-value targets. They ran to the hospital and tossed grenades into the tents hoping to kill Cambodians!
We got to stay up all night watching and listening to all the excitement. I don't recall any pilot firing a single shot. After all, we were not exactly in hardened bunkers. Drawing unwanted attention might also draw a toss of some of the NVA's highly respected noisy toys.
Somehow our squadron commander, a WWII vet and a man who could extinguish the fires of h&*l with a glance, found out about my Thompson. I was treated to one of his highly UNdesired closed-door meetings, just him and me. It was a nice chat . . .. Interestingly, he said NOTHING about courts martial, handcuffs or having me dragged behind an aircraft on takeoff. It was more along the line of "there are better guns available." Did he know how many pilots had guns in their hootches? He was NOT a stupid man. Perhaps he saw the value of us high-value targets having our own toys to play with.
I don't remember seeing any TAC Airlift pilots with guns from home.
On my fighter-bomber tour I was stationed at Korat, Thailand. Again, the issue gun was the S&W .38. Here I did see a number of pilots carrying their own guns. All the ones I remember were blue S&W .357s. The base was a tad more restrictive about keeping guns in our quarters (air conditioned with a four channel TV!), and I don't remember anyone who did. Of course, it was much less likely the the NVA might come over to play.
Besides, the only real purpose for a fighter pilot to carry a side arm was that it made us feel better.
Heh.
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Saigon1965
Member
Welcome home Harkrader -
Thank you for the neat stories - Those are field mice and supposedly are tasty!
Thank you for the neat stories - Those are field mice and supposedly are tasty!
Great thread.....
Fresh subject beyond shooting +Ps and bears and the stories are darned interesting and new to me.
It's a darn shame that the men, materiel, tactics and strategy poured into Vietnam were undone by corruption and politics combined with fear of getting China or the Sovs more involved (not to mention letting ourselves get suckered by NV at every turn).
Don't get into a war you if you don't intend to win it.
Fresh subject beyond shooting +Ps and bears and the stories are darned interesting and new to me.
It's a darn shame that the men, materiel, tactics and strategy poured into Vietnam were undone by corruption and politics combined with fear of getting China or the Sovs more involved (not to mention letting ourselves get suckered by NV at every turn).
Don't get into a war you if you don't intend to win it.
drove many a trip across that bridge in an M-151 radio jeep while with the 21st TASS at Cam Rahn Bay. Siagon1965, thanks for the pics. those A-1s out of Thialand and the VNAF ones from Pleiku saved my butt a few times. lee
Harkrader
Member
WOW, Saigon1965! Somebody actually took a picture of the Caribous! White tail. My squadron was red.
Kontum. Ohhh f75k. Too many bad memories. Almost got my a&s shot off there.
The "American Heros" cable channel just ran a piece on Dak To, using recently discovered sound tapes synched to film. We lost planes flying from Dak Seang. Don't want to think about it.
Some years ago the Moving Wall came to our town. I had been to the one in WDC a number of times with a guy I grew up with. He was also USAF Vietnam, a couple years before me. We always went late at night to avoid crowds and the despicable creeps who were hanging out around it pretending to be vets, or who wanted us to "tell our story."
So I went to the Moving Wall at Midnight. Finding names had become much easier thanks to computers. I entered the tent where the guides were and started asking for location of the names. After five he asked me how many I knew. "Twenty-seven." Another reason to go late at night.
Elsewhere in these forums I posted a pic of me looking rather bedraggled standing in front of a quad-50 deuce and a half. I wrote about it, but I can't tell it. I wish I could remember who the two shirtless guys were.
Kontum. Ohhh f75k. Too many bad memories. Almost got my a&s shot off there.
The "American Heros" cable channel just ran a piece on Dak To, using recently discovered sound tapes synched to film. We lost planes flying from Dak Seang. Don't want to think about it.
Some years ago the Moving Wall came to our town. I had been to the one in WDC a number of times with a guy I grew up with. He was also USAF Vietnam, a couple years before me. We always went late at night to avoid crowds and the despicable creeps who were hanging out around it pretending to be vets, or who wanted us to "tell our story."
So I went to the Moving Wall at Midnight. Finding names had become much easier thanks to computers. I entered the tent where the guides were and started asking for location of the names. After five he asked me how many I knew. "Twenty-seven." Another reason to go late at night.
Elsewhere in these forums I posted a pic of me looking rather bedraggled standing in front of a quad-50 deuce and a half. I wrote about it, but I can't tell it. I wish I could remember who the two shirtless guys were.
amazingflapjack
US Veteran
Nothing was "unusual" in the Delta...
The 39/59 was the original Hush Puppy, as I understand it. .22 cal versions followed for assassination work. I had the use of a Swedish K for a while and liked it. It went with it's owner when he was sent to LZ English. We were jeep borne, so most of our stuff was short or sawed off, including the marvelous Savage pump gun mentioned earlier. All of us on Roving Patrol carried .38 cal revolvers in cross draw, we even had a sawed off M-14 w/selector switch that you could ride to town! One OIC had a Thompson, and few depended on the black plastic thing that you could tell was swell because it was Mattel. Our Jeep had two M-60's and an M-79, and sand bags on the floor-two radios. If someone had showed up and made us do everything by the book, we would have been left with a P-38 and a bottle of bug juice!
The 39/59 was the original Hush Puppy, as I understand it. .22 cal versions followed for assassination work. I had the use of a Swedish K for a while and liked it. It went with it's owner when he was sent to LZ English. We were jeep borne, so most of our stuff was short or sawed off, including the marvelous Savage pump gun mentioned earlier. All of us on Roving Patrol carried .38 cal revolvers in cross draw, we even had a sawed off M-14 w/selector switch that you could ride to town! One OIC had a Thompson, and few depended on the black plastic thing that you could tell was swell because it was Mattel. Our Jeep had two M-60's and an M-79, and sand bags on the floor-two radios. If someone had showed up and made us do everything by the book, we would have been left with a P-38 and a bottle of bug juice!
A Thank You to all the VETS that fought and served our country.
amazingflapjack
US Veteran
Nothing was "unusual" in the Delta...
The 39/59 was the original Hush Puppy, as I understand it. .22 cal versions followed for assassination work. I had the use of a Swedish K for a while and liked it. It went with it's owner when he was sent to LZ English. We were jeep borne, so most of our stuff was short or sawed off, including the marvelous Savage pump gun mentioned earlier. All of us on Roving Patrol carried .38 cal revolvers in cross draw, we even had a sawed off M-14 w/selector switch that you could ride to town! One OIC had a Thompson, and few depended on the black plastic thing that you could tell was swell because it was Mattel. Our Jeep had two M-60's and an M-79, and sand bags on the floor-two radios. If someone had showed up and made us do everything by the book, we would have been left with a P-38 and a bottle of bug juice!
The 39/59 was the original Hush Puppy, as I understand it. .22 cal versions followed for assassination work. I had the use of a Swedish K for a while and liked it. It went with it's owner when he was sent to LZ English. We were jeep borne, so most of our stuff was short or sawed off, including the marvelous Savage pump gun mentioned earlier. All of us on Roving Patrol carried .38 cal revolvers in cross draw, we even had a sawed off M-14 w/selector switch that you could ride to town! One OIC had a Thompson, and few depended on the black plastic thing that you could tell was swell because it was Mattel. Our Jeep had two M-60's and an M-79, and sand bags on the floor-two radios. If someone had showed up and made us do everything by the book, we would have been left with a P-38 and a bottle of bug juice!
Saigon 1965; Thanks for the correct spelling of 'thieu'; i's been 40 years and I'd forgotten. I was in MACV CORDS, and we wore the Vietnamese insignia on the front of our jungle fatigues. I dug around in my little box that holds all my insignia, and found I still had this.
In the Army now, wearing the combat uniform, they put their rank on the front of their shirt. I guess we were just a little ahead of the game on that one.
In the Army now, wearing the combat uniform, they put their rank on the front of their shirt. I guess we were just a little ahead of the game on that one.
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Saigon1965
Member
You are welcome Lee - I have a cousin that flew A-37 for VNAF - His plane was destroyed at the flight line at Tan Son Nghut in April of 75 -
There aren't too many pictures of the Caribous from Vietnam -
Have to find one with red tail now -
My dad went to the wall in DC about 10 years ago -
AFJ - Where were you sir?
There aren't too many pictures of the Caribous from Vietnam -
Have to find one with red tail now -
My dad went to the wall in DC about 10 years ago -
AFJ - Where were you sir?
Saigon1965
Member
You are very welcome Thieu Ta - Last time I learned Vietnamese was 39 years ago -
Which MACV headquarters were you at?
My dad dumped his M16 and sidearm off the coast of Subic Bay - Per US Navy's request -
Later his uniform went too! We don't have anything for his time in - Just some pictures oh and his life!
Which MACV headquarters were you at?
My dad dumped his M16 and sidearm off the coast of Subic Bay - Per US Navy's request -
Later his uniform went too! We don't have anything for his time in - Just some pictures oh and his life!
THE PILGRIM
Member
Somebody mentioned Mattel.
I was going to an Air Force school and it was Army day.
We had a full day of Army lectures and a display of firearms in the lobby.
I had seen pictures of the M-16 but that was the first time I ever held one.
I liked the light weight. Both the M-1 and M-14 would have slowed me down!
But I could not believe that the Army bought a rifle with a handle! Like a suitcase!
I was going to an Air Force school and it was Army day.
We had a full day of Army lectures and a display of firearms in the lobby.
I had seen pictures of the M-16 but that was the first time I ever held one.
I liked the light weight. Both the M-1 and M-14 would have slowed me down!
But I could not believe that the Army bought a rifle with a handle! Like a suitcase!
Saigon1965
Member
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