My dad was a veteran of both Korea and Vietnam. After retirement he went back to college, became a drug and alcohol counselor, and did this second career for twenty-five years. He was a good man and helped many fellow veterans beat addiction. He passed away last year from covid19 and I miss him everyday: they don’t make men like my dad anymore.
I was a tank commander with the 5th division on the dmz. We only fought well equipped NVA troops equipped with the dreaded rpg. My tank "Love juice" was lost to an rpg west of Khe Sanh, it hit the fuel cell with hundreds of gallons of diesel. The crew escaped uninjured and watched from a distance as 60 rounds of maingun ammo and thousands of rounds of machine gun ammo cooked off, tank was deemed destroyed and left there. My new tank "Love Juice" served us well for months until we hit a 250lb mine near Con Thien and was destroyed. All crew were medivaced to Quang Tri base hospital, all but myself had minor injuries, I had a severe head injury and was flown to Japan and days later to Ft Lewis Washington. The bad part for me was I had 8 days left on my tour. The M48 was a great tank and never failed us, the problem was the enemy had many ways to take us out.
The problem was that you were even there...Imagine someone invaded your country--you'd fight just as viciously as you could, so why complain for getting what you deserved.
My grandpa was a tank commander in Vietnam. He never talked about it much, but I can tell he never fully healed from what he had seen. He passed last year but he led a good life. May he rest in peace
Tank were not involved with My Lai as Calley was infantry. Are you trying to invoke a guilt complex by any chance? If so, then also add the NVA in Hue during Tet 68 killing over 5,000 civilians as they held the city for a month. @@moisesfuentes2090
One can feel old when some part of their adult life is presented as history. Something to see how young these veterans and you were at the time versus how we are now. You're part of history.
@@mathieutyler00 Where did you fail to learn to comprehend English? Where did you fail, to comprehend the universal use of say "one." It wasn't about you. Self absorbed aren't you.
@@mathieutyler00 so do you just look for people to pick on? Why don't you remember the old saying that if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. This man wasn't saying anything hurtful to you or anyone else for you you to jump on him and be rude like you did. This man served his country in war. Have you ever done anything that selfless?
I was a Marine scout/ sniper that landed on Go No Island May 16 1968 . I Company had 17 Marines left and they flew them out in one chopper. The heat was 115 - 126 degrees and we took so many casualties that we could only move during the night. We also destroyed our flack jackets and gas masks to lighten our loads .we have a book out about Operation Allenbrook “ Every Marine “ Written by Robert Siminson. Every day I struggle with the fact that I made it to 74. Semper fi , L/ cpl Thomas Fuleky 3/27 Marines 1968
That must have been a truly awful thing to go through. My dad got to Vietnam in 1969 in the Army's 11th light infantry brigade. He would only talk about some, but not all of his time there and he didn't start talking about hardly any of it until about 2005 and onward, until his death in 2018. It affected him greatly, and shaped the rest of his life. I still have trouble wrapping my head around the fact that he was only 19 when he got to Nam. I hope you have found the peace that you deserve in this life. It took my dad decades to find it, but he was always a great father and husband.
I was a scout/sniper with the 101st in the Ashau Valley. We first came into "Nam at Camp Evans. A Marine gunnery sgt who was still there looked at my bolt-action rifle and pointed at the forest. He said, "Son, how many 1000-yard shots you gonna get, in there?" He set me up with a modified M-14. I'll never forget him. He was right, of course.
My grandfather was blown out of a tank and received a purple heart at the age of 19. Listening to his stories and looking at his war photos is such a important thing for me
My dad's uncle drove a tank in Vietnam. He drove over a landmine and got his leg messed up from the shrapnel. He was very lucky to survive and be able to walk afterwards. RIP to the vets that didn't come home. 🇺🇸
@Jamil Ebdeen We were there due to treaty obligations just as we were in Europe in support of NATO. You need to look at what was REALLY going on. Nor were we alone South Koreans and Australians fought there as well and for the same reason.
@@DavidSmith-ss1cg All I said was my dad's Uncle almost died in Vietnam and was lucky to survive and RIP to my fellow country men most were African American Mexican and also White of different nationalities. I don't need your peanut gallery conspiracy theories. Seriously who cares about why the war started or how it ended. It's over and that's it.
I sure wish we could have been shown this around '78-'79, it hopefully would've helped us get a lot more motivated which we needed badly during those years. We had Vietnam combat vets in our armor battalion then as well. I have a lot of respect for you guys that gave it all you had,Thank you!!
There are a bit more creative solutions - like putting anti-personnel mines on the tank's hull and detonating them from the inside. Or, what was used in WW2, just launch grenades above the tank from the inside.
@@stevestruthers6180 Are you Canadian? The reason I'm asking besides your mentioning of how the Canadian Army tactically developed an effective approach to dealing with the Taliban. I would think it also carried a pretty effective psychological impact knowing thousands of nail shaped darts fired at them from a flechete canister peppered them up pretty bad and resembled something run through a meat grinder. To the subject about Vietnam, it's unknown to many here in the U.S. that lots of Canadian citizens joined the U.S. ARMY during Vietnam. My uncle was friends with a Canadian that joined and fought in Vietnam as Tanker. Ron Holland is his name and he stated it is probable that all the draft dodgers fleeing to Canada to avoid Vietnam there were as many Canadians coming to the U.S. to join the military here to go fight a war they didn't have to. What Mr. Holland reflected to me was a much more appreciation for our Canadian neighbors. I can't see Americans going to Canada or Mexico by the thousands to join their Army to fight an unpopular War when not having to do so. I know there is a Vietnam war memorial for al the Canadians that fought and died for a country that was not their home country. I thought I'd share this with you and anyone who was unaware of this.
@@frednugent2310 Yes, I'm Canadian. And well aware that thousands of my countrymen joined the US Army to fight in the Vietnam War. One other thing that is not as well known about Canada's involvement in the Vietnam War is that Canada supplied the US military with a shitload of small arms ammunition and other kinds of materiel.
My dad was part of the 3rd Marine Tank Battalion and he was in a M48A3 tank from 67-68. This was very interesting to watch considering I’ve only heard him mention the war maybe a few times in my life.
Was in Gia Le at the same time as your Dad where 3rd Tank Bn was Headquartered in '67. Tell him one of the guys from 3rd Engineers said "Hey - and Welcome Home , Brother - Semper Fi-"
Spend as much time with your dad as possible while you can. I miss my dad all the time and I miss his stories of being in the Army in Vietnam and traveling the world before and after.
They used to sneak up on claymore mines and turn them around to face US troops then make a bunch of noise. The troops would detonate the claymores and receive damage. The Vietnamese were skilled imaginative fighters.
This tactic was mass used by the Polish Army in Eastern Front during WW2, in Pomeranian campaing in 1944/45 Polish troops using German radiostations by german speaking Polish soldiers to call german artillery on themselvs. And during Vietnam war many of Vietnamse officers were trained by Polish army.
"Old Generals always fight as they did in the last war." Westy was no different. His "European" battle doctrine was simply suicide for us. He was ultimately relieved of command, but it was way too late for many. I got a good laugh "We underestimated them badly". That is the way we fought the rest of the war. We probed, got ambushed, reacted and hopefully killed more of them than they killed of us.
Vietnam, US Military's worst enemies Macnemara, Mooreland, CIA & DC bureaucrats. Afghanistan was Obama/Jarret micromanagement, ROE policies, CIA, military industrial compleax & NATO bureaucrats.
That's retarded. The North Vietnamese had functionally lost. They had no war infrastructure and relied almost entirely on foreign-made weapons and equipment to keep their troops supplied. The fact that they begged for peace negotiations that lead to the Paris Peace Accords of 1972 support this. Don't forget that the only way they managed to take Saigon was AFTER the US stuck to their end of the bargain and removed all combat troops from South Vietnam, coupled with the Democrat-majority Congress choosing to end Enhance and EnNhance Plus to support South Vietnam.
@@cstgraphpads2091"Stuck to their end of the bargain"? LOL The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for a united Vietnam. The USA broke that UN agreement. NOT THE NORTH . It's not the number of dead that win a war, the Germans and the Japanese killed more people in WW2 than they had dead AND THEY LOST...."War is the continuation of politics by other means" Carl von Clausewitz....THE USA LOST...again.
@@cstgraphpads2091 To add to what David Wall said, the North Vietnamese government was democratically elected. Just because the US decide a communist government isn't in their interest doesn't give them the right to ignore democracy and install a puppet government. The US was the most anti democratic part of the whole thing and I don't believe for a second the north Vietnamese would have surrendered under any circumstances. Not after how they drove out the French. They could have kept resisting indefinitely in the jungle and all pockets of resistance would never have been rooted out regardless of how much the US tried.
One of the underlying issues here is that of the many roles that tanks play on a battlefield, one of them is to be line breakers. But during the Vietnam conflict there were almost no proper battle lines.
I was 11E, later changed to 19E, Tanker for short. Never served in Vietnam but I am Vietnam era veteran. Served on M48s and M60s in Korea and Germany. The cold was our enemy. I am truly a Cold War Armor Crewman.
Dad said they used to fall asleep in their tents at LZ Bronco, or when out on patrols, dreaming about the luxurious bases they had left behind in Berlin, before coming to Vietnam lol.
Politicians let their anti-communist hysteria get the best of them, and litterally supported the south just beacuse they werent communist. As a result, we litterally got into a useless war tryna defend a country that wasnt even legitimate.
That "Hugging the enemies belt" tactic, has *nothing* to do with getting so close a tank can't depress it's gun. It's about getting danger close to inhibit their fire support. If you're so close the tank can't depress enough to hit you, then you're probably also too close for your rockets to arm. Which is what it sounds like happened with multiple rockets bouncing off without detonating.
I thought it mean them being so close they could grab your belt. Which would make your pants fall. Meaning you would have to drop your weapon in order to grab your pants and keep your “privates” from being exposed.
@@MontuOnuphrius You can trust me. I was there. I can’t remember how old I was back then, but I was old enough to purchase the game when it first came out.
@@counterinsurgencyadvisor4289 It doesn't matter, it's still the same today. The RPG will bounce off at such a short distance. However, the terrain may have sloped next to the road or the road may have banked, allowing the RPG team to get underneath the depression angle of the tank at a useful range. In any case, it's less than ideal if enemy infantry gets this close to your tank, and in a spot where you can't engage with the gun or coax.
It was '66 & '67 or '65 -'66 that I was in the 9th grade and in some class, maybe social studies we were given pen pals in Viet Nam to write and send paperback books to. I sent my Conan the Barbarian novels. I got letters back I wish I still had. Soldiers told me stories of their friends being blinded by rocks thrown by children and told me not to come to this war. What good reason is there to go to a lost war? I want aways for any of the soldiers who may have written to me to know that I cared about then then and do now, being grateful for the truth that they wrote down for me, along with good advice.
As an private I was sent to armor trading at Fort Knox in 1968. I was excited to be a tanker. I thought I would be safe inside this bathtub of steel. But we were trained by NCO’s who had been to Vietnam as tankers, and explained to us the weaknesses of tanks in the jungle environment and the effectiveness of the RPG. Never got to serve as a tanker. Went to Officers Candidate School and then to fly helicopters. Sort of out of the frying pan and into the fire. But I was lucky and there nothing better than being lucky.
I remember these stories being told by our uncle's and cousin's during late night's on the stoop. Something I looked forward to every weekend.. RIP to those who fell for a government who cared less about them.
The American Revolutionary War was won in no small part by American colonists fighting a better guerilla war than the Brits. Barely 150-years down the line that fact had been completely lost by those in charge of our wars.
@@v3ck1n and likewise, the vietnamese owe the soviets. Ho Chi Minh actually admired the united states very much and seeked to have friendly relations. Of course that didnt happen, but its interesting nonetheless.
My second Platoon Sergeant was a driver during Vietnam. He said he had lost three crews that were all killed except, obviously, for him. He was Army. I also had a 1SG who told me his first live fire exercise was in Vietnam... He was 1SG of HHT 1/3ACR, when I was the ammo NCO for the squadron.
I was a driver and TC '67-'68, A co, 1bn, 69th Armor, and I can tell you that we ARMY tankers had the same combat that the Marines had. We did TET in Pleiku, had major engagements on the Bong Song Plains. The 69th ARMOR Reg was the most highly decorated tank unit in the US Army!
The Generals by Tom Ricks is insightful when it comes to the tragedy of tactics in the Vietnam war and other US conflicts. Not only was top brass ill-equipped in terms of strategy, they proved stubbornly incapable of learning from their failures. Can't imagine how it must have felt being thrown to the wolves by some aviators wearing a general.
I'm curious about who the genius was that decided to head out without any infantry support. I notice they just said they made a mistake and didn't clarify who ordered it. Nothing happens in the military without someone ordering it. Tanks in a jungle against Guerrilla forces that have anti-tank weapons without infantry support, brilliant.
@@alien4422 There was a draft. I don't blame them one bit. Drafts are a terrible idea. Being in the military sucks, but for volunteers, we chose the bed we lie in. Conscripts don't get that. They didn't choose this, so when their glory-hungry boot LT wants to sacrifice them for a promotion, yeah, they're not gonna take that quietly.
@@CharliMorganMusic Draftees fought WWII. Further they went to war with less training than troops did before Nam. And when they got inside Germany they were faced with troops better trained than the Vietnam and as equally motivated as the Vietnamese. I will add that they also had better Generals and behind them politicians who had clear goals in mind. Neither Kennedy nor Johnson had these.
I had an uncle that was a tank driver. Occasionally they'd run over anti tank mines one of which killed him. The gunner who was in his tank said that when you run over an anti-tank mine, very rarely was it the actual explosion that killed people. It was the concussion/vibration of it that was deadly because it would rattle your head so violently that it scrambles your brain.
Yes, the concussive blast does tremendous damage to your internal organs and that will kill you, even if you are far outside of the range of the heat and shrapnel of the blast.
Sorry to hear that. My uncle's schizophrenia came out during Vietnam era marine boot camp. He was essentially gone for the rest of his life. I could feel my father's pain over the loss, because his little brother no longer trusted or wanted to be around him.
As the NVA closed in on Saigon, the war became increasingly conventional in nature. It's ironic how a North Vietnamese tank breaking down the gates of the presidential palace, now the Reunification Palace Museum, symbolized the end of the war.
@William Smith Which goes to show how the US could never have won, short of nuking Hanoi. The North Vietnamese were willing to do whatever it took to reunify the country under a single government; no sacrifice was too great. The South Vietnamese government, on the other hand, was plagued by corruption and incompetence. Those ARVN soldiers who fought bravely and died, even as the noose tied around Saigon, did so because they believed that their very existence was under threat. Domino theory notwithstanding, the majority of Americans felt that this just wasn't their war.
@William Smith Don't forget the Americans also lost 400k allies, Vietnam war wasn't primarily fought with just American troops, but with 11 other country's troops. You also said 3 Million Vietnamese, your including civilians and South Vietnamese, your allies, around 800K NVA/VC died.
@@Monatio79 Contemporary sources basically said if the U.S kept supporting South Vietnam, they very well could've been the South Korea of today, it was just too much support was cut off form fuel and ammunition, but who could blame them the U.S was going through rough times by 1973
@@pudanielson1 Indeed, "could've" being the word of choice. Ten years from now, we could be saying the same about Afghanistan. "If only Biden hadn't..." The benefit of hindsight. Ironically, it was only after doi moi and the US's normalization of relations with Vietnam in around 2000, that the country really started to see exponential economic growth. Perhaps the US should have intervened with McDonalds and KFC to begin with ?
They didn't do so well in the Central Highlands but 3/4 cav were excellent. I wouldn't have a father, nor would I be typing this message if they weren't!
@@bradshively7109 This grrrl txting you now calls you a brother if a tank father sutvivor. Ny dad got the Silver☆Star for running right into TIGERS riding out a blizzard at night during the Bulge. When I txt running right into I txt that literally.
Outstanding documentary. My dad was a combat medic assigned to the 69th Armor Regiment in 1968-69. He served on an M48 with duel 50 Caliber machine guns. He took part in the only true tank vs tank combat engagement.
One of the problems in vietnam, was the mentality of the western officers, they were still in ww2, many generals were old ww2 veterans, guerilla warfare wasnt that common in ww2
@@laranja9921 the bigger problem is the entire pretext of US involvement being the gulf of tonken incident has quietly been admitted to being staged with multiple witnesses on the US ship stating there was no north vietminese ships and they were firing at empty water
@@laranja9921 guerrilla warfare wasnt that common in ww2? i dont think u know what u are talking about... only in EU there was a perpetual guerrilla warfare , every occupied nation had his guerrilla from spain, greece,italy,ukraine,poland LITERALLY ALL OVER EU. and U.S. was supply and training partisan i this particular way of war: guerrilla . Even some guerilla group where even trained in england then parachuted in EU. THE GUERRILLA was so HUGE the axis was forced to create "special operations" group only to counter guerilla all over EU . and if u want we can talk about the KOREAN WAR ...
@@surplus2720 guerilla in Spain during WWII??? :D The meaning of LARANJA is that western officers didn't experiment fighting against guerilla during WWII. During WWII masters of guerilla were soviets (and perhaps yougoslavians), but US didn't fight against soviets.
My Dad was a tank commander in the Guard during Viet Nam and he told me he was glad not to be sent there. His crew once scored a bull's Eye on a target, but it was the target for the tank to their side LOL
My father was a mg3 gunner in the German Army in the 70s, he never strapped His helmet firmly, so the recoil from the mg3 would always make the helmet fall over his eyes, so he resorted to Shooting blindly. Turns out he almost shredded a comrade and Not the target xD
The tactic the Vietcong used by knocking out the lead tank then the rear tank effectively blocking a single column of armour is exactly what the Germanic tribes did against Rome's legion at Teutoburg forest .
God bless my brothers who fought and died in Vietnam. I served there in 1965 as part of US Navy coastal operations. I have good friends who fought during and after the Tet offensive of 1968. It was definitely a tough place to be.
This just goes to prove that fighting an enemy on their own soil will lead to many deaths; like this, Korea, the Russians in Afghanistan, the Balkans (where I served in the early 90's) and ultimately the last 20 years of NATO in Afghanistan. RIP all those who came before
@@marcs990 yea yea 1991 serbian army couldnt defeat Croatian city of Vukovar which had 1200 defenders ( many of them were policemans ) Serbian army had Tanks, Planes etc Croatian defenders barely had hand grenades ...
At an Army Evac hospital from late '66 to early '69, it is "good" to finally have some understanding where out Marine casualties came from and what they were doing. Gotta have respect.
My uncle (my mom's oldest brother) was one of the NVA soldiers fought bravely against the American force in Quang Tri in 1969, he told me one day his whole company was almost wiped out by the American, only him and 3-4 other survived and made it to the village. War against the American was deadly and cruel back then and would be even more cruel for us now because the American can sit in an air conditioned office thousands miles away, push some buttons and some thunder and lightning from the sky would fall onto our heads, while our armed forces are still fighting with mainly Cold war era AK47 and T-54. This is why we choose to befriend big nations like the US and China, but still keep our guard up as we never know when war will come to us again.
@@froggymusicman Still friends tho. Both politically and economically Vietnam depends heavily on China, so there's no way Vietnam can just forcing an alliance with the US while ignoring China.
@@froggymusicman China doesn't have friends, but politically and economically, we all rely on them. I am sure Vietnamese dislike Chinese, like they did and do thousands of years, but having China as neighbour, you need to be "diplomatically friendly"
This Marine Combat Vet salutes your Uncle as a brave foe on the battlefield, Vets from any war can look back and recognize that their foes, were valiant adversaries!
I had little appreciation for the power packed into an RPG round until I saw a documentary or two about it around the YT archives....... it's a horrifically vicious weapon. About age 5 in 1963 was when I began to be quite aware of Vietnam; I attended the Naval Academy Primary School, among the children of Navy and Marine Corps officers who were serving. I pretty much grew up at the bar of the Fleet Reserve Club, hearing stories from WW2, Korea, and then came Vietnam with a fury. MY maternal grandfather served the entire duration of the Guadalcanal operation; he gave me "Guadalcanal Diary" (Richard Tregaskis' young people's version)....... I guess it's safe to say my entire childhood was war-aware. My mother picked a lot of shrapnel from my grandfather's body on weekend visits. News footage of the war in Vietnam was unprecedented. So often my father would point at the screen and say "Straighten up or that's where you're headed........". One shocking fact I'd run across in another documentary was that GENERALLY, the South Vietnamese people didn't much care what the government was called; they simply wanted more than anything a STABLE government. I'm about 6 minutes into this but will say it anyway....... pitting a conventional force against a guerilla force is insanity; weeks become years as we have seen again and again and yet again. The magnitude of guerilla PSYCHOLOGY is underestimated every time. For one of many other factors that give guerilla forces the upper hand, "permission?!?!?! We don't need no steenkin 'permission'!!!!!!!!!"
pitting a conventional force against a guerilla force is insanity; weeks become years as we have seen again and again and yet again. The guerilla force was virtually wiped out in the Tet Offensive 1967-1968. The Easter Offensive by regular and irregular North Vietnamese force in 1972 was decimated or worse. As Col. Tin Buin, PAVN remarked to an interviewer, Gen. Westmoreland was restricted and not allowed to attack and defeat the PAVN forces at their bases. As Patton correctly noted, fortifications and defensive operations are a monument to man's stupidity, because they are always doomed to defeat by an offensive force circumventing them or attacking at their own time, place, and concentration. American politicians chose to direct the military fight defensive campaigns that are eventually doomed to defeat or unacceptable cost, which is why OPERATION LINEBACKER I and OPERATION LINEBACKER II succeeded in their mission in the offensive operations.
All depends on how you look at it. ALOT of people including some politicians made millions through government contracts. War is great way to launder money 😉
You cannot lose if “win” was never defined, success is never achievable when there are no clearly defined goals. I would argue that was in fact their plan, so, they, those that did not define success, did in fact “win”. If the plan was to lose then we did win. Think quagmire.
My father was with B 1/9 and wounded at Con Thien on 7 November 67 operation Kentucky. It’s 2021 and he’s still having small fragments of shrapnel working there way to the surface of his scalp.
I was in Tanks M-60 A-1 and M-60 A-3 1981 to 1984 we had couple Vietnam vet TC’s one named Eickelberger he was blown out on two occasions he looked like a tank. Wonder what became of him
You mean the Vietnamese, right? The US had no business being there and they eventually lost the war. The country was united under the communist North and, although no longer communist, is now prosperous and peaceful. Committing a war crimes on the other side of the pacific ocean does not deserve thanks or praise. It deserves eternal condemnation. I am apalled that the US school system appears to have the audacity to regard the Vietnam war as 'heroic sacrifice'.
Still can’t imagine you and your fellows going through the jungles or just plains full of Vietcong and traps. It was really lucky to survive without any scar. Wow!
@@Sinraye89 That’s why the guerrilla tactics were adopted by Vietcong. That lack of technology however had a great impact on the Vietnamese civilians in terms of casualties. While VC’s had a chance to hide in the tunnels, the civilians didn’t, take Napalm use for example. Politics start the war while people endure it and eventually pay for it.
My dad was in tanks during Vietnam with the 11th armored Calvary division 1968-69! GOD BLESS ALL THOSE VETERANS WHO FOUGHT IN THE VIETNAM WAR THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT WAS SACRIFICED 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Vietnam has always been a very mysterious and scary but alluring Place for me i grew up watching a show called "Vietnam the 10'000 day war". And other Shows about the war and read time life books about it. I want to visit Their country and see the Landscape that the brave men and women had to live in and fight in during the sixties and seventies... I joined the Marines in 1984 and went to boot camp in 1985 June.. i became an Artillery Cannoneer and worked on a Howitzer crew. I always thought about Vietnam when I was on active duty we had many many Vietnam veterans who were senior staff N.C.O.s and Some were captions or Majors Lieutenant Colonels Full bird colonels. Generals. Etc... They had some harrowing stories about Artillery fire bases and The Vietcong attacking them at night. The U.S. Artillery was a major target for the Vietcong.
My stepdad was a marine in Vietnam. I asked him about tanks as a kid because I never saw them in Vietnam movies. He told me that the only tank he saw there was parked on base when he landed in country.
I got a friend from high school that was a tanker. During his tour, 67/68, they lost 1 man. Drunk, and was run over by his own tank. Your stepdad was right, I spent 10 months in the bush as an army grunt, and never saw a damn tank in the field. From June 1967, until February 1st 1968, we had 110 Kia, and 258 wia. From the 1st of February 68, until the 28th my unit had 40 Kia, and 150 wia at a place called lz hardcore, about 15 miles from the big marine base, lz baldy at danang. We damn sure could have used some tank support.
@@Pointman-yf6or Nothing but admiration and respect to you and all those you served with and continue to serve. I hope life is treating you much better these days. I'm glad you came home sir, though I don't know you. I'm not even American, but one of your northern neighbors instead. However, that doesn't diminish my respect for the brave soldiers of our closest ally and friend. If the end of days comes in my lifetime, I would stand next to any one of you to defend our continent and bring peace back to humanity. Be well friend. Lest we forget.
The guy that taught me my trade was a "tank commander " I believe . It's been a long time ago . The title might be wrong . I know he was a Sargent . I never asked him about it , he never talked about it but working near Fort Derrick , there was a lot of helicopter traffic . Sometimes he would just stare off into space for a few seconds then go back to work .
25:44 note how there is often a lot of talk about armour penetration of this and that versus such and so but here this crew gets hurt bad by a weird situational random RPG ricochet that blows off the loaders hatch and splashes into the tank.
I worked with a guy who's Huey took an RPG hit right on the rotor as it was lifting off from a hot LZ. The Huey dropped like a rock from 30' to 50'. The wounded were hurt worse and the others were all injured. Then they took fire while laying on the ground or trying to get out of the Huey. The guy suffered a lot of spine damage and was in chronic pain ever since. He's still around, just saw him in August. I know what back pain is so I can relate to him.
I was a Marine Corps infantryman from 2001-2005 and even the jungle warfare tactics we used in 2001 was far inferior to the North Vietnamese tactics used in 1970. The Marine Corps is incredibly stubborn, it refuses to stoop to guerilla warfare tactics, its always been about all out conventional warfare. Charge the enemy balls to the wall with bounding fire. You could hear a company of Marines sneaking through the jungle a mile away, while the NVA could sneak a battalion up on you without you even noticing. The top Brass are not taught about guerilla warfare in their fancy officer schools, its always been about conventional warfare, throw everything you got at it.
Yeah empires are good for conventional warfare but counter insurgency is something different. Not to mention having no real reason to be there so there fore the strategy reflects that.
Yep they were noisy, I was in an Australian platoon that tracked behind an American unit up to the border because they were being followed by the VC. We were using them to hit the VC On another occasion when we were short on food, we came across a used US camp site and found enough abounded food to keep us going until we got resupplied. We also found a m60 barrel as well
My old man was a Ranger in vietnam, he told me of one engagement of a heavy force of V.C. on a treeline leading into a dense jungle. Anyway, they were under heavy fire and brought up a M42A1 Duster anti aircraft gun. Now this gun has twin 40mm Bofors cannons, and a Browning M60 machine gun, the way he described this thing in action was unreal. It completely swept the enemy, bushes, trees, everything, the body count was appalling, the ones that were intact. Evidently the "Duster" was better than tanks in the wet soil.
M48A3’s wide tracks gave it good off-road mobility, but Vietnam’s exceptionally soft, deep mud frequently bogged it down. Its shallow fording depth (4 feet) and weight could limit its employment. A kit was available that enabled the tank to ford rivers up to 14 feet deep, but it was rarely used.
It is as if the entire US high command was run by career bureaucrats or political officers, not professional soldiers. Then again, the Vietnamese are tough as nails. A bad combination.
@Flare Bruh what? The German Wehrmacht would fare better against the NVA & Vietcong? The Wehrmacht & SS failed in Operation B. to capture Stalingrad due to the intense weather & conditions they faced in Soviet Russia. I beg to differ for that weird hot take of yours
@Flare Vietnam was a cease fire. The United States trained the Afghani Army and gave them all the vehicles, weapons, & equipment they needed to defend and hold themselves. A withdrawl of troops is far from a surrender or a defeat.
@Flare Germany would have lost for the same reason the US did. It wasn't a style of warfare they were used to in a terrain they weren't adapted to living in.
@Flare note : was is not for the soviet operation bagration, the germans would have moved troops from east to west. making normany landings impossible. operation bagration tied the german army in the east. Americans should be very thanksfull to the soviet union. later they asked stalin to help fight the japanese in manchuria becouse they couldnt bare the losses.
I will say this. I drove the M48-A5 main battle tank in South Korea from 83 to 84 and although I never used it in battle, that machine was a workhorse of all work horses.
Wow...that was intense.....I went to Ft. Knox for tank training in 1977 ...(Oregon Army National Guard) ...My Drill Sgt. was a tank driver in Nam, and our Senior Drill Sgt. was a gunner - He had an NVA tank to his credit - we thought that was pretty awesome. They had M60A1s at Knox. Back home at my tank company, we had M60s as well as 60A1s. At my first Summer Camp in July of 77, ( a big war game down at 29 Palms) I drove an M48A5 on loan from the Marines.
This was a very informative documentary. I have never seen information on this subject and enjoyed learning about it. My sincere gratitude to the US armed forces who labored there on behalf of our country, especially to the remaining family members whose loved ones did not return whole! Also, condolences to all of the Vietnamese whom suffered through the bloody war.
it was never a war, it was a "conflict" or a waste of American lives. kind of a preview of the next round of wasted American lives thanks Mr Bush,Obama, and the brian dead guy we have now. c'mon man
As Member of MCB-11, I was given complete Jungle Training before being deployed in 1969 ...the things we were exposed to were like nothing else imaginable...
07:11 - Amtracs! Amphibious tracked vehicles. Designed for carrying troops, equipment & supplies between ships and shore, and then "Forward, from the sea". These are the LVTP-5 version. (Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Personnel.) I was a mechanic on these vehicles 1968-1970 (Vietnam 1969-70). There are also specialized versions: Command (equipped with communications & other equipment for unit commanders); Engineer (equipped with rocket-propelled explosive line charges and a massive toothed bulldozer blade) for clearing minefields; the H model (equipped with a built-in 105 mm Howitzer) for unit artillery support; and the Retriever for and Recovery (or retriever) equipped with a repair shop and parts, and a boom and rigging for recovering, repairing and towing stuck or disabled Amtracs and other vehicles. (I spent a lot of time with this version ...) Riding in one at sea or in a river is "interesting" - when fully loaded there is only about six inches between the water surface and the top of the hull. Amtracs were initially developed for the Marines in WW-II. The advantage over landing boats is that the Amtracs can advance with the troops from the beach, providing support and light armor. The hull armor is fairly thin (no, I don't remember the thickness.) It would keep out machine gun fire. On the other hand, some other weapons would go straight through, which actually could be beneficial. When I was working at a repair depot in Georgia, one of my co-workers turned pale and started shaking as a 'track was pulled into the building for it's turn to be repaired & refurbished. Turned out that he had been inside that one when an RPG went completely through the vehicle and exploded outside ... instead of inside. He had reacted to the sight of the holes in the hull.
Totally amazing that at 77yrs I can see this historical documentation when I was there in the very early August 1964 -June 1967. It is only now we can see what was going on (the Stars and Strips at the time was a bunch of happy BS) When I returned back home no one wanted me to say anything - they really did not like anyone who was involved the the Vietnam Conflict. The thing I then saw was the Tet offensive rising and saying to myself - Just Damn.
Thank you for your service sir. I was just a young boy at the time but have had many Nam Vet friends in my life and still do though they are starting to pass now.
I grew up around tons of men who fought in Vietnam and Korea (including my grandfather.) Hearing stories from some of these men was exciting, terrifying, beautiful, and atrocious all at the same time. A friend of my grandparents was a bombardier in Vietnam and listening to his experiences was probably the first time in my life I had seen a sweet old man, who was tough as nails, break down crying. I even had a relative who was part of MAC V SOG, though he didn't want to talk much about it. Most of his stories came from his time as a personal bodyguard for a couple VERY high ranking officials in other countries (including royalty.) But ever since I was a child and heard all of these stories, I was enstilled with a sense of respect that everyone fighting was just another person with parents, a family, and a life outside of war. I've always wanted to visit some of these locations where the most brave young men and women gave their lives for their cause. I feel a sense of duty to visit these places to respect and honor every soldier who gave their live for the brothers around them, regardless of what side they fought on. Of course I love my country and am steadfast in my belief that the USA is the best country that has ever existed, but that it is by no means perfect or without flaw. And despite my disdain for enemies of my country, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for their bravery and willingness to die for their cause. For me, this is a matter of history and the friends I've made who were forced into impossible situations. But I know that, for these men that fought and died, it was a matter of life and death. I was raised to believe that the religion someone practices dictates their fate after death. So for every single man, woman, and child who was lost in these (and all other) wars, I hope that they all find the peace of rest with their God(s)/Goddess(es).
I HATE humidity and jungles and all the freaking snakes, venomous spiders and a thousand other insects and parasites. Not to mention land mines, booby traps, bullets going my direction and explosives popping off near me.
BIG Thank you to our guys who served in Vietnam, you make us proud. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. Your lessons learned will save thousands of lives in our current and future wars.
I was in C. Co 3rd tank in 65 and 66. In 66 we moved to Cam Lo. We were told we could not use the canister round and the flame thrower tank. Washington at work.
Some of the braves and crazies people we ever convoy with. To me they were rolling coffins. Base support great Jungle sucides narrow trails few wide roads huge trees they hung bubby traps in trees to drop on top of tank. Hated escorting Tanks,Zippos,and Gas Tankers.♊️🎃🦊
@Wilhelm Geisler I was escorting on my third tour Jp4 aviation fuel and napalm at night for 6 months just Tankers and V100's. A lot of people in my company refered to us as wild hunt or rolling dead. Dinner was breakfast midnight chow was lunch. Army mess for breakfast 1800airbase mess for lunch 2400 free flow back and armymess
The people from the North and Central regions of Vietnam are raised to live a harsh life. The people from South Vietnam have always lived a much more sedated lifestyle. 2000 years of fighting China, and over a hundred years of resisting French Colonialism, have hardened these people's resolve.
@@ongba5890 pre emotive strikes in self defense from the Imperialistic racist vietnamese That's all What I forgot was the vietnamese race based discrimination and persecution of the various " national minorities " as you now call them Who were there before you In effect making communist vietnam an apartheid state The vietnamese have a lot to answer for and the Chinese will see that you answer for your crimes soon enough
@@Baraka_Obama_ The Japanese left most of the Vichy French administration in Vietnam in place and didn't do much fighting in Vietnam. They were too busy in Burma and elsewhere to want to deal with a Vietnamese insurgency, and for his part Ho Chi Minh and his generals definitely didn't want to bring the full weight of the Japanese army down on their heads.
American soldiers were in Vietnam at the request of the American corporations, Vietnamese soldiers were in their own country, they have no where else. So like the British in 1939, they had no where else to go, they had their home to protect
Supposedly America was in Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism, "The domino theory" Vietnam was not Communist. But after the incursion of America Ho sought help from the Communist's, thereby defeating the original supposed American goal. Incompetent' tragedy. Choose your politicians wisely.
@@grandaddyc Its funny how Ho Chi Minh favored the Americans more after WW2 but he felt betrayed after they support French recolonization of Indochina which led to this conflict.
I feel like there would be a greater chance of being killed or injured for infantry around any tanks hit. I mean same goes for the enemy but still! I’d be worried about shrapnel.
@@waybee100 That is part of tactical planning and, tactical control measures and rates of march. You open up a map, do terrain appreciation and deploy infantry at likely ambush/choke points. A jungle doesn't mean you can't do skirmishers. Even if tanks have to make their own roads, you still have a point A and a point B.
What was their purpose there? But to rob resources. steal treasures and kill their leaders. Conqueror and divide. Like they did Korea… thank them for doing the devils work…
I was in 1/7 driving a Ontos. 6 106 MM guns and we were fast and light. We could tap dance across rice fields while tanks were so heavy they bogged down.
I had the opportunity to visit Vietnam 3 years ago... absolutely lovely people owners of an amazing and prosperous country built by a truly brave nation that resisted the unforgettable US invasion as same as they did with many other countries before.
As a Marine in Viet Nam from October 1966 to August 1968, the imagery in this video is completely incorrect. The video shows Marines with M-16s. When the M-16 was introduced to us, it was a massive failure and most Marines dropped the Mickey Mouse Mattel Gun for M-14 where we could scrounge them, or recover VC Kalashnikovs when possible. The focus of Generals back in the relative safety of Saigon was so inept in understanding what we saw in the field, or what was the real issues that we faced. Their ineptness killed almost as many US Troups as the Vietnamese, both NVA and VC.
Allen we replaced our m 14 s with the m-16 in March of 1968 and one of the issues was the spring in the clip holding 20 rounds i which we only used 18 rounds. I never had any problems and was able to carry a lot more clips . We alternated sniper teams and I carried the Remington model 700 Semper Fi , L/ Cpl. Tom Fuleky 327 Marines 1968
@27:05 paraphrased: "It was really funny...we were trying to put out the fire on the tank with a fire extinguisher...but it was empty because we used it to cooldown beer the night before" Legends XD
Watching this video brings back some great times in my life.The M-60 A3 had TTS,which stands for Tank Thermal sight .This tank had 3 models.The M-60 A3 was the best of the best at that time in history .The high silouette ,or turrent,was it's only negative.I would put it up against any tank during the 60s and 70s.
@@scotanderson7689 Scot,when I was in boot camp at Knox in the fall of 83,which was the coldest winter in decades,we trained on the M-60 A3.But there was one motorpool that had about 30 M1 tanks.The tanks had a very limited training detail.They were just rolling out from the assembly line and had not been forwarded to front line units in Korea.I was in Bravo company,2 ND battalion,1st brigade.
@@markpaul8178 m60 had a British 105mm and was ridiculous high target, chieftain had a much more powerful 120mm rifled cannon and much heavier armor and could fire hesh as well as heat and sabot
U.S. schools did not teach me that Ho Chi Minh had attended the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 to demand recognition of an independent Vietnam. He had.
yea, they tend to skip that, and the fact the united state financed the french to fight the war since the 40s until the french got tired of it too. like American generals were on the ground in the late 40s early 50s, calling the shots involved.
That’s more if an example of the inconsistencies of US education. My school spent a decent bit of time talking about it. The biggest problem I think is more so the US education system is really inconsistent with some schools going over things like that and others never mentioning it.
Well if they realize Ho Chi Minh was western educated, and that he began one of his most famous speeches using the preamble to our constitution, they'll probably think he was an inspirational liberator. Which he was. The US will do anything to make sure communists get a bad reputation. I had one teacher in 8th grade try to tell me he named Ho Chi Minh city after himself "like any good dictator". Forgetting Uncle Ho died like 6 years before the war ended.
Ho Chi Minh was not very communistic. Even communist Stalin and Mao suspected him for a while. Ho even wrote a letter to Truman to establish US-Vietnam relations but Truman turned that down to favor the French. Roosevelt however would have recognized Vietnam if he lived past 1945.
My dad served his first Tour of Duty in Vietnam with the 3/4 Cav 25th Infantry Division the Tropic Lightning or some people called it the Electric Strawberry. Served in Operation Cedar Falls and Operation Junction City and not to mention doing a whole lot of convoy duty on Highway 13.
you want a congratulations or what? i mean, why even tell everyone this? are you looking for the attention your daddy never gave you because he was too busy being used as a pawn in the big bankers money wars?
@@theonewhojustis6541 nope don't want congratulations and guess what I will leave the comments that I want to leave you know why because there's not a damn thing you can do about it. And I don't need my dad permission. He is proud of his military service just like I am proud of mines. And if you're in the United States you support this capitalistic banker system also. So try not to breaking anything falling off your high horse.
I remember my brother calling those "dart" rounds a "bee hive" round. He was with the 9th Div and later 1st air cav on a 105 crew. In this video, I might have missed it, but not one flame thrower (tank version) was seen. Now, I'm no tanker but one would think in the jungle, a flame thrower would have been a decent option.
I believe the Geneva Convention outlawed flame throwers after WWII. So we used Napalm instead and Agent Orange to defoliate the jungle. That was a waste also.
I used to work for a guy who’d been a Marine tanker, having served in VN. Told me once of his tank spraying a mist of diesel fuel over an area of jungle infested with NVA, and then a squirt of napalm. FOOM! No more jungle. Look up M67 flamethrower tank.
@@mikem6176 They say necessity is the mother of invention. What a great idea. I could certainly be wrong about the flame throwers. It something I seem to remember from one of those documentaries. I wonder how accurate those documentaries are anyway.
Until watching this video I had not appreciated the sheer incompetence of Westmoorland and his staff. He and they were criminally inept. Having said that, looking at the actual footage of US troops on patrol, they have the appearance of soldiers who know are facing a superior army. As for standing bolt upright and firing M16's and M60's from the hip, well it's not surprising that they were frequently low on ammo. In the early days of the Vietnam War, the Brits, who had masses of expeince fighting wars of insurgance, offered to provide the US with advice. The US refused to listen to the Brits. That worked out well. Having served as an NCO in the British Army for 11 years, I feel the US Army was badly served by it's generals in the Vietnam War. They were clearly our of their depth.
We haven’t seen competency since. Save, the execution of desert storm and desert shield. Followed by the order to shut it down. The first Bush had been head of the CIA and was well aware of the fool’s errand it would be to take thing all the way to Baghdad. We had captured or destroyed a majority of their ability to wage war. Unfortunately you have a multi trillion dollar boondoggle called the pentagon which is more than happy to assist in leading us into unwinable quagmires to ensure their future budget expenditures.
We are finding out these days that the US has been infiltrated for years by Communists and globalists. I would not be surprised to find out that our CIA was telling the Vietnamese our battle plans. If they weren't, the Democrats most probably were.
@@Truthbomb918 Time was always on the North's side. Where were they to go? Its their country. US war planners and generals never appreciated that one fact. That's one reason it was a lost cause from the beginning and they had to lie to the American public. Because if the truth was told, no war could have been executed.
Yup. I think the Vietnam war really changed American military for the better, and was the reason why they were so succesfull in iraq and Afghanistan. All the inept morons got weeded out, and the military soon learnt how to actually become an efficient fighting force. If Vietnam happened in the mdoern day, it would most likely end up better than Iraq. Viet Cong and NVA had the decency to make sure they identified themselves differently from Civillians. Cant say the same about baathist party radicals.
![Auschwitz II BIRKENAU, Bunker 2 [English Subtitle]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/T1I5iheUaWI/mqdefault.jpg)
My dad was a veteran of both Korea and Vietnam. After retirement he went back to college, became a drug and alcohol counselor, and did this second career for twenty-five years. He was a good man and helped many fellow veterans beat addiction. He passed away last year from covid19 and I miss him everyday: they don’t make men like my dad anymore.
God bless him
Sad to hear that, He is in a Better Place
@@khuret1773 right; he would not like things the way they are now, all the chaos, madness and strife.
Your dad was a great man because he help so many other people who very much need guidance and help. May your dad rest in peace.
no they dont god bless him
I was a tank commander with the 5th division on the dmz. We only fought well equipped NVA troops equipped with the dreaded rpg. My tank "Love juice" was lost to an rpg west of Khe Sanh, it hit the fuel cell with hundreds of gallons of diesel. The crew escaped uninjured and watched from a distance as 60 rounds of maingun ammo and thousands of rounds of machine gun ammo cooked off, tank was deemed destroyed and left there. My new tank "Love Juice" served us well for months until we hit a 250lb mine near Con Thien and was destroyed. All crew were medivaced to Quang Tri base hospital, all but myself had minor injuries, I had a severe head injury and was flown to Japan and days later to Ft Lewis Washington. The bad part for me was I had 8 days left on my tour. The M48 was a great tank and never failed us, the problem was the enemy had many ways to take us out.
The problem was that you were even there...Imagine someone invaded your country--you'd fight just as viciously as you could, so why complain for getting what you deserved.
I am sorry about war.
@@Lauri2014 Actually I was drafted and against the war, after returning I became very active with VVAW.
@@Lauri2014 It’s the politicians you should have that animosity aimed towards not the troops.
Very interesting story and am glad that you and your crew survived. Thank You for your service, sir.
My grandpa was a tank commander in Vietnam. He never talked about it much, but I can tell he never fully healed from what he had seen. He passed last year but he led a good life. May he rest in peace
Do you know what happened in the hamlet of My Lai & Lt. W. Calley in Vietnam?
@@moisesfuentes2090😊😊😊
Tank were not involved with My Lai as Calley was infantry. Are you trying to invoke a guilt complex by any chance? If so, then also add the NVA in Hue during Tet 68 killing over 5,000 civilians as they held the city for a month. @@moisesfuentes2090
@@moisesfuentes2090 What's your point? Do you Sinophiles have nothing better to do than sit around shitposting?
@@moisesfuentes2090 He was court Martialed.
One can feel old when some part of their adult life is presented as history. Something to see how young these veterans and you were at the time versus how we are now. You're part of history.
One can feel old?
You mean you feel old.
Where did you learn to speak like that? Go have another drink..
@@mathieutyler00 Where did you fail to learn to comprehend English? Where did you fail, to comprehend the universal use of say "one." It wasn't about you. Self absorbed aren't you.
Thank you for your service sir.
@@mathieutyler00 so do you just look for people to pick on? Why don't you remember the old saying that if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. This man wasn't saying anything hurtful to you or anyone else for you you to jump on him and be rude like you did. This man served his country in war. Have you ever done anything that selfless?
@@mr.rodgers3745 nah…all his comments are about how he lacks understanding of the English language.
I was a Marine scout/ sniper that landed on Go No Island May 16 1968 . I Company had 17 Marines left and they flew them out in one chopper. The heat was 115 - 126 degrees and we took so many casualties that we could only move during the night. We also destroyed our flack jackets and gas masks to lighten our loads .we have a book out about Operation Allenbrook “ Every Marine “ Written by Robert Siminson. Every day I struggle with the fact that I made it to 74. Semper fi , L/ cpl Thomas Fuleky 3/27 Marines 1968
That must have been a truly awful thing to go through. My dad got to Vietnam in 1969 in the Army's 11th light infantry brigade. He would only talk about some, but not all of his time there and he didn't start talking about hardly any of it until about 2005 and onward, until his death in 2018. It affected him greatly, and shaped the rest of his life. I still have trouble wrapping my head around the fact that he was only 19 when he got to Nam. I hope you have found the peace that you deserve in this life. It took my dad decades to find it, but he was always a great father and husband.
My dad was a Marine with Golf Company in Vietnam in 1969 Bobby Lee Sims
I was a scout/sniper with the 101st in the Ashau Valley. We first came into "Nam at Camp Evans. A Marine gunnery sgt who was still there looked at my bolt-action rifle and pointed at the forest. He said, "Son, how many 1000-yard shots you gonna get, in there?" He set me up with a modified M-14. I'll never forget him. He was right, of course.
lol shut up
…God bless you and your family…Very lucky man…👋🍻
My grandfather was blown out of a tank and received a purple heart at the age of 19. Listening to his stories and looking at his war photos is such a important thing for me
My dad's uncle drove a tank in Vietnam. He drove over a landmine and got his leg messed up from the shrapnel. He was very lucky to survive and be able to walk afterwards. RIP to the vets that didn't come home. 🇺🇸
@Jamil Ebdeen well that's your opinion. You weren't there so you don't really know what it was like.
@Jamil Ebdeen this is a known fact. The North Vietnamese invade a sovereign nation in the South so they were foriegn occupiers too.
@Jamil Ebdeen We were there due to treaty obligations just as we were in Europe in support of NATO. You need to look at what was REALLY going on. Nor were we alone South Koreans and Australians fought there as well and for the same reason.
@@DavidSmith-ss1cg All I said was my dad's Uncle almost died in Vietnam and was lucky to survive and RIP to my fellow country men most were African American Mexican and also White of different nationalities. I don't need your peanut gallery conspiracy theories. Seriously who cares about why the war started or how it ended. It's over and that's it.
@Jamil Ebdeen The South Vietnamese were very brave to stand up against the invasion by the North which was supported by China and the USSR.
"I went for the fire extinguisher to put out the fire on our tank but we'd used all the co2 to cool some beers the night before" MURICA!
Yeah, brilliant move. Cold beers were more important than their lives.🙄
@@chrisf8855 of course, cold beer is important, but education is importanter. 😏
Heck yeah! You wouldn't expect to do that kind of stuff sober!
@@jamesa.2880 my grandfather did he was sgt of his fireteam he to this day doesn’t drink or smoke and didn’t back then before or after the war
qp
I sure wish we could have been shown this around '78-'79, it hopefully would've helped us get a lot more motivated which we needed badly during those years. We had Vietnam combat vets in our armor battalion then as well. I have a lot of respect for you guys that gave it all you had,Thank you!!
"We fire a flechette round, and it took the enemy off the tank"
It also took him off the list of "solids" and put him on the list of "liquids"
Canadian Army tank units in Afghanistan routinely used canister rounds against Taliban forces moving over open ground. Made a real mess of them.
There are a bit more creative solutions - like putting anti-personnel mines on the tank's hull and detonating them from the inside.
Or, what was used in WW2, just launch grenades above the tank from the inside.
@@stevestruthers6180 Are you Canadian? The reason I'm asking besides your mentioning of how the Canadian Army tactically developed an effective approach to dealing with the Taliban. I would think it also carried a pretty effective psychological impact knowing thousands of nail shaped darts fired at them from a flechete canister peppered them up pretty bad and resembled something run through a meat grinder. To the subject about Vietnam, it's unknown to many here in the U.S. that lots of Canadian citizens joined the U.S. ARMY during Vietnam. My uncle was friends with a Canadian that joined and fought in Vietnam as Tanker. Ron Holland is his name and he stated it is probable that all the draft dodgers fleeing to Canada to avoid Vietnam there were as many Canadians coming to the U.S. to join the military here to go fight a war they didn't have to. What Mr. Holland reflected to me was a much more appreciation for our Canadian neighbors. I can't see Americans going to Canada or Mexico by the thousands to join their Army to fight an unpopular War when not having to do so. I know there is a Vietnam war memorial for al the Canadians that fought and died for a country that was not their home country. I thought I'd share this with you and anyone who was unaware of this.
@@frednugent2310 Yes, I'm Canadian. And well aware that thousands of my countrymen joined the US Army to fight in the Vietnam War.
One other thing that is not as well known about Canada's involvement in the Vietnam War is that Canada supplied the US military with a shitload of small arms ammunition and other kinds of materiel.
in fact, humans are regarded as soft targets, not solid. just my 2cents...
Stories were told by veterans in the most objective way. This is one of the best documentaries
ruclips.net/video/jAIVGlk-5oI/видео.html
SELECTIVE, Where are the Vietnamese veterans who command the T-55 and T-34 tanks?
@@roroliaoliao dead
Were you in Vietnam at the time? Or were your parents able to escape to the West?
They're All Dead
My dad was part of the 3rd Marine Tank Battalion and he was in a M48A3 tank from 67-68. This was very interesting to watch considering I’ve only heard him mention the war maybe a few times in my life.
Was in Gia Le at the same time as your Dad where 3rd Tank Bn was Headquartered in '67. Tell him one of the guys from 3rd Engineers said "Hey - and Welcome Home , Brother - Semper Fi-"
If you click on the image to the left ask you Dad if that's his tank.
Spend as much time with your dad as possible while you can. I miss my dad all the time and I miss his stories of being in the Army in Vietnam and traveling the world before and after.
Calling the enemy artillery on the enemy, best tactics i seen so far
Very smart
They used to sneak up on claymore mines and turn them around to face US troops then make a bunch of noise. The troops would detonate the claymores and receive damage. The Vietnamese were skilled imaginative fighters.
This tactic was mass used by the Polish Army in Eastern Front during WW2, in Pomeranian campaing in 1944/45 Polish troops using German radiostations by german speaking Polish soldiers to call german artillery on themselvs. And during Vietnam war many of Vietnamse officers were trained by Polish army.
@@Kombajnistazbizona Interesting.
Literally bf bad company with the air strike pointer you steal from a Russian
"Old Generals always fight as they did in the last war." Westy was no different. His "European" battle doctrine was simply suicide for us. He was ultimately relieved of command, but it was way too late for many. I got a good laugh "We underestimated them badly".
That is the way we fought the rest of the war. We probed, got ambushed, reacted and hopefully killed more of them than they killed of us.
He'll be at home in the Battle of the Somme with another incompetent general known as Douglas Haig.
Vietnam, US Military's worst enemies Macnemara, Mooreland, CIA & DC bureaucrats. Afghanistan was Obama/Jarret micromanagement, ROE policies, CIA, military industrial compleax & NATO bureaucrats.
That's retarded. The North Vietnamese had functionally lost. They had no war infrastructure and relied almost entirely on foreign-made weapons and equipment to keep their troops supplied. The fact that they begged for peace negotiations that lead to the Paris Peace Accords of 1972 support this. Don't forget that the only way they managed to take Saigon was AFTER the US stuck to their end of the bargain and removed all combat troops from South Vietnam, coupled with the Democrat-majority Congress choosing to end Enhance and EnNhance Plus to support South Vietnam.
@@cstgraphpads2091"Stuck to their end of the bargain"? LOL The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for a united Vietnam. The USA broke that UN agreement. NOT THE NORTH . It's not the number of dead that win a war, the Germans and the Japanese killed more people in WW2 than they had dead AND THEY LOST...."War is the continuation of politics by other means" Carl von Clausewitz....THE USA LOST...again.
@@cstgraphpads2091 To add to what David Wall said, the North Vietnamese government was democratically elected. Just because the US decide a communist government isn't in their interest doesn't give them the right to ignore democracy and install a puppet government. The US was the most anti democratic part of the whole thing and I don't believe for a second the north Vietnamese would have surrendered under any circumstances. Not after how they drove out the French. They could have kept resisting indefinitely in the jungle and all pockets of resistance would never have been rooted out regardless of how much the US tried.
One of the underlying issues here is that of the many roles that tanks play on a battlefield, one of them is to be line breakers. But during the Vietnam conflict there were almost no proper battle lines.
Tanks are good for plain fields and deserts but not the jungles
It’s an example of the top brass fighting the last war.
I was 11E, later changed to 19E, Tanker for short. Never served in Vietnam but I am Vietnam era veteran. Served on M48s and M60s in Korea and Germany. The cold was our enemy. I am truly a Cold War Armor Crewman.
Dad said they used to fall asleep in their tents at LZ Bronco, or when out on patrols, dreaming about the luxurious bases they had left behind in Berlin, before coming to Vietnam lol.
I had the pleasure of meeting and befriending a Vietnam tank commander. He was a good man, and will be missed. Rest In Peace my friend.
Politicians let their anti-communist hysteria get the best of them, and litterally supported the south just beacuse they werent communist.
As a result, we litterally got into a useless war tryna defend a country that wasnt even legitimate.
That "Hugging the enemies belt" tactic, has *nothing* to do with getting so close a tank can't depress it's gun. It's about getting danger close to inhibit their fire support. If you're so close the tank can't depress enough to hit you, then you're probably also too close for your rockets to arm. Which is what it sounds like happened with multiple rockets bouncing off without detonating.
Thanks, I would trust a random youtube comment like this over the people talking that were actually there.
I thought it mean them being so close they could grab your belt. Which would make your pants fall. Meaning you would have to drop your weapon in order to grab your pants and keep your “privates” from being exposed.
@@MontuOnuphrius You can trust me. I was there. I can’t remember how old I was back then, but I was old enough to purchase the game when it first came out.
@@MontuOnuphrius The guy that said it was like 40 and was definitely not a Vietnam veteran.
@@counterinsurgencyadvisor4289 It doesn't matter, it's still the same today. The RPG will bounce off at such a short distance. However, the terrain may have sloped next to the road or the road may have banked, allowing the RPG team to get underneath the depression angle of the tank at a useful range. In any case, it's less than ideal if enemy infantry gets this close to your tank, and in a spot where you can't engage with the gun or coax.
It was '66 & '67 or '65 -'66 that I was in the 9th grade and in some class, maybe social studies we were given pen pals in Viet Nam to write and send paperback books to. I sent my Conan the Barbarian novels. I got letters back I wish I still had. Soldiers told me stories of their friends being blinded by rocks thrown by children and told me not to come to this war. What good reason is there to go to a lost war? I want aways for any of the soldiers who may have written to me to know that I cared about then then and do now, being grateful for the truth that they wrote down for me, along with good advice.
My oldman was a driver in the 11th Armored Calvary Division seen a lot of combat in the Tet Offensive.
In North Vietnam...keep attacking north!
Tell your dad, (if still with us), that another ole 11th. Cav. said hello and glad he made it home... Ctrp. 69-70.
It was and still is, a regiment. The 11th was a separate smaller unit.
I saw a lot of action in brothels. Not as glorified as gunning down troops, of course.
i find that to be true.I Was there in the 11th acr also in 69 and 70.came back with 2 purple hearts and disabled.go allons.
Vietnam Vets--thank you for your service and sacrifices. You are appreciated and LOVED. Please hold your head up high -- thank you.
As an private I was sent to armor trading at Fort Knox in 1968. I was excited to be a tanker. I thought I would be safe inside this bathtub of steel. But we were trained by NCO’s who had been to Vietnam as tankers, and explained to us the weaknesses of tanks in the jungle environment and the effectiveness of the RPG. Never got to serve as a tanker. Went to Officers Candidate School and then to fly helicopters. Sort of out of the frying pan and into the fire. But I was lucky and there nothing better than being lucky.
My dad was a steel tiger 67-69
I remember these stories being told by our uncle's and cousin's during late night's on the stoop. Something I looked forward to every weekend.. RIP to those who fell for a government who cared less about them.
God bless the vietcong and the NVA
@@carlosgomez1706 amen to that
The more I look at our tactics it’s amazing that we even survived that long. Yes, I’m a 20 year US Army Vet. Retired.
No kidding haha
The false artillery call. I mean...wow. come on guys. Thanks for you service.
what did you do
@@stewardstein1595 Infantry can operate without tank support tanks cannot operate without support.
The American Revolutionary War was won in no small part by American colonists fighting a better guerilla war than the Brits. Barely 150-years down the line that fact had been completely lost by those in charge of our wars.
The Vietnamese knew the land, we didnt.
Just like the revolutionary war, we knew our land. The brits didnt.
We owe the French a great deal for our independence.
@@v3ck1n pretty much
@@v3ck1n and likewise, the vietnamese owe the soviets. Ho Chi Minh actually admired the united states very much and seeked to have friendly relations. Of course that didnt happen, but its interesting nonetheless.
I'm sure Ho Chi Minh studied how other successful guerrilla campaigns fought & the American revolutionary war was a successful campaign.
My second Platoon Sergeant was a driver during Vietnam. He said he had lost three crews that were all killed except, obviously, for him. He was Army. I also had a 1SG who told me his first live fire exercise was in Vietnam... He was 1SG of HHT 1/3ACR, when I was the ammo NCO for the squadron.
I was a driver and TC '67-'68, A co, 1bn, 69th Armor, and I can tell you that we ARMY tankers had the same combat that the Marines had. We did TET in Pleiku, had major engagements on the Bong Song Plains. The 69th ARMOR Reg was the most highly decorated tank unit in the US Army!
Did you know Dennis Higginbotham from 2nd Bat, 34th armored?
The Generals by Tom Ricks is insightful when it comes to the tragedy of tactics in the Vietnam war and other US conflicts. Not only was top brass ill-equipped in terms of strategy, they proved stubbornly incapable of learning from their failures. Can't imagine how it must have felt being thrown to the wolves by some aviators wearing a general.
Well obviously some people in power wanted for war to last a bit longer...
Heh, now I'm imagining a set of sunglasses with a MacArthur sitting on it's bridge.
@@PandaMan-xy1he what difference an a makes.
@@runswithcows Yep
Reminds me of many British generals in WW1.
I'm curious about who the genius was that decided to head out without any infantry support. I notice they just said they made a mistake and didn't clarify who ordered it. Nothing happens in the military without someone ordering it. Tanks in a jungle against Guerrilla forces that have anti-tank weapons without infantry support, brilliant.
Dumb is how more bullets make banks go whrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I just came to post almost 5he same thing with a big old, WTF?
like the definition of terrain and situation not suited for tank operations.
@@alien4422 There was a draft. I don't blame them one bit. Drafts are a terrible idea. Being in the military sucks, but for volunteers, we chose the bed we lie in. Conscripts don't get that. They didn't choose this, so when their glory-hungry boot LT wants to sacrifice them for a promotion, yeah, they're not gonna take that quietly.
@@CharliMorganMusic Draftees fought WWII. Further they went to war with less training than troops did before Nam. And when they got inside Germany they were faced with troops better trained than the Vietnam and as equally motivated as the Vietnamese. I will add that they also had better Generals and behind them politicians who had clear goals in mind. Neither Kennedy nor Johnson had these.
@@JRobbySh Well in WW2 they got motivation but in Vietnam what motivation?
I had an uncle that was a tank driver. Occasionally they'd run over anti tank mines one of which killed him. The gunner who was in his tank said that when you run over an anti-tank mine, very rarely was it the actual explosion that killed people. It was the concussion/vibration of it that was deadly because it would rattle your head so violently that it scrambles your brain.
Yes, the concussive blast does tremendous damage to your internal organs and that will kill you, even if you are far outside of the range of the heat and shrapnel of the blast.
Sorry to hear that. My uncle's schizophrenia came out during Vietnam era marine boot camp. He was essentially gone for the rest of his life. I could feel my father's pain over the loss, because his little brother no longer trusted or wanted to be around him.
Hitting your head against the inside of the tank is probably what killed them, not it rattling there heads.
As the NVA closed in on Saigon, the war became increasingly conventional in nature. It's ironic how a North Vietnamese tank breaking down the gates of the presidential palace, now the Reunification Palace Museum, symbolized the end of the war.
@William Smith Which goes to show how the US could never have won, short of nuking Hanoi. The North Vietnamese were willing to do whatever it took to reunify the country under a single government; no sacrifice was too great. The South Vietnamese government, on the other hand, was plagued by corruption and incompetence. Those ARVN soldiers who fought bravely and died, even as the noose tied around Saigon, did so because they believed that their very existence was under threat. Domino theory notwithstanding, the majority of Americans felt that this just wasn't their war.
@William Smith Don't forget the Americans also lost 400k allies, Vietnam war wasn't primarily fought with just American troops, but with 11 other country's troops. You also said 3 Million Vietnamese, your including civilians and South Vietnamese, your allies, around 800K NVA/VC died.
@@Monatio79 Contemporary sources basically said if the U.S kept supporting South Vietnam, they very well could've been the South Korea of today, it was just too much support was cut off form fuel and ammunition, but who could blame them the U.S was going through rough times by 1973
@@pudanielson1 Indeed, "could've" being the word of choice. Ten years from now, we could be saying the same about Afghanistan. "If only Biden hadn't..." The benefit of hindsight. Ironically, it was only after doi moi and the US's normalization of relations with Vietnam in around 2000, that the country really started to see exponential economic growth. Perhaps the US should have intervened with McDonalds and KFC to begin with ?
The crew is still here to talk about it ....the tank did not do too bad!
Well they weren't gonna chose a dead crew for the interview
They didn't do so well in the Central Highlands but 3/4 cav were excellent. I wouldn't have a father, nor would I be typing this message if they weren't!
What year of this series?
@@bradshively7109 This grrrl txting you now calls you a brother if a tank father sutvivor. Ny dad got the Silver☆Star for running right into TIGERS riding out a blizzard at night during the Bulge. When I txt running right into I txt that literally.
@@salinagrrrl69 Im guessing around 2002-2007 based on the animations, the age of the vet's and the narration style.
Outstanding documentary. My dad was a combat medic assigned to the 69th Armor Regiment in 1968-69. He served on an M48 with duel 50 Caliber machine guns. He took part in the only true tank vs tank combat engagement.
Much respect to those who fought and died.
What did they fight and die for?
The Australians used Centurions fairly successfully in Vietnam .... but then again we probably didn't send them out without infantry support .
No, we didn't. See Battle of Coral, a bigger battle than Long Tan.
One of the problems in vietnam, was the mentality of the western officers, they were still in ww2, many generals were old ww2 veterans, guerilla warfare wasnt that common in ww2
@@laranja9921 the bigger problem is the entire pretext of US involvement being the gulf of tonken incident has quietly been admitted to being staged with multiple witnesses on the US ship stating there was no north vietminese ships and they were firing at empty water
@@laranja9921 guerrilla warfare wasnt that common in ww2? i dont think u know what u are talking about...
only in EU there was a perpetual guerrilla warfare , every occupied nation had his guerrilla from spain, greece,italy,ukraine,poland LITERALLY ALL OVER EU. and U.S. was supply and training partisan i this particular way of war: guerrilla . Even some guerilla group where even trained in england then parachuted in EU.
THE GUERRILLA was so HUGE the axis was forced to create "special operations" group only to counter guerilla all over EU .
and if u want we can talk about the KOREAN WAR ...
@@surplus2720 guerilla in Spain during WWII??? :D
The meaning of LARANJA is that western officers didn't experiment fighting against guerilla during WWII.
During WWII masters of guerilla were soviets (and perhaps yougoslavians), but US didn't fight against soviets.
My grandpa was a tank driver in Vietnam he has some crazy stories he’s told me
record them, put them on youtube
My Dad was a tank commander in the Guard during Viet Nam and he told me he was glad not to be sent there. His crew once scored a bull's Eye on a target, but it was the target for the tank to their side LOL
My father was a mg3 gunner in the German Army in the 70s, he never strapped His helmet firmly, so the recoil from the mg3 would always make the helmet fall over his eyes, so he resorted to Shooting blindly. Turns out he almost shredded a comrade and Not the target xD
@@PhilipFry. And that is funny ?
@@TonySlug ja
@@PhilipFry. okay.
You are aware that the place is not spelled "Viet Nam", aren't you?
The tactic the Vietcong used by knocking out the lead tank then the rear tank effectively blocking a single column of armour is exactly what the Germanic tribes did against Rome's legion at Teutoburg forest .
Hungarians did it to the Soviet tanks too
@@comradekenobi6908 And the soviets did it to the germans. I think everyone did it to everyone at one point.
The Romans had tanks...???
@@bodkinofnurk8898 yes.
@@bodkinofnurk8898 testudo
God bless my brothers who fought and died in Vietnam. I served there in 1965 as part of US Navy coastal operations. I have good friends who fought during and after the Tet offensive of 1968. It was definitely a tough place to be.
This just goes to prove that fighting an enemy on their own soil will lead to many deaths; like this, Korea, the Russians in Afghanistan, the Balkans (where I served in the early 90's) and ultimately the last 20 years of NATO in Afghanistan. RIP all those who came before
Ditto mate, I served in the early 90s in the balkans. Where you UN & where did u serve exactly. Cheers mate
@@marcs990 yea yea 1991 serbian army couldnt defeat Croatian city of Vukovar which had 1200 defenders ( many of them were policemans )
Serbian army had Tanks, Planes etc
Croatian defenders barely had hand grenades ...
You’re right, although WWII was fought on enemy soil, and succeeded, thank goodness. Thx for serving buddy!
a lot of the insurgents in afghanistan are not from that country, thrill seekers and religious nuts.
@@lolofblitz6468 the Serbs took vukovar
At an Army Evac hospital from late '66 to early '69, it is "good" to finally have some understanding where out Marine casualties came from and what they were doing. Gotta have respect.
My uncle (my mom's oldest brother) was one of the NVA soldiers fought bravely against the American force in Quang Tri in 1969, he told me one day his whole company was almost wiped out by the American, only him and 3-4 other survived and made it to the village. War against the American was deadly and cruel back then and would be even more cruel for us now because the American can sit in an air conditioned office thousands miles away, push some buttons and some thunder and lightning from the sky would fall onto our heads, while our armed forces are still fighting with mainly Cold war era AK47 and T-54. This is why we choose to befriend big nations like the US and China, but still keep our guard up as we never know when war will come to us again.
@@froggymusicman Still friends tho. Both politically and economically Vietnam depends heavily on China, so there's no way Vietnam can just forcing an alliance with the US while ignoring China.
@@froggymusicman China doesn't have friends, but politically and economically, we all rely on them. I am sure Vietnamese dislike Chinese, like they did and do thousands of years, but having China as neighbour, you need to be "diplomatically friendly"
Your Uncle was a brave man and a veteran. Even if he was once the enemy, I as a Viet Nam veteran still honor him as a veteran.
This Marine Combat Vet salutes your Uncle as a brave foe on the battlefield, Vets from any war can look back and recognize that their foes, were valiant adversaries!
That's pretty cool hearing your story and insight. Your uncle was pressed into service just like most Americans. Hopefully we have continued peace.
I had little appreciation for the power packed into an RPG round until I saw a documentary or two about it around the YT archives....... it's a horrifically vicious weapon.
About age 5 in 1963 was when I began to be quite aware of Vietnam; I attended the Naval Academy Primary School, among the children of Navy and Marine Corps officers who were serving.
I pretty much grew up at the bar of the Fleet Reserve Club, hearing stories from WW2, Korea, and then came Vietnam with a fury. MY maternal grandfather served the entire duration of the Guadalcanal operation; he gave me "Guadalcanal Diary" (Richard Tregaskis' young people's version)....... I guess it's safe to say my entire childhood was war-aware. My mother picked a lot of shrapnel from my grandfather's body on weekend visits. News footage of the war in Vietnam was unprecedented. So often my father would point at the screen and say "Straighten up or that's where you're headed........".
One shocking fact I'd run across in another documentary was that GENERALLY, the South Vietnamese people didn't much care what the government was called; they simply wanted more than anything a STABLE government. I'm about 6 minutes into this but will say it anyway....... pitting a conventional force against a guerilla force is insanity; weeks become years as we have seen again and again and yet again. The magnitude of guerilla PSYCHOLOGY is underestimated every time. For one of many other factors that give guerilla forces the upper hand, "permission?!?!?! We don't need no steenkin 'permission'!!!!!!!!!"
pitting a conventional force against a guerilla force is insanity; weeks become years as we have seen again and again and yet again.
The guerilla force was virtually wiped out in the Tet Offensive 1967-1968. The Easter Offensive by regular and irregular North Vietnamese force in 1972 was decimated or worse. As Col. Tin Buin, PAVN remarked to an interviewer, Gen. Westmoreland was restricted and not allowed to attack and defeat the PAVN forces at their bases. As Patton correctly noted, fortifications and defensive operations are a monument to man's stupidity, because they are always doomed to defeat by an offensive force circumventing them or attacking at their own time, place, and concentration. American politicians chose to direct the military fight defensive campaigns that are eventually doomed to defeat or unacceptable cost, which is why OPERATION LINEBACKER I and OPERATION LINEBACKER II succeeded in their mission in the offensive operations.
And did we learn anything? No, we went to Afganistan to loose another war and more brave soldiers. Nuts!
All depends on how you look at it. ALOT of people including some politicians made millions through government contracts. War is great way to launder money 😉
Lose*
@@knarftrakiul3881 Bingo! The munitions manufacturers get rich...again...again and again.
We even named out MBT after the General that unfucked the Vietnam War...
You cannot lose if “win” was never defined, success is never achievable when there are no clearly defined goals. I would argue that was in fact their plan, so, they, those that did not define success, did in fact “win”.
If the plan was to lose then we did win. Think quagmire.
My father was with B 1/9 and wounded at Con Thien on 7 November 67 operation Kentucky. It’s 2021 and he’s still having small fragments of shrapnel working there way to the surface of his scalp.
I was in Tanks M-60 A-1 and M-60 A-3 1981 to 1984 we had couple Vietnam vet TC’s one named Eickelberger he was blown out on two occasions he looked like a tank. Wonder what became of him
83 to 85 in a cav unit 😃
81 to 85 M109 FA
Thank you for your sacrifices, true heroes.
You mean the Vietnamese, right? The US had no business being there and they eventually lost the war. The country was united under the communist North and, although no longer communist, is now prosperous and peaceful.
Committing a war crimes on the other side of the pacific ocean does not deserve thanks or praise. It deserves eternal condemnation. I am apalled that the US school system appears to have the audacity to regard the Vietnam war as 'heroic sacrifice'.
Still can’t imagine you and your fellows going through the jungles or just plains full of Vietcong and traps. It was really lucky to survive without any scar. Wow!
Imagine what the Vietnamese went through, in their own country, without any tanks or air support for protection.
They also managed to take a nice shots of vc`s preparing an ambush and launching an rpgs from behind the camera. Incredible filming
@@Sinraye89 That’s why the guerrilla tactics were adopted by Vietcong. That lack of technology however had a great impact on the Vietnamese civilians in terms of casualties. While VC’s had a chance to hide in the tunnels, the civilians didn’t, take Napalm use for example. Politics start the war while people endure it and eventually pay for it.
Would love to see an episode on the US Brown Water Navy! ✊🏻
While i was in a tank up north, my cousin was in a patrol boat down in the delta.
Somehow we both got home. Semper Fi pogues
Roger that Mondo !!!
My dad was in tanks during Vietnam with the 11th armored Calvary division 1968-69!
GOD BLESS ALL THOSE VETERANS WHO FOUGHT IN THE VIETNAM WAR THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT WAS SACRIFICED 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Vietnam has always been a very mysterious and scary but alluring Place for me i grew up watching a show called "Vietnam the 10'000 day war". And other Shows about the war and read time life books about it.
I want to visit Their country and see the Landscape that the brave men and women had to live in and fight in during the sixties and seventies...
I joined the Marines in 1984 and went to boot camp in 1985 June.. i became an Artillery Cannoneer and worked on a Howitzer crew. I always thought about Vietnam when I was on active duty we had many many Vietnam veterans who were senior staff N.C.O.s and Some were captions or Majors Lieutenant Colonels Full bird colonels. Generals. Etc...
They had some harrowing stories about Artillery fire bases and The Vietcong attacking them at night.
The U.S. Artillery was a major target for the Vietcong.
My stepdad was a marine in Vietnam. I asked him about tanks as a kid because I never saw them in Vietnam movies. He told me that the only tank he saw there was parked on base when he landed in country.
I got a friend from high school that was a tanker. During his tour, 67/68, they lost 1 man. Drunk, and was run over by his own tank. Your stepdad was right, I spent 10 months in the bush as an army grunt, and never saw a damn tank in the field. From June 1967, until February 1st 1968, we had 110 Kia, and 258 wia. From the 1st of February 68, until the 28th my unit had 40 Kia, and 150 wia at a place called lz hardcore, about 15 miles from the big marine base, lz baldy at danang. We damn sure could have used some tank support.
@@Pointman-yf6or Wow. That's rough. Thanks for your service. 07
@@Pointman-yf6or Nothing but admiration and respect to you and all those you served with and continue to serve. I hope life is treating you much better these days. I'm glad you came home sir, though I don't know you. I'm not even American, but one of your northern neighbors instead. However, that doesn't diminish my respect for the brave soldiers of our closest ally and friend. If the end of days comes in my lifetime, I would stand next to any one of you to defend our continent and bring peace back to humanity. Be well friend. Lest we forget.
@@Pointman-yf6or wow. Thank you for your service my friend! It's a shame where our country is headed but thank God for.men like you!
The guy that taught me my trade was a "tank commander " I believe . It's been a long time ago . The title might be wrong . I know he was a Sargent . I never asked him about it , he never talked about it but working near Fort Derrick , there was a lot of helicopter traffic . Sometimes he would just stare off into space for a few seconds then go back to work .
25:44 note how there is often a lot of talk about armour penetration of this and that versus such and so but here this crew gets hurt bad by a weird situational random RPG ricochet that blows off the loaders hatch and splashes into the tank.
Its interesting how a tank shell/ricochet can happen.
I worked with a guy who's Huey took an RPG hit right on the rotor as it was lifting off from a hot LZ. The Huey dropped like a rock from 30' to 50'. The wounded were hurt worse and the others were all injured. Then they took fire while laying on the ground or trying to get out of the Huey.
The guy suffered a lot of spine damage and was in chronic pain ever since. He's still around, just saw him in August. I know what back pain is so I can relate to him.
they should have been locked down you never leave a hatch open in combat.
I was a Marine Corps infantryman from 2001-2005 and even the jungle warfare tactics we used in 2001 was far inferior to the North Vietnamese tactics used in 1970. The Marine Corps is incredibly stubborn, it refuses to stoop to guerilla warfare tactics, its always been about all out conventional warfare. Charge the enemy balls to the wall with bounding fire. You could hear a company of Marines sneaking through the jungle a mile away, while the NVA could sneak a battalion up on you without you even noticing. The top Brass are not taught about guerilla warfare in their fancy officer schools, its always been about conventional warfare, throw everything you got at it.
The Vietcong nickname for American soldiers was “the elephants”. They could hear and smell the before they saw them.
Yeah empires are good for conventional warfare but counter insurgency is something different. Not to mention having no real reason to be there so there fore the strategy reflects that.
Yep they were noisy, I was in an Australian platoon that tracked behind an American unit up to the border because they were being followed by the VC. We were using them to hit the VC
On another occasion when we were short on food, we came across a used US camp site and found enough abounded food to keep us going until we got resupplied. We also found a m60 barrel as well
Truf
@@davidwall2919 the Americans could smell the Vietnamese too. I recall my dad saying they smelled like some kind of fish
My old man was a Ranger in vietnam, he told me of one engagement of a heavy force of V.C. on a treeline leading into a dense jungle. Anyway, they were under heavy fire and brought up a M42A1 Duster anti aircraft gun. Now this gun has twin 40mm Bofors cannons, and a Browning M60 machine gun, the way he described this thing in action was unreal. It completely swept the enemy, bushes, trees, everything, the body count was appalling, the ones that were intact. Evidently the "Duster" was better than tanks in the wet soil.
Sounds fun.
Thank your dad for killing communists .
all ive ever heard is that the bofor was one badass gun
M48A3’s wide tracks gave it good off-road mobility, but Vietnam’s exceptionally soft, deep mud frequently bogged it down. Its shallow fording depth (4 feet) and weight could limit its employment. A kit was available that enabled the tank to ford rivers up to 14 feet deep, but it was rarely used.
It is as if the entire US high command was run by career bureaucrats or political officers, not professional soldiers. Then again, the Vietnamese are tough as nails. A bad combination.
@Flare Bruh what? The German Wehrmacht would fare better against the NVA & Vietcong? The Wehrmacht & SS failed in Operation B. to capture Stalingrad due to the intense weather & conditions they faced in Soviet Russia. I beg to differ for that weird hot take of yours
@Flare germany lost ww2
@Flare Vietnam was a cease fire. The United States trained the Afghani Army and gave them all the vehicles, weapons, & equipment they needed to defend and hold themselves. A withdrawl of troops is far from a surrender or a defeat.
@Flare Germany would have lost for the same reason the US did. It wasn't a style of warfare they were used to in a terrain they weren't adapted to living in.
@Flare note : was is not for the soviet operation bagration, the germans would have moved troops from east to west. making normany landings impossible. operation bagration tied the german army in the east. Americans should be very thanksfull to the soviet union. later they asked stalin to help fight the japanese in manchuria becouse they couldnt bare the losses.
I will say this. I drove the M48-A5 main battle tank in South Korea from 83 to 84 and although I never used it in battle, that machine was a workhorse of all work horses.
The Patton series gets a bad wrap for some reason.
Vietnam war was a devastating mortality effects for people who participated in that war.soldiers and civilians suffered heavy casualties.
Yes, it was a terrible war for everybody.
Thanks for a great insight to this part of the Vietnam War. Many thanks also to those Vets, living and deceased.
Wow...that was intense.....I went to Ft. Knox for tank training in 1977 ...(Oregon Army National Guard) ...My Drill Sgt. was a tank driver in Nam, and our Senior Drill Sgt. was a gunner - He had an NVA tank to his credit - we thought that was pretty awesome. They had M60A1s at Knox. Back home at my tank company, we had M60s as well as 60A1s. At my first Summer Camp in July of 77, ( a big war game down at 29 Palms) I drove an M48A5 on loan from the Marines.
This was a very informative documentary. I have never seen information on this subject and enjoyed learning about it. My sincere gratitude to the US armed forces who labored there on behalf of our country, especially to the remaining family members whose loved ones did not return whole! Also, condolences to all of the Vietnamese whom suffered through the bloody war.
it was never a war, it was a "conflict" or a waste of American lives. kind of a preview of the next round of wasted American lives thanks Mr Bush,Obama, and the brian dead guy we have now. c'mon man
@@gilmojica778 nobody asked
They were invading another country, not defending the U.S.
As Member of MCB-11, I was given complete Jungle Training before being deployed in 1969 ...the things we were exposed to were like nothing else imaginable...
The NVA didn’t only have Soviet T54/55s they also still had older T34/85s in some regiments
07:11 - Amtracs! Amphibious tracked vehicles. Designed for carrying troops, equipment & supplies between ships and shore, and then "Forward, from the sea". These are the LVTP-5 version. (Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Personnel.) I was a mechanic on these vehicles 1968-1970 (Vietnam 1969-70). There are also specialized versions: Command (equipped with communications & other equipment for unit commanders); Engineer (equipped with rocket-propelled explosive line charges and a massive toothed bulldozer blade) for clearing minefields; the H model (equipped with a built-in 105 mm Howitzer) for unit artillery support; and the Retriever for and Recovery (or retriever) equipped with a repair shop and parts, and a boom and rigging for recovering, repairing and towing stuck or disabled Amtracs and other vehicles. (I spent a lot of time with this version ...)
Riding in one at sea or in a river is "interesting" - when fully loaded there is only about six inches between the water surface and the top of the hull.
Amtracs were initially developed for the Marines in WW-II. The advantage over landing boats is that the Amtracs can advance with the troops from the beach, providing support and light armor.
The hull armor is fairly thin (no, I don't remember the thickness.) It would keep out machine gun fire. On the other hand, some other weapons would go straight through, which actually could be beneficial. When I was working at a repair depot in Georgia, one of my co-workers turned pale and started shaking as a 'track was pulled into the building for it's turn to be repaired & refurbished. Turned out that he had been inside that one when an RPG went completely through the vehicle and exploded outside ... instead of inside. He had reacted to the sight of the holes in the hull.
Totally amazing that at 77yrs I can see this historical documentation when I was there in the very early August 1964 -June 1967. It is only now we can see what was going on (the Stars and Strips at the time was a bunch of happy BS) When I returned back home no one wanted me to say anything - they really did not like anyone who was involved the the Vietnam Conflict. The thing I then saw was the Tet offensive rising and saying to myself - Just Damn.
Thank you for your service sir. I was just a young boy at the time but have had many Nam Vet friends in my life and still do though they are starting to pass now.
Damn this deserves a movie
I grew up around tons of men who fought in Vietnam and Korea (including my grandfather.) Hearing stories from some of these men was exciting, terrifying, beautiful, and atrocious all at the same time. A friend of my grandparents was a bombardier in Vietnam and listening to his experiences was probably the first time in my life I had seen a sweet old man, who was tough as nails, break down crying. I even had a relative who was part of MAC V SOG, though he didn't want to talk much about it. Most of his stories came from his time as a personal bodyguard for a couple VERY high ranking officials in other countries (including royalty.) But ever since I was a child and heard all of these stories, I was enstilled with a sense of respect that everyone fighting was just another person with parents, a family, and a life outside of war. I've always wanted to visit some of these locations where the most brave young men and women gave their lives for their cause. I feel a sense of duty to visit these places to respect and honor every soldier who gave their live for the brothers around them, regardless of what side they fought on. Of course I love my country and am steadfast in my belief that the USA is the best country that has ever existed, but that it is by no means perfect or without flaw. And despite my disdain for enemies of my country, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for their bravery and willingness to die for their cause. For me, this is a matter of history and the friends I've made who were forced into impossible situations. But I know that, for these men that fought and died, it was a matter of life and death. I was raised to believe that the religion someone practices dictates their fate after death. So for every single man, woman, and child who was lost in these (and all other) wars, I hope that they all find the peace of rest with their God(s)/Goddess(es).
I think Eisenhower summed up LBJ the best : "He encouraged to nation to persevere in a course in which he was not willing to lead."
Same here, Had 2 Uncle's in Korea and a friend of my uncle in Vietnam
One of the most incredible places I've ever visited.. I cannot imagine a worse place to have to fight a War than S.E.Asian jungle
How about Stalingrad in January.
@@brianwalsh1401 lol that would also suck *balls*
I HATE humidity and jungles and all the freaking snakes, venomous spiders and a thousand other insects and parasites. Not to mention land mines, booby traps, bullets going my direction and explosives popping off near me.
PLEASE MAKE AN EPISODE ABOUT MACV SOG IN VIETNAM WHILE THEY ARE STILL HERE. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING STORIES.
BIG Thank you to our guys who served in Vietnam, you make us proud. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. Your lessons learned will save thousands of lives in our current and future wars.
Man, I hope your ready to be disappointed in the next big fight America gets involved in, because it's going to go the exact same way.
I was in C. Co 3rd tank in 65 and 66. In 66 we moved to Cam Lo. We were told we could not use the canister round and the flame thrower tank. Washington at work.
One of the best I have ever seen! Great documentary!
Before 2021: Afghanistan is the "Soviet's Vietnam".
2021: Mankind never learns.
It worked in Korea.
Look at South Korea vs North Korea today.
Without intervention Korea would all be all a starving North Korea today.
@@Crashed131963 That was a conventional war mate, slightly different me thinks.
Correction, Nation-states and Empires never learn.
@@Crashed131963 How do you know that!
@@Crashed131963 they also had the balls to invade North Korea
Some of the braves and crazies people we ever convoy with. To me they were rolling coffins. Base support great Jungle sucides narrow trails few wide roads huge trees they hung bubby traps in trees to drop on top of tank. Hated escorting Tanks,Zippos,and Gas Tankers.♊️🎃🦊
why I feel it is iraq but in jungle, trees instead of buildings... similar narrow roads
@Wilhelm Geisler I was escorting on my third tour Jp4 aviation fuel and napalm at night for 6 months just Tankers and V100's. A lot of people in my company refered to us as wild hunt or rolling dead. Dinner was breakfast midnight chow was lunch. Army mess for breakfast 1800airbase mess for lunch 2400 free flow back and armymess
The people from the North and Central regions of Vietnam are raised to live a harsh life. The people from South Vietnam have always lived a much more sedated lifestyle. 2000 years of fighting China, and over a hundred years of resisting French Colonialism, have hardened these people's resolve.
You forgot ethnically cleansing the Chams and stealing their land
@@shooter7734 You forgot Cham and the Khmer attacking Vietnam to try and conquer it.
@@ongba5890 pre emotive strikes in self defense from the Imperialistic racist vietnamese
That's all
What I forgot was the vietnamese race based discrimination and persecution of the various " national minorities " as you now call them
Who were there before you
In effect making communist vietnam an apartheid state
The vietnamese have a lot to answer for and the Chinese will see that you answer for your crimes soon enough
Japan invaded also
@@Baraka_Obama_ The Japanese left most of the Vichy French administration in Vietnam in place and didn't do much fighting in Vietnam. They were too busy in Burma and elsewhere to want to deal with a Vietnamese insurgency, and for his part Ho Chi Minh and his generals definitely didn't want to bring the full weight of the Japanese army down on their heads.
Ya, I was a tanker in Nam on the twin forty dusters, 144th batalion. It all seems like a dream now.
I've only seen still photos of that tank. Sounds a little more useful for anti-personnel fire than a single 105 barrel.
American soldiers were in Vietnam at the request of the American corporations, Vietnamese soldiers were in their own country, they have no where else. So like the British in 1939, they had no where else to go, they had their home to protect
Supposedly America was in Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism, "The domino theory" Vietnam was not Communist. But after the incursion of America Ho sought help from the Communist's, thereby defeating the original supposed American goal. Incompetent' tragedy. Choose your politicians wisely.
@@grandaddyc Its funny how Ho Chi Minh favored the Americans more after WW2 but he felt betrayed after they support French recolonization of Indochina which led to this conflict.
Thank you for your service in Vietnam willing or unwilling
I can't imagine any scenario of sending armor without infantry, to include open desert warfare.
The Russians did the same thing, in Afghanistan and Chechnya and promptly had their arses handed to them.
@@stevestruthers6180 As well in WWII during 41 and 42.
I feel like there would be a greater chance of being killed or injured for infantry around any tanks hit. I mean same goes for the enemy but still! I’d be worried about shrapnel.
how was the infantry going to keep up with the tanks in the jungle?
@@waybee100 That is part of tactical planning and, tactical control measures and rates of march. You open up a map, do terrain appreciation and deploy infantry at likely ambush/choke points. A jungle doesn't mean you can't do skirmishers. Even if tanks have to make their own roads, you still have a point A and a point B.
You Vietnam men had it rough, then weren't welcomed home! On behalf of America. I'm sorry! Thank you for all yer service and sacrifice. I thank you.
What was their purpose there? But to rob resources. steal treasures and kill their leaders. Conqueror and divide. Like they did Korea… thank them for doing the devils work…
I was in 1/7 driving a Ontos. 6 106 MM guns and we were fast and light. We could tap dance across rice fields while tanks were so heavy they bogged down.
I had the opportunity to visit Vietnam 3 years ago... absolutely lovely people owners of an amazing and prosperous country built by a truly brave nation that resisted the unforgettable US invasion as same as they did with many other countries before.
As a Marine in Viet Nam from October 1966 to August 1968, the imagery in this video is completely incorrect. The video shows Marines with M-16s. When the M-16 was introduced to us, it was a massive failure and most Marines dropped the Mickey Mouse Mattel Gun for M-14 where we could scrounge them, or recover VC Kalashnikovs when possible.
The focus of Generals back in the relative safety of Saigon was so inept in understanding what we saw in the field, or what was the real issues that we faced. Their ineptness killed almost as many US Troups as the Vietnamese, both NVA and VC.
thats really sad
Allen we replaced our m 14 s with the m-16 in March of 1968 and one of the issues was the spring in the clip holding 20 rounds i which we only used 18 rounds. I never had any problems and was able to carry a lot more clips . We alternated sniper teams and I carried the Remington model 700 Semper Fi , L/ Cpl. Tom Fuleky 327 Marines 1968
@27:05
paraphrased:
"It was really funny...we were trying to put out the fire on the tank with a fire extinguisher...but it was empty because we used it to cooldown beer the night before"
Legends XD
Watching this video brings back some great times in my life.The M-60 A3 had TTS,which stands for Tank Thermal sight .This tank had 3 models.The M-60 A3 was the best of the best at that time in history .The high silouette ,or turrent,was it's only negative.I would put it up against any tank during the 60s and 70s.
And the 80s too. We loved our M60 A3s in Germany. The new M1 A1 was just coming out and had alot of bugs at first.
@@scotanderson7689 Scot,when I was in boot camp at Knox in the fall of 83,which was the coldest winter in decades,we trained on the M-60 A3.But there was one motorpool that had about 30 M1 tanks.The tanks had a very limited training detail.They were just rolling out from the assembly line and had not been forwarded to front line units in Korea.I was in Bravo company,2 ND battalion,1st brigade.
British chieftain could engage and destroy an m60 from beyond which an m60 could engage
@@Truthbomb918 Max range for an m60 A3 was 4,200 m.
@@markpaul8178 m60 had a British 105mm and was ridiculous high target, chieftain had a much more powerful 120mm rifled cannon and much heavier armor and could fire hesh as well as heat and sabot
U.S. schools did not teach me that Ho Chi Minh had attended the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 to demand recognition of an independent Vietnam. He had.
yea, they tend to skip that, and the fact the united state financed the french to fight the war since the 40s until the french got tired of it too. like American generals were on the ground in the late 40s early 50s, calling the shots involved.
That’s more if an example of the inconsistencies of US education. My school spent a decent bit of time talking about it. The biggest problem I think is more so the US education system is really inconsistent with some schools going over things like that and others never mentioning it.
Well if they realize Ho Chi Minh was western educated, and that he began one of his most famous speeches using the preamble to our constitution, they'll probably think he was an inspirational liberator. Which he was. The US will do anything to make sure communists get a bad reputation. I had one teacher in 8th grade try to tell me he named Ho Chi Minh city after himself "like any good dictator". Forgetting Uncle Ho died like 6 years before the war ended.
Ho Chi Minh was not very communistic. Even communist Stalin and Mao suspected him for a while. Ho even wrote a letter to Truman to establish US-Vietnam relations but Truman turned that down to favor the French. Roosevelt however would have recognized Vietnam if he lived past 1945.
He never attended the conference, he was there with a group demanding to be allowed to attend.
Good work for the hero of the hill. You let our brothers come home. RESPECT.
It's hot enough in Vietnam, now sit in metal box in the jungle. Thanks Uncle Sam
I think that was against the Geneva convention.
@@cenccenc946 American uses that as a "to-do" list
My dad served his first Tour of Duty in Vietnam with the 3/4 Cav 25th Infantry Division the Tropic Lightning or some people called it the Electric Strawberry. Served in Operation Cedar Falls and Operation Junction City and not to mention doing a whole lot of convoy duty on Highway 13.
you want a congratulations or what? i mean, why even tell everyone this? are you looking for the attention your daddy never gave you because he was too busy being used as a pawn in the big bankers money wars?
@@theonewhojustis6541 Beats being a communist.
@@theonewhojustis6541 nope don't want congratulations and guess what I will leave the comments that I want to leave you know why because there's not a damn thing you can do about it. And I don't need my dad permission. He is proud of his military service just like I am proud of mines. And if you're in the United States you support this capitalistic banker system also. So try not to breaking anything falling off your high horse.
@@grapeshot sounds like you're a WWE star and you are cutting a promo lmao
@@theonewhojustis6541 why so ignorant did your daddy not love you?
My grandmother knew men who had served in Korea and Vietnam. May she rest in peace.
Tankers would kill for some A/C back then.
got that right was in korea 1965 66 got hot in summer cold in winter.
Whoever made the decision to send those tanks without escort should've been court marshalled.
These battle stories are still bone chilling cold teeth chattering .
I remember my brother calling those "dart" rounds a "bee hive" round. He was with the 9th Div and later 1st air cav on a 105 crew.
In this video, I might have missed it, but not one flame thrower (tank version) was seen. Now, I'm no tanker but one would think in the jungle, a flame thrower would have been a decent option.
I believe the Geneva Convention outlawed flame throwers after WWII. So we used Napalm instead and Agent Orange to defoliate the jungle. That was a waste also.
I used to work for a guy who’d been a Marine tanker, having served in VN. Told me once of his tank spraying a mist of diesel fuel over an area of jungle infested with NVA, and then a squirt of napalm. FOOM! No more jungle.
Look up M67 flamethrower tank.
@@mikem6176 They say necessity is the mother of invention. What a great idea. I could certainly be wrong about the flame throwers. It
something I seem to remember from one of those documentaries. I wonder how accurate those documentaries are anyway.
@@axlejohnson9156 The Marines had them and they were very effective .
damn, I can't imagine attacking a whole tank column, that must have been terrifying.
Very brave the Vietnamese
Fear of death becomes transmutated to courage, when your homeland is invaded by aliens.
@@AK-tx1vg ohh for sure
EXCELLENT DOCUMENTARY ! ABOUT TANK WARFARE IN VIETNAM ! THANK YOU ! FOR THIS FOOTAGE !
Until watching this video I had not appreciated the sheer incompetence of Westmoorland and his staff. He and they were criminally inept. Having said that, looking at the actual footage of US troops on patrol, they have the appearance of soldiers who know are facing a superior army. As for standing bolt upright and firing M16's and M60's from the hip, well it's not surprising that they were frequently low on ammo. In the early days of the Vietnam War, the Brits, who had masses of expeince fighting wars of insurgance, offered to provide the US with advice. The US refused to listen to the Brits. That worked out well. Having served as an NCO in the British Army for 11 years, I feel the US Army was badly served by it's generals in the Vietnam War. They were clearly our of their depth.
We haven’t seen competency since. Save, the execution of desert storm and desert shield. Followed by the order to shut it down. The first Bush had been head of the CIA and was well aware of the fool’s errand it would be to take thing all the way to Baghdad. We had captured or destroyed a majority of their ability to wage war. Unfortunately you have a multi trillion dollar boondoggle called the pentagon which is more than happy to assist in leading us into unwinable quagmires to ensure their future budget expenditures.
We are finding out these days that the US has been infiltrated for years by Communists and globalists. I would not be surprised to find out that our CIA was telling the Vietnamese our battle plans. If they weren't, the Democrats most probably were.
Brits lost enough wars with insurgents. The Vietnamese like the Afghans were more willing to fight, die and outlast the Americans
@@Truthbomb918 Time was always on the North's side. Where were they to go? Its their country. US war planners and generals never appreciated that one fact. That's one reason it was a lost cause from the beginning and they had to lie to the American public. Because if the truth was told, no war could have been executed.
Yup. I think the Vietnam war really changed American military for the better, and was the reason why they were so succesfull in iraq and Afghanistan.
All the inept morons got weeded out, and the military soon learnt how to actually become an efficient fighting force.
If Vietnam happened in the mdoern day, it would most likely end up better than Iraq. Viet Cong and NVA had the decency to make sure they identified themselves differently from Civillians. Cant say the same about baathist party radicals.
That looks my my dad’s helicopter landing there. He was a Dustoff pilot. 🇺🇸