With a top speed of around 30 MPH, and a standard 90 mm gun with some variant using a flamethrower , the Pattons proved capable in Army and Marine Corps service. Ms often worked alongside Ms, and both were often found traveling in convoys down the roads of South Vietnam.
The M proved itself as a reliable workhorse, as upgraded variants of the vehicle remain in active service with the U. The Ms were fielded in an number of different variants, including service as anti-aircraft, flamethrower, mortar, medical vehicles. The usage of armor by the North Vietnamese should not be overstated — tanks were used in a limited fashion during most of the war, and were often destroyed by American air power before having any real effect.
However, the North Vietnamese did field Soviet produced tanks during the war, which became more powerful in when the U. One of the most commonly used tanks was the Russian T or its Chinese variant, the Type With a mm gun, and a top speed of around 30 mph, the T helped spearhead the final collapse of South Vietnam in Army in the early s, the Huey was the aerial workhorse of the U. The Huey formed an essential part of the "air cavalry". Thousands of Hueys were deployed during the war, and while many were shot down, the helicopter proved invaluable to the war effort.
The Bell AH-1 cobra attack helicopter would make its first flight in , and would enter service in Around 1, would serve in Vietnam and would continue service with the Army until being replaced by the Apache attack helicopter, while variants of the Cobra still serve with the Marine Corps.
The two-seat, twin-engine supersonic Phantom played a large role in the war as both an interceptor and a fighter-bomber. A big, ugly, flying fortress, the Boeing B Stratofortress was designed and introduced in the early s. Powered by eight turbojet engines, during the war Bs were capable of massive aerial bombardment, frequently carrying payloads in the tens of thousands of pounds. Airstrikes by B bombers during Vietnam remain some of the most ferocious aerial bombardments in the history of warfare.
The plane itself remains active in the U. Air Force today, one of the longest serving aircraft in the U. The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG was a supersonic fighter designed and produced in the Soviet Union that entered into service by the start of the s. The MiG was the most modern fighter utilized by the North Vietnamese during the war, and its agility made it a threat to heavier American fighter-bombers.
Developed during the Second World War and used in attacks on Japan, napalm is a jellied gasoline mixture that is extremely effective as an incendiary weapon. Napalm burns at an extremely high temperature, and can kill through this burning or through asphyxiation. The U. Napalm proved an effective physical and psychological weapon during the war, though it was and remains controversial. Cluster bombs are a type of explosive that contain smaller bombs within, and saturate an area with these smaller munitions for increased effect.
This type of explosive was heavily used by the U. In total, the United States flew over , bombing missions over Laos during the war, dropping over 2. Many of these smaller bombs did not explode immediately, and many remain a lethal threat within Laos today. Efforts to clear these explosives are still ongoing. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have made IEDs part of our common terminology, but improvised explosive devices were just as common in Vietnam.
While the Vietnamese did make use of punji spikes and other primitive yet effective traps, rigged explosives were incredibly common and were frequent killers of American troops. Grenades, mines, artillery rounds — all could be adapted for use as a trap through simple tripwires or pressure plates. Pouches are made of OD rubberized material and are believed to be made in-country. They are worn from Air Police Pistol Magazine Pouch. Vietnam era air police leather pistol magazine pouch. The black leather is in solid shape with no damage and is still supple.
The metal hardware is in good Army Plastic Whistle. Vietnam era US Army whistle. Whistle is in very good, clean condition. The plastic whistle is stamped as US G. ARVN Rucksack.
Only minor staining on the body. The metal Standard issue od, one strap bag. On the front is a hand painted and colored CB bee. Shows use Child Plastic Airway. Child plastic airway still in the box. Compress and Bandage, Gauze Field. Compress and bandage still in the bag.
The bandage is Korea or Vietnam War era. The bandage photographed is just one of several we have in stock. Some may The bag is in great shape with no damage and the printing on the Dyed Sterilized Dressing.
Dyed Sterilized Dressing still in the box. The bandage is believed to be Korea or Vietnam War era. Otherwise, same as Third Pattern Vibram Sole. All Jungle Boots came with an "information tag" attached that provided instructions for use. The key points on the tag were:. Soft tropical sun hats were used by all forces in Vietnam. They were made of either cotton poplin or rip-stop fabric.
The hat featured an adjustable chin-strap, foliage loops and ventilation eyelets around the crown. The insect net was issued with it, but not often used. Look at the leather toggle on the hat strap. If it is rectangular shaped then its a Vietnam dated Hat. Post Vietnam and modern ones have toggles with rounded corners. The OD green version of the boonie hat. Vietnam era hats had two vents on the sides. Made of a netted mesh to keep insects away.
The top has an elastic suspension that fits over your head, boonie or helmet. There a semi-rigid hoops sewn into the netting to hold a cylindrical shape to keep the netting away from the users head.
Can also be worn between the helmet and the liner. This was a visored baseball style hat made of polyester and rayon gabardine cloth dyed olive green army shade This hat was very unpopular with troops. The stitching is a good way to recognize wartime fatigue caps, as they have a double row Two rows of stitching around the visor and cap. Post war caps have two double rows Four rows of stitching.
The M1 helmet of the 's has a lower profile than the M1 helmets of WW2, otherwise the design was unchanged. The two-part chin strap was typically fastened up around the rear of the helmet. There are many of the Vietnam era helmets to be found. Some things to look out for The WW2 helmet's rim joins at the front, the Korean and Vietnam helmet rim joins at the rear. The helmet strap should have a little anchor insignia on it. If you are new to reenacting you will find these helmets heavy to wear but you will get used to it.
The early pattern is the same as the WW2 helmet liner interior, but it has olive green webbing. The liner includes a 6 point suspension system made up of cotton webbing with 3 adjustable web straps. The headband is attached to the suspension webbing. There are also three small buckles attached to the inside of the liner used to attach the nape strap.
The Vietnam liner webbing are attached with rivets, whereas the later ones have a detachable suspension system. Green Brown. Tight Weave Fabric Twill Fabric. The Mitchell leaf pattern was a disruptive camouflage pattern using selected organic dyes and resin bonded pigments. A reversible cover with leaf patterns in greens and brown colors for spring and summer wear, and brown colors for fall and winter operations.
For additional camouflage the cover contained small slots for inserting natural foliage. The elastic helmet band could also be used to hold foliage in place. It is possible to buy a cover with graffiti written on it.
Graffiti on helmet covers was a means of expressing identity and opinion. If you choose to put your own graffiti on a helmet care should be taken to use graffiti appropriate to the period and service and also keep in mind you will be in full view of the general public, so you might want to temper it a little bit. The easier dates to find are between If you have a twill cotton cover then it was definitely made in the 's.
Likewise early Mitchell pattern covers were still marked with FSN. Notice on many covers that they were made by the Minneapolis Society for the blind. The headband is a leather covered web strap provided with 6 metal clips and a buckle for attaching and adjusting the headband to the liner. The clips lock around the webbing that goes around the inside of the helmet.
The open ends of the clips should be pointing up when the band is on your head. It is easier to adjust the band by fitting it on your head before you put it into the helmet. An elastic cotton webbing placed around the helmet. It was designed to hold foliage in order to blend the helmet into the surrounding terrain. In Vietnam, however it was more commonly used to hold personal items such as cigarettes, toilet paper, insect repellent or a spare magazine. A web strap with studs to attach to the back of the liner to give support to the neck.
It has a buckle for adjusting the headband. The neckband is a web strap with a long adjusting tape sewed to each end and a short adjusting tape sewed to the middle. Designed to be fitted to the 2nd Pattern helmet liner.
This helped to hold the helmet at the back of your head, keeping the thing from pitching forward on your forehead or nose. These were often discarded by the troops. A cotton web strap attached to the sides of the helmet, utilizing a ball and hook type closure clasped together in this picture. Commonly worn over the back of the helmet. The ball and hook was designed to release the helmet should undue pressure be exerted on the helmet thus offering some protection from neck injury overpressure from a blast or the helmet being grabbed or snagged thus yanking the wearers head back.
There is a different chin-strap for paratroopers that is designed to hold the helmet securely on the soldiers head during a jump below. A pistol belt is what all other web gear hooks to. You attach your suspenders, ammo pouches, first aid or compass pouch, canteen and fanny pack to name just a few items to it. There are two types available Pistol pictured above and Davis.
Davis belts had a flat metal tab the locked into a slot on the other end of the belt. They were reputed to come undone when you laid on you stomach.
The standard ammo pouch for the M16 magazine. There are carriers either side for attachment of grenades. The M ammo pouch was introduced in It was originally designed to carry magazines for the M14 rifle and not M It does carry both types of magazines. Troops were known to put a bandage from their first aid pouch in the bottom of this pouch so that the M16 magazines would fit to the top of the pouch. There are several variations of this pouch.
The earliest pouch is made of canvas and has a metal front plate to protect the ammunition from fragments and a grommet through the securing tab. This was replaced in with a pouch of the same size but without the metal plate and tab grommet. This gives a a crumpled appearance when empty Pictured above. A smaller size of pouch still made of canvas appeared in late to early These were designed for easier access to the shorter M16 20 round magazine.
Both types fit the same number of magazines but in the smaller pouch magazines are easier to reach. There is another of the smaller size pouches but made of nylon. This is part of the M webbing. Also called the Fanny pack. This pattern has wings of canvas that fold inwards. It has a plastic window pocket to put your name. The suspenders attach to the top of the bag on the back through riveted holes on stitched tabs.
A nice pack and easy to acquire. Flap - M has a simple narrow flap while M has an improved flap that both sides fold down a little bit. M has 2 side extensions that folded over the content while M has waterproof throat around the opening.
An improved version of the earlier one in a moderately larger size. The interior contains a plastic lining. The rest of the features are identical to the M M buttpacks are the more scarce of the two. This isn't necessary for your gear, but it is a useful item.
What it does is convert your butt pack into a backpack by strapping it higher up on your shoulders, by attaching to your M suspender. There is no reason why you could not have two butt packs on your webbing, one on the pistol belt and one on an adapter. All in all, a nice little accessory. The suspenders attach to the front of your pistol belt and to your butt pack or the back of pistol belt.
They are there to keep your belt up, and distribute the weight more evenly. They come in three sizes: regular and long and X-long. Regular fits most, but if you're a tall person, over 6 feet, then get the long size though, they can be harder to find.
A small pouch designed to carry either a lensatic compass or a Field Dressing, the field dressing being the most common content. It can fit on a number of places on the web gear. You need only one of these for your basic kit but you can have as many as you like. Very handy for all sorts of personal items.
Take care not to overdo it. One quart canteen, made of olive drab polyethylene plastic. Buy only Vietnam dated ones, there are a lot of them around. You need at least two of these as a minimum for your collection. You will find the dates of molded into the underside. A felt lined cotton duck water canteen cover. Earlier dated examples Pre have a canvas trim around the edge flaps, later ones are nylon.
There is also a later fully nylon type M with a little pouch for purifying tablets. The felt lining helps keep the water cool. It has an attachment to fix your bayonet with M8A1 Scabbard. A complicated set of straps, also called "spaghetti straps".
Use it to strap your sleeping bag or poncho with liner rolled inside, on to your M suspenders. Often M and M equipment were mixed together to form composite webbing, since both types were fully compatible with each other.
The new equipment was essentially the same but replaced canvas for nylon, and metal for plastic, which unlike the canvas, was mildew resistant.
The same as a pistol belt but it has the quick release Davis buckle, quick release buckle, it had the tendency to come undone at annoying times. Similar to the small version of the M Universal Ammo Pouch, but made of nylon and with a quick release closure.
Additional photos showing M M16 30 rounds magazine pouch. Date is But there are limited war time photos showing the use of this pouch during Vietnam War. One difference between M butt pack with M butt pack is that M butt pack has 2 straps with snap under the slide keeper on each side.
On the M version, you don't need to use butt pack adaptor to move up the butt pack to your back shoulder. Because there are 2 hooks on the M harness to hold the M buttpack. And the 2 snap straps on the M butt pack will then secure the pack to the H-harness. Similar to the M Suspenders with the H-shape system on the back. Made of padded nylon, there are metal loops on each suspender front for the attachments of small items.
Identical pattern to the M Compass Pouch accept made of nylon. The cover is made of nylon and has a small pocket on the right hand side for water purification tablets. This example has plastic snaps. This tool had a hollow triangular shaped handle and a shovel blade with one edge sharpened for cutting, the other serrated for digging.
The blade could be adjusted to different angles in the same way as the M E-Tool. It folded twice for carrying and was stored in a nylon pouch. My studies have yet to show a picture of a troop in Vietnam with one of these. If you have a picture, please share it and I will post it here on the web page. The sleeping gear carrier is not a nylon version of the M but is a rectangular piece of nylon with 2 long straps and D-rings. The Tropical Combat Neckerchief was a sweat cloth of highly absorbent dark green cotton in Army shade It is a standard 36" by 24" and matches the color of the undershirt.
This item became popular for wiping perspiration and dirt from the brow and hands and for cleaning weapons and ammunition. It was worn over or around the head as a bandanna or sweatband. Troops also wore them tied around their necks. These neckerchiefs were very well made and had many uses.
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