I recently bought a large book about Vietnam and I was surprised at the number of photos in it showing American soldiers carrying M1 carbines. I didn't realize there were so many used there.
I just ran across this photo of a crew chief holding onto his carbine in 1963 early in the war -
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...3d_bCopy-1.jpg
Can any of the vets shed some light. Were there situations where you could choose a weapon?
I understand how some early photos showed U.S. soldiers with carbines, but there were many late photos too.