17-4-29 M14 Picture of the Day

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Picture of a Marine walking point for his unit during Operation Macon, 1966 Vietnam

9 MARINES was a US Marine Corps unit
3 MAR DIV was a US Marine Corps unit
Primary service involved, US Marine Corps
Operation MACON
Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam
Location, An Hoa
Description: Operation MACON began when two VC companies ambushed one Marine company on a routine search and clear mission NE of An Hoa. An Hoa was to be the site of an industrial complex and was politically important to the GVN and hence the military. By the end of the day, III MAF developed the operation that normally consisted of a single battalion-size force but for a few days had five battalions. There were three phases to the operation which finally concluded on 27 October. The operation claimed 380 enemy KIA versus 24 US KIAs and 172 WIAs.

With the proper rifle for doing business...

Not the most enviable position, a friend was a forward scout in VN all he says about it is they had a few hair raising do's on his tour.

I can believe that. Lately I've started addressing the VN-War reading lots of personal accounts and essays, plus random stuff.
Walking point must have been a thing for few, but done by many.

Ovidio some books I have & good reads for you some which I have read some 2-3 times,

Marine Sniper 93 kills Carlos Hathcock
Silent Warrior (sequel to the above book)
13 cent Killers The 5th Marine Snipers in Vietnam
Dear Mom a snipers Vietnam

others of interest for you;
SAS Sniper Rob Mayor
Sniper One
With British Snipers to the Reich
Shooter Gunnery Sgt Jack Coughlin
Stalk & Kill the sniper experience
The Last Wolf By Cox
Sniper One on One
Sniper on the Eastern Front
Ed Kluger Dead Center a marine snipers two year odyessy in the Vietnam War

Good list.
Dear Mom a snipers Vietnam
Reading that one presently.

Thanks Cinders. A few of them are on my list too, all in English.
I read We Were Soldiers Once translated, but I felt it was missing something, so I bought it in english and got the real thing.
Since then, I never ever bought a translated book if the author was English tongue or German.
If I may suggest a book that really made me think this year, that would be, among many others, that would be "What It Is Like To Go To War" from Karl Marlantes.
I read his Matterhorn when it came out and liked him a lot.
In this book he addresses lots of things that made me think much.
Books are my other great passion.
I don't know if I spend more money for guns and shooting or for reading.........[COLOR="black"]

---------- Post added at 10:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 PM ----------


"Good list.
Dear Mom a snipers Vietnam
Reading that one presently."

I'm reading a book about Roman history, but in queue I have right now "Dead Center".
After Hithcock's Marine Sniper, I'd like to read something else about snipers over there.

"A Rifleman Went to War" by McBride, WW1 sniping. He also wrote "The Emma Gees" both books first hand account of an American ex-National Guardsman in the Canadian Army

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ovidio

I can believe that. Lately I've started addressing the VN-War reading lots of personal accounts and essays, plus random stuff.
Walking point must have been a thing for few, but done by many.

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Actually the individual walking point had a better chance of survival in an ambush. The VC or NVA would let the person walking point pass through the ambush zone and await the main body of troops to enter the ambush zone before springing the ambush. If that happen the individual walking point was not doing his job, if he was good he would be able to spot the signs of an ambush or boobytraps. But that would open him up to receiving enemy fire earlier which makes things a bit sticky to say the least.

--fjruple

Was the NVA/VC as good at jungle fighting as the films would have us believe or were they no better the U.S. and Australian army?