M1/M2 Carbines in Ken Burns "Vietnam" on PBS

[imarangemaster]

I have been watching Ken Burns extravaganza on Vietnam. It is interesting that the second most common US firearm, after the AR15 platform, used by us and the ARVN is the M1/M2 Carbine. Until around 1965, or so, the Carbine was the most common.

I knew a guy that was a MACV Advisor in the early 60s, and he used an M2, even though he could have an AR15 (Model 601 or 602 - the incarnations prior to type classing the platform as M16 and M16A1). He said everything they did was close up and personal (generally 50 yards or less), and the .30 Carbine round was very good at permanently reforming communist insurgents. He also said it was more reliable than the AR15 platform in the jungle. That agrees with what my dad said about his carbine on Iwo Jima - very reliable, in more ways than one.

As a side note, the series is fairly well done and objective, and shows little or no evidence of Burns' left leaning tendencies. No examples of the revisionist history that is so common now days - probably because so much primary source research. There was lots of primary source stuff, including presidential tape recordings of Kennedy, LBJ, and Nixon. It very closely mirrors my recollections of growing up in those times, though I did not go into the Army until 1974 at age 22.

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