Cu-Chi

[CINDERS]

Here I am at Cu-Chi in 2017 on a vacation with the wife and out laws.
Trying to pic the hulk of the tank it's to small to be an M-60 besides does not have the commanders MG turret I was thinking Chafee was it still in service then!
Sorry for the sticks for legs it was way to hot & humid for long'uns should have worn them but crawling along the tunnel was a mission.

I had a go of the Browning 30 cal, AR 15 or 16 & the Garand except the Garand broke the F/P on the 5th round so had to have a 3 round burst out of the 30 cal !

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[old tanker]

M41 Walker Bulldog. 76mm main gun, used by the ARVN and the Filipino troops when I was there. Here's a picture from May of 1970 during the Cambodian incursion.

I was in the 25th Infantry Division. Cu Chi base camp was built atop those tunnels.

The M60 was never used in Viet Nam. The M48A3 with a 90mm gun was what we had. The AVLB bridge and the CEV Combat engineer vehicle, which were there, used the M60 hull. About 1969 the Cav units started trading in their tanks for the M551 Sheridan

[browningautorifle]

Here's a picture from May of 1970 during the Cambodian incursion.

Those ammo cans down in front are being used as secondary armor? Blow off armor?

[old tanker]

Those ammo cans down in front are being used as secondary armor? Blow off armor?

Probably like me, just an easy way to carry more ammo. Look at the fenders on my M48. Reactive armor is still a bit in the future. We did hang track blocks from the turret rails, mostly to have them handy for spares and what little they may have helped against RPGs

We all carried a roll of chan link fence and engineer stakes to set up RPG screens when setting up a defensive position

[browningautorifle]

an easy way to carry more ammo.

My first thought but any incoming even rifles would do it's share of damage. I know guys used to strap track shoes and other things on to help with smaller rockets.

[Aragorn243]

I had no idea the M60 was not used in Vietnam. Odd in that it entered service in 1957. Good to know.

[old tanker]

I had no idea the M60 was not used in Vietnam. Odd in that it entered service in 1957. Good to know.

One very good reason was the 90mm gun had canister ammunition available while the 105mm gun on the M60 did not. The bulk of our engagements were at very close range and against mostly soft targets that canister was very effective against. Absolutely no hesitation in engaging a classic infantry school three man tank killer team at 50 meters with the main gun. (Blood, guts and hair everywhere)



USAREUR had the priority for M60 tanks. The 105mm Vickers L7 rifle, known as the M68 gun in US service, was the defacto NATO standard.

[CINDERS]

The other weapon that was very good at acreage clearing with the cannister round (Or beehive) was the ONTOS (Greek for THING) with its 6 x 106mm RCL's I heard that with 6 it could basically flatten everything within 1/4 acre