A reader might feel that today must be Vietnam War Day here on this blog, and not without good reason.
For one thing, we've started what will undoubtedly be a series of posts of the closing months of the Vietnam War, with this daily entry:
Monday, January 6, 1975. The Vietnam War resumes in earnest.
For another, I bumped up this old item, or reran it:
And now, of course, the following from my visit to the National Museum of Military Vehilces.
UH-1 "Huey", a helicopter synonymous with the Vietnam War.
Hueys came into use in a major way during the war, and remained in use for many years thereafter. They were still the predominant helicopter when I was a National Guardsmen in the 1980s, and even now I'll occasionally see an Air Force example in Cheyenne in operation.
They remain one of the greatest helicopters of all time.
I wasn't even aware of the M-422's existence as a actual service item. I've seen them on a television series from the 60s and assumed they were just a studio item substituting for a real Jeep. Offhand, I think that was from The Lieutenant which only had one run, that being in 1963.
The "Gamma Goat", an incredibly unstable vehicle. One of the guys I was in basic training with was latter killed in a Gamma Goat roll over.
The M151 Jeep. Also very unstable, but long serving. It was the last 1/4 general purpose truck of the US Army used on a widescale basis.
M109 howitzer. I trained on one of these at Ft. Sill, where I had the "No 1" position on the gun. A much updated version is still in service.
Last edition:
