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Found a few more pictures from the closet
- Thread starter Gunz
- Start date
DocIllinois
Verified Military
One of my uncles had similar things to say about the S Korean Army from when he served in Vietnam, being memorably impressed and disturbed by how they did business.
He recalled a conversation he'd had with a ROKA unit commander about their reputation. The officer said that they had the same ROE as Americans because the US was bankrolling their military presence in country. But in reality, the ROKA saw the NVA/VC as the best infantry in the world at that time and defeating them would take some next level viciousness and scare tactics, so that's what they often went ahead and did.
He'd also said that much of their Army at the time were career professionals who knew that combat service, especially distinguished fighting, meant faster advancement.
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Last batch. I swear.
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Topkick
Verified Military
Nothing wrong with being proud of and sharing your experiences with your brothers.
Bro, post away. I'd rather fill the server up with awesome threads like this than the hundreds of Nickleback images I have to purge every week.
Edit: I see an admin put a filter on n I c k e l b a c k lol
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Devildoc
Verified Military
Regarding Aussies in VN, studying the battle of Long Tan should be required reading.....
Yes, they and the New Zealanders were extraordinary fighters....
DocIllinois
Verified Military
Agree with studying this particular battle, especially the use of assault-breaking arty and APCs.
As for the worst band in the history of the universe - The Frogs. Start with the song I've Got Drugs (Out of The Mist) then go from there.
:-"
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OK so I've done a little bit of research and found this quote.
"Morning breaks and we set off in arrowhead formation. The first thing we noticed was, we were being followed. We could see two men in the distance of the rubber plantation, they stand observing us. From their demeanor we can tell they are not civilians. No matter how we try to shake them off they stick with us. Our rules of engagement require us to positively identify ‘the enemy’ and as they are not carrying weapons there is little we can do."
So it seems similar to the US one but possibly a little less restrictive. You might enjoy the page I found it on too: When things go wrong! | VietnamWar.govt.nz, New Zealand and the Vietnam War
These original contact reports seem to back that up too but unless I can actually ask someone I can't be completely certain. W3 Company Vietnam Veterans Website (and click on index of service stories- it's a bit of an old fashioned site).
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Wow, thanks for those links. After two paragraphs I was back in an ambush site:
"We duly settle in to the night routine and for the first few hours we would all remain awake. Then, each person will take an hour and then tap the other on the shoulder for his turn at sentry. A trip flare was placed next to the track that came in from the jungle a claymore was hooked with instantaneous det cord to that flare. If the enemy tripped the flare the claymore would do the work of ten men."
I don't remember us using trip flares but we would set claymores. Occasionally we sent two or three guys out from the main ambush site on KTs (Kill Teams). Or we'd split the unit into two mutually supporting ambush sites or use half the team as a blocking force.
The Kiwis used that very effective Arrow formation. In the documentary I posted it's demonstrated in the opening scene. Our AO had large open rice paddy areas and dense bamboo jungle areas where we were funneled down narrow trails. If the paddies were dry we could spread out and advance across them and take cover behind the earthen paddy dikes which crisscross the paddies. That's where an arrow formation would be effective. If the paddies were flooded, (at full flood they were about thigh deep), we crossed them on the dikes, single file, 10-15 meters apart. Crossing a flooded paddy up on a dike under a full moon, silhouetted against moonlight and shimmering paddy water, was intense pucker factor.
The writer talks about being shadowed by unarmed VC. We would have half of the team, alternating daily between the Alpha and Bravo element, run a daylight combat patrol at different times each day. Every day patrol was watched by kids in the paddies mounted on these enormous water buffaloes and we were convinced they were part of a surveillance effort.
I remember one day we had an unarmed adult (i.e. military age) male watching our progress from a distance and it was obvious he wasn't farming. Military age male civilians were almost nonexistent in the villages and hamlets because they were either all in the army or the enemy. In any event, the guy watched us cross a 300 meter stretch of dry paddy until we finally got fed up with it and launched a 40mm HE round in his general direction which missed him but made him unass the AO in haste.
Again, thanks for this link. I will consume every word of it.
No worries mate. I'll see what else I can dig up for you too.
I just realised that "enjoy" was entirely the wrong word to use as well mate. Sorry about that!
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