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Post by hornet32 on May 7, 2016 7:40:20 GMT -5
Just for a moment try to Picture your self as a Gunner going into a hot LZ the only protection you have is a Chest Plate 12 x 18 inches no protection from the neck up no protection for your arms or e legs and these Guys are waiting to greet you and you get to do this every day .
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Post by Swampy on May 7, 2016 9:18:25 GMT -5
I don't know how you guys can do it - I sure don't have the courage.
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May 7, 2016 14:06:22 GMT -5
Post by Sir John on May 7, 2016 14:06:22 GMT -5
Me either!
They say a man never knows until the bullets actually start heading your way, until then......
The ones i admire the most were the fighter pilots and bomber crews that climbed into a Spitfire or Lancaster maybe 4 times a day and went up against the Gladiator in the Arena, and one came home.
Some blokes come home with a chest full of Medals and get on with their lives, others put in a claim for PTSD!
JMO
SJ (the Lee-Enfield is interesting, probably the same one I had at Gallipoli or Tobruk!
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May 7, 2016 14:16:06 GMT -5
Post by hornet32 on May 7, 2016 14:16:06 GMT -5
At first it was exciting then when the danger set in the attrition the empty bunk where a fellow slept the night before now they going through his belongs to be sent to his next of kin you just start to be cynical about it all , start thinking hell can't live forever.
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May 7, 2016 14:29:57 GMT -5
Post by hornet32 on May 7, 2016 14:29:57 GMT -5
The Lee Enfield hand me downs from Percy's old mob ,in truth those old rifles were handed out to the useless cannon fodder, while the real fighters got the AK's and SKS the Lads in the middle picture are operating the.51 Cal anti aircraft gun this was the Huey crew's worst night mare this thing fired incendiary rounds get hit with one of those you burn all the way down, crewmembers just jumped to their deaths Pilots couldn't get out so they burned alive , picture on the right man operating a RPG .
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Post by jerryfmcompushaft on May 8, 2016 8:27:17 GMT -5
Kinda makes you wonder why the Infantry pukes called them REMFs....
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May 8, 2016 10:00:17 GMT -5
Post by hornet32 on May 8, 2016 10:00:17 GMT -5
WE had for the most good relationship with the Grunts, they were all ways asking if the LZ was Hot you learn to say no because they would all try to get out the other side which could cause the Huey to tip .
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May 8, 2016 10:16:55 GMT -5
Post by Swampy on May 8, 2016 10:16:55 GMT -5
WE had for the most good relationship with the Grunts, they were all ways asking if the LZ was Hot you learn to say no because they would all try to get out the other side which could cause the Huey to tip . If the LZ was hot, wouldn't it make both sides dangerous?
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May 8, 2016 14:49:42 GMT -5
Post by Sir John on May 8, 2016 14:49:42 GMT -5
Australia, and I presume Britain and Canada, (Canada has an ARMY???) off loaded all our Lee-Enfields onto the international arms market in the early to late 1960s think. The total would have been in the millions I think. I believe well over 50,000 went into the US private market at US$20 each. Most were ex 'Siege of Tobruk' weapons that were badly defaced with notches on the butts.
Australia chose the new Belgian FN30 SLR, a weapon many old soldiers insist was the best infantry weapon we ever had. Full size NATO round and semi-auto. Not like the M16 toy which was never all that popular among professional soldiers such as the Australian Digger. We did use the American M60 which had a high rate of fire to compensate for a serious lack of accuracy. This is in line with the US doctrine of "never use 10 bullets if you can use 1000 to do the same job." or, "Peace through superior firepower".
JMO
SJ
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May 8, 2016 16:01:07 GMT -5
Post by hornet32 on May 8, 2016 16:01:07 GMT -5
The outboard side is where the fire would be coming from most Huey companies would land in a flight of five ships or ten ships in two parallel lines
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May 8, 2016 17:26:59 GMT -5
Post by Sir John on May 8, 2016 17:26:59 GMT -5
Ten ships, 8 per ship? That is less than a Company!
I have seen clips of 20 and more, taking Australians to rescue yet another American SNAFU.
SJ
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May 8, 2016 17:49:24 GMT -5
Post by hornet32 on May 8, 2016 17:49:24 GMT -5
Depending on circumstances sometimes Huey companies would be combined such as a Brigrade push would require 30 hueys with follow up of troops being transported by Chinooks, normally the hueys would fly three sorties of 240 Grunts per sortie, however this was rare as the demand on Huey companies was intense , in Vietnam there were two ways to travel by air or Convoy
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