Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
I hated helmets and ditched them for a good hat whenever I could get away with it. Mostly it wasn't a problem.
The reasons you mention are a major issue.
Ear plugs weren't a common thing back then, but a few of use used waxed cotton.
Not so much to keep the noise from ruining our hearing as much as to keep out the insects.
They were a bugger to remove after a shockwave came to close.
There are all sorts of other things that erode hearing and are much more subtle.
Ho Chi Minh sandals as well. Been on more than one recce in the bush.
Carlos Hathcock (on left) with 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam. Interesting sniper rifles. It looks like M14s with nigh vision scopes and suppressors.
"My rules of engagement were simple: If they had a weapon, they were going down. Except for an NVA paymaster I hit at 900 yards, everyone I killed had a weapon." - Chuck Mawhinney
Charles Benjamin "Chuck" Mawhinney (born 1949) is a United States Marine who holds the Corps' record for the most confirmed sniper kills, having recorded 103 confirmed kills and 216 probable kills in 16 months during the Vietnam War.
Mawhinney, the son of a World War II Marine Corps veteran, was born in 1949 in Lakeview, Oregon, and was an avid hunter in his youth. He graduated from high school in June 1967 and joined the U.S. Marine Corps later that year—after the deer season.
Following enlistment, he attended Scout Sniper School at Camp Pendleton and graduated in April 1968. From there he received orders to South Vietnam where upon arrival he was assigned as a rifleman to Lima Company 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He remained in this unit for 3 months until he was re-assigned to 5th Marine Regiment HQ Scout Sniper Platoon. There he worked as a scout sniper for different companies with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions. He also worked with the South Korean Marines, Force Recon, Army CAG Unit, but the majority of his time was with Delta Company. During this tour he is credited with 103 confirmed People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN)/Viet Cong (VC) kills and 216 probables. He spent 16 months in Vietnam, starting in early 1968.
On Valentine's Day 1969, Mawhinney encountered an enemy platoon and killed 16 PAVN soldiers with head shots.
"It was the ultimate hunting trip: a man hunting another man who was hunting me," Mawhinney told the Los Angeles Times. "Don't talk to me about hunting lions or elephants; they don't fight back with rifles and scopes. I just loved it." Mawhinney sought to change the public perception about snipers, who he maintains save lives by sapping the enemy's will to fight. "My rules of engagement were simple: If they had a weapon, they were going down. Except for an NVA paymaster I hit at 900 yards, everyone I killed had a weapon," he said.
Mawhinney's one regret was the one that got away. After a leave from Vietnam, he returned and retrieved his weapon from the armorer, who assured Mawhinney that he hadn't altered the rifle. But when Mawhinney spotted an enemy at only 300 yards, a range he was routinely a deadly shot, he missed several times, and the man got away.
"I can't help thinking about how many people that he may have killed later, how many of my friends, how many Marines. He messed up and he deserved to die. That still bothers me."
After a chaplain declared him "combat fatigued", Mawhinney returned to the United States and served briefly as a marksmanship instructor at Camp Pendleton.
Charles Benjamin "Chuck" Mawhinney (born 1949) is a United States Marine who holds the Corps' record for the most confirmed sniper kills, having recorded 103 confirmed kills and 216 probable kills in 16 months during the Vietnam War.
Mawhinney, the son of a World War II Marine Corps veteran, was born in 1949 in Lakeview, Oregon, and was an avid hunter in his youth. He graduated from high school in June 1967 and joined the U.S. Marine Corps later that year—after the deer season.
Following enlistment, he attended Scout Sniper School at Camp Pendleton and graduated in April 1968. From there he received orders to South Vietnam where upon arrival he was assigned as a rifleman to Lima Company 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He remained in this unit for 3 months until he was re-assigned to 5th Marine Regiment HQ Scout Sniper Platoon. There he worked as a scout sniper for different companies with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions. He also worked with the South Korean Marines, Force Recon, Army CAG Unit, but the majority of his time was with Delta Company. During this tour he is credited with 103 confirmed People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN)/Viet Cong (VC) kills and 216 probables. He spent 16 months in Vietnam, starting in early 1968.
On Valentine's Day 1969, Mawhinney encountered an enemy platoon and killed 16 PAVN soldiers with head shots.
"It was the ultimate hunting trip: a man hunting another man who was hunting me," Mawhinney told the Los Angeles Times. "Don't talk to me about hunting lions or elephants; they don't fight back with rifles and scopes. I just loved it." Mawhinney sought to change the public perception about snipers, who he maintains save lives by sapping the enemy's will to fight. "My rules of engagement were simple: If they had a weapon, they were going down. Except for an NVA paymaster I hit at 900 yards, everyone I killed had a weapon," he said.
Mawhinney's one regret was the one that got away. After a leave from Vietnam, he returned and retrieved his weapon from the armorer, who assured Mawhinney that he hadn't altered the rifle. But when Mawhinney spotted an enemy at only 300 yards, a range he was routinely a deadly shot, he missed several times, and the man got away.
"I can't help thinking about how many people that he may have killed later, how many of my friends, how many Marines. He messed up and he deserved to die. That still bothers me."
After a chaplain declared him "combat fatigued", Mawhinney returned to the United States and served briefly as a marksmanship instructor at Camp Pendleton.
Just didn't seem important. British paratrooper passes by a group of Afghan children on a routine patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, 2002.
A few cosmetic changes and that could have been Northern Ireland, a foreigner in a hostile land.
Grizz
Good point.
If memory serves me, there were very similar photos published in the late 60's (?) of British soldiers with young Irish kids in the background...some looking defiant...some just curious of the invaders.
Stacked inside the New York City General Post Office are piles of packages meant for US servicemen who have been listed as “MISSING” or “KILLED IN ACTION”, which await a tragic return to sender stamp - December 1944
LIFE Magazine Archives - Frank Scherschel Photographer
John L Donalson was actually a POW and survived the war, passing away on May 8, 2013
Here is a package meant for him inside the New York City General Post Office with other packages meant for US servicemen who have been listed as “MISSING” or “KILLED IN ACTION”, which await a tragic return to sender stamp - December 1944
LIFE Magazine Archives - Frank Scherschel Photographer
LIFE Magazine Archives - Frank Scherschel Photographer
John L Donalson was actually a POW and survived the war, passing away on May 8, 2013
Here is a package meant for him inside the New York City General Post Office with other packages meant for US servicemen who have been listed as “MISSING” or “KILLED IN ACTION”, which await a tragic return to sender stamp - December 1944
LIFE Magazine Archives - Frank Scherschel Photographer
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British soldiers manning a gun whilst wearing women's dresses. (1940)
This is Shornmead Fort and it is a BL 6-Inch Naval Gun.
They were interrupted during a drag show at the Fort.
The SAAF did the same (drag show) during the Border war as a joke
https://www.vintag.es/2020/01/soldiers-in-drag.html
This is Shornmead Fort and it is a BL 6-Inch Naval Gun.
They were interrupted during a drag show at the Fort.
The SAAF did the same (drag show) during the Border war as a joke
https://www.vintag.es/2020/01/soldiers-in-drag.html
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- MOZAMBIQUE - MUEDA
ZETA OPERATION 1
WAR MATERIAL CAPTURED AT THE BORDER
FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 1969
Photo and text, by António Manuel Gonçalves 1st Cabo C.P. 330/67 (92/67)
2nd COMPANY OF PARAQUEDIST HUNTERS, DO:
BATTALION OF PARAQUEDIST HUNTERS 31
ZETA OPERATION 1
WAR MATERIAL CAPTURED AT THE BORDER
FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 1969
Photo and text, by António Manuel Gonçalves 1st Cabo C.P. 330/67 (92/67)
2nd COMPANY OF PARAQUEDIST HUNTERS, DO:
BATTALION OF PARAQUEDIST HUNTERS 31
USS Sable (IX-81) was a United States Navy training ship during World War II, originally built as the passenger ship Greater Buffalo, a sidewheel excursion steamboat.
She was purchased by the Navy in 1942 and converted to a training aircraft carrier to be used on the Great Lakes.
She lacked a hangar deck, elevators, or armament and was not a true warship, but she provided advanced training of naval aviators in carrier takeoffs and landings.
On her first day of service, 59 pilots became qualified within nine hours of operations, with each making eight takeoffs and landings.
Pilot training was conducted seven days a week in all types of weather conditions.
George H. W. Bush, later president of the United States was one of the aviators who trained on Sable.
Sable was decommissioned on 7 November 1945.
She was sold for scrapping on 7 July 1948 to the H.H. Buncher Company.
She and her sister ship USS Wolverine – which together were used for the training of over 17,000 pilots, landing signal officers and other navy personnel – hold the distinction of being the only freshwater, coal-fired, side paddle-wheel aircraft carriers used by the United States Navy.
https://youtu.be/9nz5bpcC0_Q
She was purchased by the Navy in 1942 and converted to a training aircraft carrier to be used on the Great Lakes.
She lacked a hangar deck, elevators, or armament and was not a true warship, but she provided advanced training of naval aviators in carrier takeoffs and landings.
On her first day of service, 59 pilots became qualified within nine hours of operations, with each making eight takeoffs and landings.
Pilot training was conducted seven days a week in all types of weather conditions.
George H. W. Bush, later president of the United States was one of the aviators who trained on Sable.
Sable was decommissioned on 7 November 1945.
She was sold for scrapping on 7 July 1948 to the H.H. Buncher Company.
She and her sister ship USS Wolverine – which together were used for the training of over 17,000 pilots, landing signal officers and other navy personnel – hold the distinction of being the only freshwater, coal-fired, side paddle-wheel aircraft carriers used by the United States Navy.
https://youtu.be/9nz5bpcC0_Q
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