INFANTRY STUFF

In such condition there is.... no accounting of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. – Hobbes "Leviathan" War is a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead. – Ernest Hemingway The front-line soldiers I knew lived for months like an animal and was a veteran in the cruel, fierce world of death. Everything was abnormal and unstable in his life. He was filthy dirty, ate if and when, slept on hard ground without cover. His clothes were greasy and he lived in a constant haze of dust, pestered by flies and heat, moing constantly, deprived of all things. The front-line soldier has to harden his inside as well as his outside or he would crack under the strain. – Ernie Pyle

Source: INFANTRY (1969 magazine)
published at Ft. Benning

WEAPONS

M-16 Rifle That's right! It's a rifle....R...I...F...L...E ..... NOT a 'gun' – ask your Drill Sergeant. The M-16 was our basic weapon in Viet Nam. Early on it got a BAD rap, but I never had any problems with the weapon. The older models had a tri-prong flash surpressor that was handy for poping the wire bands around the master package of C-ration cartons. The newer M-16s had an enclosed flash surpressor – to keep it from snagging on brush in the jungle – and it ruined one good tool.

CAR15 (a.k.a. Colt Commando)

The CAR-15 – with a telescoping stock – was a short version of the M-16.

Shown here in the hands of SGT Vance Baustert (Co. A,1st Platoon - '69). Machine gunner Fred Howard (L).

M-79 Grenade Launcher Looked like a short-fat shotgun. It was designed to pitch a high explosive shell out beyound the range of a thrown hand grenade. "Thump Gun', 'Thumper', 'Blooper' or 'Dupper' - whatever they called it, the single shot M79 was much beloved by our "Grenadiers".

XM203 Grenade Launcher (a.k.a. Over & Under) The XM203 was designed to replace the M79 Grenade Launcher and fired the same 'round' as the M79. The 'X' stands for experimental, and Alpha was one of the first units in Viet Nam to be issued this weapon for "Field Tests" – the Sarge remembers the Colt Firearms Company engineers coming out to the field to interview us and tinker with their new toy. The M-203 is standard issue in todays Army. Pump action / single shot. The XM-203 fired a one pound HE (High Explosive) grenade round out to a maximum range of 400 meters. A GREAT WEAPON! The Sarge carried it and LOVED IT....we'd fight over who got to carry the 203.

XM-203 Grenade Launcher (attachment to M-16 rifle)

Source: 1969 INFANTRY magazine
published at Ft. Benning.

Ken Nerpel (Co. A mortar platoon & FO Nov68–Nov69) with the XM-203

©2003 by Kenneth Nerpel

SSG Holzhauer [a.k.a. me, the "Sarge" - the 'Webmaster'] demonstrates 'proper dress with the XM-203:

A bag full of M-79 HE rounds in the front, strapped over the shoulders to a claymore bag full of M-16 magazines on the back. One M-79 'shotgun' round tucked into the helmet band.

The M16 and 203 weighed 11 lbs loaded and that's the reason for the sling. We rigged our slings so that we could bring the butt of the rifle up (and tight) to our shoulders without having to 'unsling' the weapon -the sling slid over our shoulder.... this made carrying the heavy weapon easier and yet brought it quickly to the firing position.

The 1 quart canteen cover contains four or five frag grenades – not water. Water was carried in the new 2 qt. plastic collapsible canteen. In addition to this I carried: a GI compass - besides my trusty wrist-compas; a map of the area of operation (AO); a poncho liner (lightweight blanket); a smoke grenade; a can (or two) of fruit C-ration; an insect repellent bottle; a M-16 cleaning rod (that doubled as chopsticks when I didn't have a plastic spoon); a bottle of oil (LSA) for the M-16; pen or pencil and notebook; a pack ortwo of Lucky Strike cigarettes and zippo lighter; my Super-8 movie camera; maybe a LAW; and from time to time – when going on ambush – a strobe light and Starlight Scope night vision device.


All told, I figure this equipment weighed about 75 lbs, and I was traveling LITE! Other members of the platoon carried heavy items like: the "Prick 25" radio, and cans and cans of 'smoke'; or, the M60 machine gun; or, as an Ammo Bearer, cans of machine gun ammo. I heard that, at times, 60mm mortars (and ammo for it) were carried on patrols – even a .50 caliber machine gun. It all depended on the mission, leader, area, and time that a soldier was in Viet-Nam.