How Did American Tanks Fair In Vietnam | Greatest Tank Battles | Timeline

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  • čas přidán 22. 09. 2021
  • During the Vietnam War, US tankers had to undergo their baptism of fire, learning how to fight against a guerrilla army in hostile and unfamiliar terrain.
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Komentáře • 3K

  • @seanbrown9048
    @seanbrown9048 Před 2 lety +1442

    My dad was a veteran of both Korea and Vietnam. After retirement he went back to college, became a drug and alcohol counselor, and did this second career for twenty-five years. He was a good man and helped many fellow veterans beat addiction. He passed away last year from covid19 and I miss him everyday: they don’t make men like my dad anymore.

    • @russellrost2287
      @russellrost2287 Před 2 lety +57

      God bless him

    • @khuret1773
      @khuret1773 Před 2 lety +34

      Sad to hear that, He is in a Better Place

    • @seanbrown9048
      @seanbrown9048 Před 2 lety +24

      @@khuret1773 right; he would not like things the way they are now, all the chaos, madness and strife.

    • @kimseyee
      @kimseyee Před 2 lety +27

      Your dad was a great man because he help so many other people who very much need guidance and help. May your dad rest in peace.

    • @alanmydland5210
      @alanmydland5210 Před 2 lety +8

      no they dont god bless him

  • @datsyhoehoe
    @datsyhoehoe Před rokem +38

    My husband was a loader on an M48. During Tet, this very thing happened to him and his crew. Rpg hit and blew the commander and driver out and my husband was almost all the way out but his heels hung on the lip of entry of the turret. He was showered with shrapnel and still wore some of the pieces behind his eyes when he passed. It also blew his ears out and he was profoundly deaf. He passed last year from heart failure due to Agent orange exposure. He was my hero💜

    • @einosiirila7093
      @einosiirila7093 Před rokem +6

      Sorry for your lost God rest his soul and help you and family 💗

  • @kilamandaros
    @kilamandaros Před 2 lety +290

    "I went for the fire extinguisher to put out the fire on our tank but we'd used all the co2 to cool some beers the night before" MURICA!

    • @chrisf8855
      @chrisf8855 Před 2 lety +16

      Yeah, brilliant move. Cold beers were more important than their lives.🙄

    • @Rsama60
      @Rsama60 Před 2 lety +32

      @@chrisf8855 of course, cold beer is important, but education is importanter. 😏

    • @jamesa.2880
      @jamesa.2880 Před 2 lety +15

      Heck yeah! You wouldn't expect to do that kind of stuff sober!

    • @arthurpirkle425
      @arthurpirkle425 Před 2 lety +2

      @@jamesa.2880 my grandfather did he was sgt of his fireteam he to this day doesn’t drink or smoke and didn’t back then before or after the war

    • @wilmartmadrona2296
      @wilmartmadrona2296 Před 2 lety

      qp

  • @vulpesinculta888
    @vulpesinculta888 Před 2 lety +173

    My grandpa was a tank commander in Vietnam. He never talked about it much, but I can tell he never fully healed from what he had seen. He passed last year but he led a good life. May he rest in peace

    • @moisesfuentes2090
      @moisesfuentes2090 Před 10 měsíci +2

      Do you know what happened in the hamlet of My Lai & Lt. W. Calley in Vietnam?

    • @luanhuynh2918
      @luanhuynh2918 Před 10 měsíci

      ​@@moisesfuentes2090😊😊😊

    • @ddawsond
      @ddawsond Před 10 měsíci

      Tank were not involved with My Lai as Calley was infantry. Are you trying to invoke a guilt complex by any chance? If so, then also add the NVA in Hue during Tet 68 killing over 5,000 civilians as they held the city for a month. @@moisesfuentes2090

    • @shionuzuki5549
      @shionuzuki5549 Před 9 měsíci

      @@moisesfuentes2090 What's your point? Do you Sinophiles have nothing better to do than sit around shitposting?

    • @johnteets2921
      @johnteets2921 Před 9 měsíci +2

      @@moisesfuentes2090 He was court Martialed.

  • @garrisonnichols807
    @garrisonnichols807 Před 2 lety +906

    My dad's uncle drove a tank in Vietnam. He drove over a landmine and got his leg messed up from the shrapnel. He was very lucky to survive and be able to walk afterwards. RIP to the vets that didn't come home. 🇺🇸

    • @garrisonnichols807
      @garrisonnichols807 Před 2 lety +26

      @Jamil Ebdeen well that's your opinion. You weren't there so you don't really know what it was like.

    • @garrisonnichols807
      @garrisonnichols807 Před 2 lety +47

      @Jamil Ebdeen this is a known fact. The North Vietnamese invade a sovereign nation in the South so they were foriegn occupiers too.

    • @danphariss133
      @danphariss133 Před 2 lety +30

      @Jamil Ebdeen We were there due to treaty obligations just as we were in Europe in support of NATO. You need to look at what was REALLY going on. Nor were we alone South Koreans and Australians fought there as well and for the same reason.

    • @garrisonnichols807
      @garrisonnichols807 Před 2 lety +28

      @@DavidSmith-ss1cg All I said was my dad's Uncle almost died in Vietnam and was lucky to survive and RIP to my fellow country men most were African American Mexican and also White of different nationalities. I don't need your peanut gallery conspiracy theories. Seriously who cares about why the war started or how it ended. It's over and that's it.

    • @Zorro9129
      @Zorro9129 Před 2 lety +31

      @Jamil Ebdeen The South Vietnamese were very brave to stand up against the invasion by the North which was supported by China and the USSR.

  • @nelbax2084
    @nelbax2084 Před 2 lety +528

    I was a tank commander with the 5th division on the dmz. We only fought well equipped NVA troops equipped with the dreaded rpg. My tank "Love juice" was lost to an rpg west of Khe Sanh, it hit the fuel cell with hundreds of gallons of diesel. The crew escaped uninjured and watched from a distance as 60 rounds of maingun ammo and thousands of rounds of machine gun ammo cooked off, tank was deemed destroyed and left there. My new tank "Love Juice" served us well for months until we hit a 250lb mine near Con Thien and was destroyed. All crew were medivaced to Quang Tri base hospital, all but myself had minor injuries, I had a severe head injury and was flown to Japan and days later to Ft Lewis Washington. The bad part for me was I had 8 days left on my tour. The M48 was a great tank and never failed us, the problem was the enemy had many ways to take us out.

    • @Lauri2014
      @Lauri2014 Před 2 lety +31

      The problem was that you were even there...Imagine someone invaded your country--you'd fight just as viciously as you could, so why complain for getting what you deserved.

    • @okaunis
      @okaunis Před 2 lety +4

      I am sorry about war.

    • @nelbax2084
      @nelbax2084 Před 2 lety +109

      @@Lauri2014 Actually I was drafted and against the war, after returning I became very active with VVAW.

    • @LentPanic7
      @LentPanic7 Před 2 lety +97

      @@Lauri2014 It’s the politicians you should have that animosity aimed towards not the troops.

    • @rogerstanton6837
      @rogerstanton6837 Před 2 lety +34

      Very interesting story and am glad that you and your crew survived. Thank You for your service, sir.

  • @tomfuleky8948
    @tomfuleky8948 Před 2 lety +312

    I was a Marine scout/ sniper that landed on Go No Island May 16 1968 . I Company had 17 Marines left and they flew them out in one chopper. The heat was 115 - 126 degrees and we took so many casualties that we could only move during the night. We also destroyed our flack jackets and gas masks to lighten our loads .we have a book out about Operation Allenbrook “ Every Marine “ Written by Robert Siminson. Every day I struggle with the fact that I made it to 74. Semper fi , L/ cpl Thomas Fuleky 3/27 Marines 1968

    • @b.p.879
      @b.p.879 Před 2 lety +18

      That must have been a truly awful thing to go through. My dad got to Vietnam in 1969 in the Army's 11th light infantry brigade. He would only talk about some, but not all of his time there and he didn't start talking about hardly any of it until about 2005 and onward, until his death in 2018. It affected him greatly, and shaped the rest of his life. I still have trouble wrapping my head around the fact that he was only 19 when he got to Nam. I hope you have found the peace that you deserve in this life. It took my dad decades to find it, but he was always a great father and husband.

    • @TheHarleyhillbilly
      @TheHarleyhillbilly Před 2 lety +8

      My dad was a Marine with Golf Company in Vietnam in 1969 Bobby Lee Sims

    • @steffenritter7497
      @steffenritter7497 Před 2 lety +22

      I was a scout/sniper with the 101st in the Ashau Valley. We first came into "Nam at Camp Evans. A Marine gunnery sgt who was still there looked at my bolt-action rifle and pointed at the forest. He said, "Son, how many 1000-yard shots you gonna get, in there?" He set me up with a modified M-14. I'll never forget him. He was right, of course.

    • @failtolawl
      @failtolawl Před 2 lety

      lol shut up

    • @brunokirchensittenbach9294
      @brunokirchensittenbach9294 Před 2 lety +3

      …God bless you and your family…Very lucky man…👋🍻

  • @maruzencentral
    @maruzencentral Před rokem +24

    My grandfather was blown out of a tank and received a purple heart at the age of 19. Listening to his stories and looking at his war photos is such a important thing for me

  • @ewalker1057
    @ewalker1057 Před 2 lety +913

    One can feel old when some part of their adult life is presented as history. Something to see how young these veterans and you were at the time versus how we are now. You're part of history.

    • @mathieutyler00
      @mathieutyler00 Před 2 lety +16

      One can feel old?
      You mean you feel old.
      Where did you learn to speak like that? Go have another drink..

    • @ewalker1057
      @ewalker1057 Před 2 lety +115

      @@mathieutyler00 Where did you fail to learn to comprehend English? Where did you fail, to comprehend the universal use of say "one." It wasn't about you. Self absorbed aren't you.

    • @mr.rodgers3745
      @mr.rodgers3745 Před 2 lety +33

      Thank you for your service sir.

    • @mr.rodgers3745
      @mr.rodgers3745 Před 2 lety +52

      @@mathieutyler00 so do you just look for people to pick on? Why don't you remember the old saying that if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. This man wasn't saying anything hurtful to you or anyone else for you you to jump on him and be rude like you did. This man served his country in war. Have you ever done anything that selfless?

    • @live4lifeeeeee975
      @live4lifeeeeee975 Před 2 lety +10

      @@mr.rodgers3745 nah…all his comments are about how he lacks understanding of the English language.

  • @waynegroves6922
    @waynegroves6922 Před 2 lety +487

    My cousin became a Marine in 1968, and went straight to Vietnam as a tank machine gunner. He made it through all the horrors you could imagine, and the stories he would tell me were gruesome, at best. He died a year after discharge from leukemia. In honor of him, I became a Marine in 1971.

    • @jamesstorey2476
      @jamesstorey2476 Před 2 lety +29

      And, as you know, you are still a Marine.
      Only speculating, but, I wonder whether your cousin was exposed to Agent Orange during his Vietnam tour of duty?

    • @waynegroves6922
      @waynegroves6922 Před 2 lety +18

      @@jamesstorey2476 We never knew, for certain - but we wondered. One of his stories was actually witnessing the spray of a dense jungle area, suspected of hiding enemy snipers. Whether he was engaged in that operation or not is still unknown.

    • @jimhaut480
      @jimhaut480 Před 2 lety +11

      Congrates of being twice as "STUPID"

    • @michaelseidenberg2323
      @michaelseidenberg2323 Před 2 lety +15

      Thank You for serving. Some people don't understand. God Bless

    • @lpeddle8404
      @lpeddle8404 Před 2 lety +16

      @@everydayisabadday From the fellow's comment, his cousin witnessed the spraying of a dense jungle area. He could have witnessed it from the edge of a dense jungle area or from a rise overlooking a dense jungle area. The M48 was the most used tank in Vietnam and there were over 500. Not a lot because the place wasn't suited for it but enough.

  • @richardweber5246
    @richardweber5246 Před 10 měsíci +4

    I was a driver and TC '67-'68, A co, 1bn, 69th Armor, and I can tell you that we ARMY tankers had the same combat that the Marines had. We did TET in Pleiku, had major engagements on the Bong Song Plains. The 69th ARMOR Reg was the most highly decorated tank unit in the US Army!

  • @Blap552
    @Blap552 Před 2 lety +60

    I sure wish we could have been shown this around '78-'79, it hopefully would've helped us get a lot more motivated which we needed badly during those years. We had Vietnam combat vets in our armor battalion then as well. I have a lot of respect for you guys that gave it all you had,Thank you!!

  • @ianh1504
    @ianh1504 Před 2 lety +203

    "We fire a flechette round, and it took the enemy off the tank"
    It also took him off the list of "solids" and put him on the list of "liquids"

    • @stevestruthers6180
      @stevestruthers6180 Před 2 lety +16

      Canadian Army tank units in Afghanistan routinely used canister rounds against Taliban forces moving over open ground. Made a real mess of them.

    • @BladeTheWatcher
      @BladeTheWatcher Před 2 lety +2

      There are a bit more creative solutions - like putting anti-personnel mines on the tank's hull and detonating them from the inside.
      Or, what was used in WW2, just launch grenades above the tank from the inside.

    • @frednugent2310
      @frednugent2310 Před 2 lety +23

      @@stevestruthers6180 Are you Canadian? The reason I'm asking besides your mentioning of how the Canadian Army tactically developed an effective approach to dealing with the Taliban. I would think it also carried a pretty effective psychological impact knowing thousands of nail shaped darts fired at them from a flechete canister peppered them up pretty bad and resembled something run through a meat grinder. To the subject about Vietnam, it's unknown to many here in the U.S. that lots of Canadian citizens joined the U.S. ARMY during Vietnam. My uncle was friends with a Canadian that joined and fought in Vietnam as Tanker. Ron Holland is his name and he stated it is probable that all the draft dodgers fleeing to Canada to avoid Vietnam there were as many Canadians coming to the U.S. to join the military here to go fight a war they didn't have to. What Mr. Holland reflected to me was a much more appreciation for our Canadian neighbors. I can't see Americans going to Canada or Mexico by the thousands to join their Army to fight an unpopular War when not having to do so. I know there is a Vietnam war memorial for al the Canadians that fought and died for a country that was not their home country. I thought I'd share this with you and anyone who was unaware of this.

    • @stevestruthers6180
      @stevestruthers6180 Před 2 lety +8

      @@frednugent2310 Yes, I'm Canadian. And well aware that thousands of my countrymen joined the US Army to fight in the Vietnam War.
      One other thing that is not as well known about Canada's involvement in the Vietnam War is that Canada supplied the US military with a shitload of small arms ammunition and other kinds of materiel.

    • @snakeplissken2148
      @snakeplissken2148 Před 2 lety +2

      in fact, humans are regarded as soft targets, not solid. just my 2cents...

  • @spacepeing9936
    @spacepeing9936 Před 2 lety +125

    Calling the enemy artillery on the enemy, best tactics i seen so far

    • @123parkhurst
      @123parkhurst Před 2 lety +3

      Very smart

    • @abjectt5440
      @abjectt5440 Před 2 lety +6

      They used to sneak up on claymore mines and turn them around to face US troops then make a bunch of noise. The troops would detonate the claymores and receive damage. The Vietnamese were skilled imaginative fighters.

    • @Kombajnistazbizona
      @Kombajnistazbizona Před 2 lety +5

      This tactic was mass used by the Polish Army in Eastern Front during WW2, in Pomeranian campaing in 1944/45 Polish troops using German radiostations by german speaking Polish soldiers to call german artillery on themselvs. And during Vietnam war many of Vietnamse officers were trained by Polish army.

    • @bossdog1480
      @bossdog1480 Před 2 lety

      @@Kombajnistazbizona Interesting.

    • @klokateer4372
      @klokateer4372 Před 2 lety

      Literally bf bad company with the air strike pointer you steal from a Russian

  • @markj3175
    @markj3175 Před 2 lety +59

    My dad was part of the 3rd Marine Tank Battalion and he was in a M48A3 tank from 67-68. This was very interesting to watch considering I’ve only heard him mention the war maybe a few times in my life.

    • @LarryLezon
      @LarryLezon Před 2 lety +3

      Was in Gia Le at the same time as your Dad where 3rd Tank Bn was Headquartered in '67. Tell him one of the guys from 3rd Engineers said "Hey - and Welcome Home , Brother - Semper Fi-"

    • @LarryLezon
      @LarryLezon Před 2 lety +2

      If you click on the image to the left ask you Dad if that's his tank.

    • @b.p.879
      @b.p.879 Před 2 lety +4

      Spend as much time with your dad as possible while you can. I miss my dad all the time and I miss his stories of being in the Army in Vietnam and traveling the world before and after.

  • @leonardsmith2198
    @leonardsmith2198 Před 2 lety +22

    I was 11E, later changed to 19E, Tanker for short. Never served in Vietnam but I am Vietnam era veteran. Served on M48s and M60s in Korea and Germany. The cold was our enemy. I am truly a Cold War Armor Crewman.

    • @b.p.879
      @b.p.879 Před 2 lety +5

      Dad said they used to fall asleep in their tents at LZ Bronco, or when out on patrols, dreaming about the luxurious bases they had left behind in Berlin, before coming to Vietnam lol.

  • @knightofdark2
    @knightofdark2 Před 2 lety +164

    Stories were told by veterans in the most objective way. This is one of the best documentaries

    • @hanneef9340
      @hanneef9340 Před 2 lety

      czcams.com/video/jAIVGlk-5oI/video.html

    • @roroliaoliao
      @roroliaoliao Před 2 lety +4

      SELECTIVE, Where are the Vietnamese veterans who command the T-55 and T-34 tanks?

    • @mbpaintballa
      @mbpaintballa Před 2 lety +1

      @@roroliaoliao dead

    • @bossdog1480
      @bossdog1480 Před 2 lety +2

      Were you in Vietnam at the time? Or were your parents able to escape to the West?

    • @tonyhughes7049
      @tonyhughes7049 Před rokem +1

      They're All Dead

  • @Tenderbits
    @Tenderbits Před 2 lety +757

    Imagine you’re in some kind of tank or armored vehicle, busting down trees in the jungle when suddenly, you bust down the wrong tree, one filled with a nest of red ants. These buggers were reportedly immune to the issued bug spray and, given the choice between NVA small arms fire and dealing with red ants in the tank, tank crews would either bail on the tank or man the vehicle completely naked. They were often referred to as “communist ants” because they were red in color and never seemed to attack the Vietnamese.

    • @nathancrutchfield7944
      @nathancrutchfield7944 Před 2 lety +26

      Been there

    • @mydogniko
      @mydogniko Před 2 lety +59

      Just curious what the reason for manning the tank naked would be? Seems like youd want to keep your clothes on and tape the cuffs or something. 🤔

    • @nathancrutchfield7944
      @nathancrutchfield7944 Před 2 lety +177

      @@mydogniko Zack brings back memory never forgot! The ants nest were about the size of a softball made of leaves pulled together. An ant grenade with hundreds of ants.. When busting through brush the antenna periodically would flick this ant ball out of tree and and it’d fall onto the crew. Ants would go everywhere. Aerosol insecticide spray and chaos for a number of minutes. Shirts pulled off and ants beat off. Zack is right~ war was put on hold until ants were quelled. .
      Quite an experience! K Troop 3/11 ACR, 1970.

    • @oddedd7755
      @oddedd7755 Před 2 lety +27

      @@mydogniko humidity.. its hot in nam you know..

    • @SiiriCressey
      @SiiriCressey Před 2 lety +9

      @@oddedd7755 But what does it have to do with ant bites?

  • @texashale65
    @texashale65 Před 2 lety +16

    My second Platoon Sergeant was a driver during Vietnam. He said he had lost three crews that were all killed except, obviously, for him. He was Army. I also had a 1SG who told me his first live fire exercise was in Vietnam... He was 1SG of HHT 1/3ACR, when I was the ammo NCO for the squadron.

  • @jerrykelley9266
    @jerrykelley9266 Před 2 lety +55

    The more I look at our tactics it’s amazing that we even survived that long. Yes, I’m a 20 year US Army Vet. Retired.

    • @whitephillip6997
      @whitephillip6997 Před 2 lety

      No kidding haha

    • @nickwood1062
      @nickwood1062 Před 2 lety

      The false artillery call. I mean...wow. come on guys. Thanks for you service.

    • @stewardstein1595
      @stewardstein1595 Před 2 lety

      what did you do

    • @jerrykelley9266
      @jerrykelley9266 Před 2 lety +1

      @@stewardstein1595 Infantry can operate without tank support tanks cannot operate without support.

  • @theguy81642
    @theguy81642 Před 2 lety +73

    My oldman was a driver in the 11th Armored Calvary Division seen a lot of combat in the Tet Offensive.

    • @johnrogan9420
      @johnrogan9420 Před 2 lety +4

      In North Vietnam...keep attacking north!

    • @cambodianexpress8557
      @cambodianexpress8557 Před 2 lety +15

      Tell your dad, (if still with us), that another ole 11th. Cav. said hello and glad he made it home... Ctrp. 69-70.

    • @SGobuck
      @SGobuck Před 2 lety +1

      It was and still is, a regiment. The 11th was a separate smaller unit.

    • @AK-tx1vg
      @AK-tx1vg Před 2 lety

      I saw a lot of action in brothels. Not as glorified as gunning down troops, of course.

    • @MiguelLopez-uy2uu
      @MiguelLopez-uy2uu Před 2 lety +1

      i find that to be true.I Was there in the 11th acr also in 69 and 70.came back with 2 purple hearts and disabled.go allons.

  • @PR4U2NV
    @PR4U2NV Před 2 lety +49

    I remember these stories being told by our uncle's and cousin's during late night's on the stoop. Something I looked forward to every weekend.. RIP to those who fell for a government who cared less about them.

  • @3forte
    @3forte Před 2 lety +29

    One of the underlying issues here is that of the many roles that tanks play on a battlefield, one of them is to be line breakers. But during the Vietnam conflict there were almost no proper battle lines.

    • @RoseRose-nt4ju
      @RoseRose-nt4ju Před 2 lety +3

      Tanks are good for plain fields and deserts but not the jungles

    • @mariekatherine5238
      @mariekatherine5238 Před 2 lety +1

      It’s an example of the top brass fighting the last war.

  • @jeremyfisher8782
    @jeremyfisher8782 Před 2 lety +4

    Vietnam Vets--thank you for your service and sacrifices. You are appreciated and LOVED. Please hold your head up high -- thank you.

  • @myfavoritemartian1
    @myfavoritemartian1 Před 2 lety +147

    "Old Generals always fight as they did in the last war." Westy was no different. His "European" battle doctrine was simply suicide for us. He was ultimately relieved of command, but it was way too late for many. I got a good laugh "We underestimated them badly".
    That is the way we fought the rest of the war. We probed, got ambushed, reacted and hopefully killed more of them than they killed of us.

    • @dead_on_departure
      @dead_on_departure Před 2 lety +3

      He'll be at home in the Battle of the Somme with another incompetent general known as Douglas Haig.

    • @nbk9372
      @nbk9372 Před 2 lety +8

      Vietnam, US Military's worst enemies Macnemara, Mooreland, CIA & DC bureaucrats. Afghanistan was Obama/Jarret micromanagement, ROE policies, CIA, military industrial compleax & NATO bureaucrats.

    • @cstgraphpads2091
      @cstgraphpads2091 Před 2 lety +12

      That's retarded. The North Vietnamese had functionally lost. They had no war infrastructure and relied almost entirely on foreign-made weapons and equipment to keep their troops supplied. The fact that they begged for peace negotiations that lead to the Paris Peace Accords of 1972 support this. Don't forget that the only way they managed to take Saigon was AFTER the US stuck to their end of the bargain and removed all combat troops from South Vietnam, coupled with the Democrat-majority Congress choosing to end Enhance and EnNhance Plus to support South Vietnam.

    • @davidwall2919
      @davidwall2919 Před 2 lety +17

      @@cstgraphpads2091"Stuck to their end of the bargain"? LOL The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for a united Vietnam. The USA broke that UN agreement. NOT THE NORTH . It's not the number of dead that win a war, the Germans and the Japanese killed more people in WW2 than they had dead AND THEY LOST...."War is the continuation of politics by other means" Carl von Clausewitz....THE USA LOST...again.

    • @Ragedaonenlonely
      @Ragedaonenlonely Před 2 lety +12

      @@cstgraphpads2091 To add to what David Wall said, the North Vietnamese government was democratically elected. Just because the US decide a communist government isn't in their interest doesn't give them the right to ignore democracy and install a puppet government. The US was the most anti democratic part of the whole thing and I don't believe for a second the north Vietnamese would have surrendered under any circumstances. Not after how they drove out the French. They could have kept resisting indefinitely in the jungle and all pockets of resistance would never have been rooted out regardless of how much the US tried.

  • @Ratkill
    @Ratkill Před 2 lety +258

    The Generals by Tom Ricks is insightful when it comes to the tragedy of tactics in the Vietnam war and other US conflicts. Not only was top brass ill-equipped in terms of strategy, they proved stubbornly incapable of learning from their failures. Can't imagine how it must have felt being thrown to the wolves by some aviators wearing a general.

    • @emillyyelen5169
      @emillyyelen5169 Před 2 lety +25

      Well obviously some people in power wanted for war to last a bit longer...

    • @PandaMan-xy1he
      @PandaMan-xy1he Před 2 lety +15

      Heh, now I'm imagining a set of sunglasses with a MacArthur sitting on it's bridge.

    • @runswithcows
      @runswithcows Před 2 lety +1

      @@PandaMan-xy1he what difference an a makes.

    • @PandaMan-xy1he
      @PandaMan-xy1he Před 2 lety +2

      @@runswithcows Yep

    • @23GreyFox
      @23GreyFox Před 2 lety +13

      Reminds me of many British generals in WW1.

  • @willyates9176
    @willyates9176 Před 2 lety +6

    Thanks for a great insight to this part of the Vietnam War. Many thanks also to those Vets, living and deceased.

  • @markkoons7488
    @markkoons7488 Před 2 lety +3

    At an Army Evac hospital from late '66 to early '69, it is "good" to finally have some understanding where out Marine casualties came from and what they were doing. Gotta have respect.

  • @mskiUSMC
    @mskiUSMC Před 2 lety +27

    I had the pleasure of meeting and befriending a Vietnam tank commander. He was a good man, and will be missed. Rest In Peace my friend.

    • @honkhonk8009
      @honkhonk8009 Před 2 lety

      Politicians let their anti-communist hysteria get the best of them, and litterally supported the south just beacuse they werent communist.
      As a result, we litterally got into a useless war tryna defend a country that wasnt even legitimate.

  • @ralphcorsi741
    @ralphcorsi741 Před 2 lety +49

    As an private I was sent to armor trading at Fort Knox in 1968. I was excited to be a tanker. I thought I would be safe inside this bathtub of steel. But we were trained by NCO’s who had been to Vietnam as tankers, and explained to us the weaknesses of tanks in the jungle environment and the effectiveness of the RPG. Never got to serve as a tanker. Went to Officers Candidate School and then to fly helicopters. Sort of out of the frying pan and into the fire. But I was lucky and there nothing better than being lucky.

  • @counterinsurgencyadvisor4289

    That "Hugging the enemies belt" tactic, has *nothing* to do with getting so close a tank can't depress it's gun. It's about getting danger close to inhibit their fire support. If you're so close the tank can't depress enough to hit you, then you're probably also too close for your rockets to arm. Which is what it sounds like happened with multiple rockets bouncing off without detonating.

    • @MontuOnuphrius
      @MontuOnuphrius Před 2 lety +9

      Thanks, I would trust a random youtube comment like this over the people talking that were actually there.

    • @nicholasdriver8253
      @nicholasdriver8253 Před 2 lety +16

      I thought it mean them being so close they could grab your belt. Which would make your pants fall. Meaning you would have to drop your weapon in order to grab your pants and keep your “privates” from being exposed.

    • @nicholasdriver8253
      @nicholasdriver8253 Před 2 lety +4

      @@MontuOnuphrius You can trust me. I was there. I can’t remember how old I was back then, but I was old enough to purchase the game when it first came out.

    • @counterinsurgencyadvisor4289
      @counterinsurgencyadvisor4289 Před 2 lety +4

      @@MontuOnuphrius The guy that said it was like 40 and was definitely not a Vietnam veteran.

    • @adrianguggisberg3656
      @adrianguggisberg3656 Před 2 lety +4

      @@counterinsurgencyadvisor4289 It doesn't matter, it's still the same today. The RPG will bounce off at such a short distance. However, the terrain may have sloped next to the road or the road may have banked, allowing the RPG team to get underneath the depression angle of the tank at a useful range. In any case, it's less than ideal if enemy infantry gets this close to your tank, and in a spot where you can't engage with the gun or coax.

  • @frog8acow
    @frog8acow Před 2 lety +1

    Wow...that was intense.....I went to Ft. Knox for tank training in 1977 ...(Oregon Army National Guard) ...My Drill Sgt. was a tank driver in Nam, and our Senior Drill Sgt. was a gunner - He had an NVA tank to his credit - we thought that was pretty awesome. They had M60A1s at Knox. Back home at my tank company, we had M60s as well as 60A1s. At my first Summer Camp in July of 77, ( a big war game down at 29 Palms) I drove an M48A5 on loan from the Marines.

  • @SanitysVoid
    @SanitysVoid Před 2 lety +57

    My Dad was a tank commander in the Guard during Viet Nam and he told me he was glad not to be sent there. His crew once scored a bull's Eye on a target, but it was the target for the tank to their side LOL

    • @PhilipFry.
      @PhilipFry. Před 2 lety +3

      My father was a mg3 gunner in the German Army in the 70s, he never strapped His helmet firmly, so the recoil from the mg3 would always make the helmet fall over his eyes, so he resorted to Shooting blindly. Turns out he almost shredded a comrade and Not the target xD

    • @TonySlug
      @TonySlug Před 2 lety +1

      @@PhilipFry. And that is funny ?

    • @PhilipFry.
      @PhilipFry. Před 2 lety +1

      @@TonySlug ja

    • @TonySlug
      @TonySlug Před 2 lety

      @@PhilipFry. okay.

    • @peteraugust5295
      @peteraugust5295 Před 2 lety

      You are aware that the place is not spelled "Viet Nam", aren't you?

  • @NotiFawkes
    @NotiFawkes Před 2 lety +3

    One thing I like to do is spend my Saturday evenings turning up to documentaries like this.

  • @oneworld9071
    @oneworld9071 Před 2 lety +9

    I had little appreciation for the power packed into an RPG round until I saw a documentary or two about it around the YT archives....... it's a horrifically vicious weapon.
    About age 5 in 1963 was when I began to be quite aware of Vietnam; I attended the Naval Academy Primary School, among the children of Navy and Marine Corps officers who were serving.
    I pretty much grew up at the bar of the Fleet Reserve Club, hearing stories from WW2, Korea, and then came Vietnam with a fury. MY maternal grandfather served the entire duration of the Guadalcanal operation; he gave me "Guadalcanal Diary" (Richard Tregaskis' young people's version)....... I guess it's safe to say my entire childhood was war-aware. My mother picked a lot of shrapnel from my grandfather's body on weekend visits. News footage of the war in Vietnam was unprecedented. So often my father would point at the screen and say "Straighten up or that's where you're headed........".
    One shocking fact I'd run across in another documentary was that GENERALLY, the South Vietnamese people didn't much care what the government was called; they simply wanted more than anything a STABLE government. I'm about 6 minutes into this but will say it anyway....... pitting a conventional force against a guerilla force is insanity; weeks become years as we have seen again and again and yet again. The magnitude of guerilla PSYCHOLOGY is underestimated every time. For one of many other factors that give guerilla forces the upper hand, "permission?!?!?! We don't need no steenkin 'permission'!!!!!!!!!"

    • @waynepatterson5843
      @waynepatterson5843 Před 2 lety +3

      pitting a conventional force against a guerilla force is insanity; weeks become years as we have seen again and again and yet again.
      The guerilla force was virtually wiped out in the Tet Offensive 1967-1968. The Easter Offensive by regular and irregular North Vietnamese force in 1972 was decimated or worse. As Col. Tin Buin, PAVN remarked to an interviewer, Gen. Westmoreland was restricted and not allowed to attack and defeat the PAVN forces at their bases. As Patton correctly noted, fortifications and defensive operations are a monument to man's stupidity, because they are always doomed to defeat by an offensive force circumventing them or attacking at their own time, place, and concentration. American politicians chose to direct the military fight defensive campaigns that are eventually doomed to defeat or unacceptable cost, which is why OPERATION LINEBACKER I and OPERATION LINEBACKER II succeeded in their mission in the offensive operations.

  • @isaacsutphen6046
    @isaacsutphen6046 Před 2 lety +11

    My grandpa was a tank driver in Vietnam he has some crazy stories he’s told me

    • @sarttee
      @sarttee Před rokem

      record them, put them on youtube

  • @pumbaonandromeda
    @pumbaonandromeda Před 2 lety +41

    Before 2021: Afghanistan is the "Soviet's Vietnam".
    2021: Mankind never learns.

    • @Crashed131963
      @Crashed131963 Před 2 lety +5

      It worked in Korea.
      Look at South Korea vs North Korea today.
      Without intervention Korea would all be all a starving North Korea today.

    • @superbananas7792
      @superbananas7792 Před 2 lety +1

      @@Crashed131963 That was a conventional war mate, slightly different me thinks.

    • @superbananas7792
      @superbananas7792 Před 2 lety +2

      Correction, Nation-states and Empires never learn.

    • @keithdonnellan5564
      @keithdonnellan5564 Před 2 lety

      @@Crashed131963 How do you know that!

    • @soyentak5076
      @soyentak5076 Před 2 lety

      @@Crashed131963 they also had the balls to invade North Korea

  • @gusbuckingham6663
    @gusbuckingham6663 Před 2 lety +30

    Much respect to those who fought and died.

  • @SSGTStryker
    @SSGTStryker Před 3 měsíci

    Outstanding documentary. My dad was a combat medic assigned to the 69th Armor Regiment in 1968-69. He served on an M48 with duel 50 Caliber machine guns. He took part in the only true tank vs tank combat engagement.

  • @geckotoe
    @geckotoe Před 2 lety +2

    I doubt anybody at Timeline will see this, but thank you for being the new History Channel. Growing up I always watched it, but now its not the same at all. Thank you so much for these awesome videos! =D

  • @TranscendianIntendor
    @TranscendianIntendor Před 2 lety +32

    It was '66 & '67 or '65 -'66 that I was in the 9th grade and in some class, maybe social studies we were given pen pals in Viet Nam to write and send paperback books to. I sent my Conan the Barbarian novels. I got letters back I wish I still had. Soldiers told me stories of their friends being blinded by rocks thrown by children and told me not to come to this war. What good reason is there to go to a lost war? I want aways for any of the soldiers who may have written to me to know that I cared about then then and do now, being grateful for the truth that they wrote down for me, along with good advice.

  • @mathewkelly9968
    @mathewkelly9968 Před 2 lety +192

    The Australians used Centurions fairly successfully in Vietnam .... but then again we probably didn't send them out without infantry support .

    • @paulwallis7586
      @paulwallis7586 Před 2 lety +19

      No, we didn't. See Battle of Coral, a bigger battle than Long Tan.

    • @laranja9921
      @laranja9921 Před 2 lety +33

      One of the problems in vietnam, was the mentality of the western officers, they were still in ww2, many generals were old ww2 veterans, guerilla warfare wasnt that common in ww2

    • @awakeandwatching953
      @awakeandwatching953 Před 2 lety +17

      @@laranja9921 the bigger problem is the entire pretext of US involvement being the gulf of tonken incident has quietly been admitted to being staged with multiple witnesses on the US ship stating there was no north vietminese ships and they were firing at empty water

    • @surplus2720
      @surplus2720 Před 2 lety +17

      @@laranja9921 guerrilla warfare wasnt that common in ww2? i dont think u know what u are talking about...
      only in EU there was a perpetual guerrilla warfare , every occupied nation had his guerrilla from spain, greece,italy,ukraine,poland LITERALLY ALL OVER EU. and U.S. was supply and training partisan i this particular way of war: guerrilla . Even some guerilla group where even trained in england then parachuted in EU.
      THE GUERRILLA was so HUGE the axis was forced to create "special operations" group only to counter guerilla all over EU .
      and if u want we can talk about the KOREAN WAR ...

    • @MrSUPERDUCON
      @MrSUPERDUCON Před 2 lety +9

      @@surplus2720 guerilla in Spain during WWII??? :D
      The meaning of LARANJA is that western officers didn't experiment fighting against guerilla during WWII.
      During WWII masters of guerilla were soviets (and perhaps yougoslavians), but US didn't fight against soviets.

  • @davidlondon9002
    @davidlondon9002 Před 2 lety +2

    One of the best I have ever seen! Great documentary!

  • @duongnhdn
    @duongnhdn Před 2 lety +32

    My uncle (my mom's oldest brother) was one of the NVA soldiers fought bravely against the American force in Quang Tri in 1969, he told me one day his whole company was almost wiped out by the American, only him and 3-4 other survived and made it to the village. War against the American was deadly and cruel back then and would be even more cruel for us now because the American can sit in an air conditioned office thousands miles away, push some buttons and some thunder and lightning from the sky would fall onto our heads, while our armed forces are still fighting with mainly Cold war era AK47 and T-54. This is why we choose to befriend big nations like the US and China, but still keep our guard up as we never know when war will come to us again.

    • @duongnhdn
      @duongnhdn Před 2 lety

      @@froggymusicman Still friends tho. Both politically and economically Vietnam depends heavily on China, so there's no way Vietnam can just forcing an alliance with the US while ignoring China.

    • @reisen1932
      @reisen1932 Před 2 lety +2

      @@froggymusicman China doesn't have friends, but politically and economically, we all rely on them. I am sure Vietnamese dislike Chinese, like they did and do thousands of years, but having China as neighbour, you need to be "diplomatically friendly"

    • @robingeorgetowntx
      @robingeorgetowntx Před 2 lety +6

      Your Uncle was a brave man and a veteran. Even if he was once the enemy, I as a Viet Nam veteran still honor him as a veteran.

    • @Chazman1946
      @Chazman1946 Před 2 lety +2

      This Marine Combat Vet salutes your Uncle as a brave foe on the battlefield, Vets from any war can look back and recognize that their foes, were valiant adversaries!

    • @kentmoorhouse8663
      @kentmoorhouse8663 Před 2 lety +1

      That's pretty cool hearing your story and insight. Your uncle was pressed into service just like most Americans. Hopefully we have continued peace.

  • @jeromebarry1741
    @jeromebarry1741 Před 2 lety +13

    U.S. schools did not teach me that Ho Chi Minh had attended the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 to demand recognition of an independent Vietnam. He had.

    • @cenccenc946
      @cenccenc946 Před 2 lety +1

      yea, they tend to skip that, and the fact the united state financed the french to fight the war since the 40s until the french got tired of it too. like American generals were on the ground in the late 40s early 50s, calling the shots involved.

    • @garrettbrandt9678
      @garrettbrandt9678 Před 2 lety

      That’s more if an example of the inconsistencies of US education. My school spent a decent bit of time talking about it. The biggest problem I think is more so the US education system is really inconsistent with some schools going over things like that and others never mentioning it.

    • @formalbug5716
      @formalbug5716 Před 2 lety +5

      Well if they realize Ho Chi Minh was western educated, and that he began one of his most famous speeches using the preamble to our constitution, they'll probably think he was an inspirational liberator. Which he was. The US will do anything to make sure communists get a bad reputation. I had one teacher in 8th grade try to tell me he named Ho Chi Minh city after himself "like any good dictator". Forgetting Uncle Ho died like 6 years before the war ended.

    • @PumpkinEater-dm1xx
      @PumpkinEater-dm1xx Před 2 lety +1

      Ho Chi Minh was not very communistic. Even communist Stalin and Mao suspected him for a while. Ho even wrote a letter to Truman to establish US-Vietnam relations but Truman turned that down to favor the French. Roosevelt however would have recognized Vietnam if he lived past 1945.

    • @mopar_dude9227
      @mopar_dude9227 Před 2 lety

      He never attended the conference, he was there with a group demanding to be allowed to attend.

  • @Davivd2
    @Davivd2 Před 2 lety +36

    My stepdad was a marine in Vietnam. I asked him about tanks as a kid because I never saw them in Vietnam movies. He told me that the only tank he saw there was parked on base when he landed in country.

    • @Pointman-yf6or
      @Pointman-yf6or Před 2 lety +24

      I got a friend from high school that was a tanker. During his tour, 67/68, they lost 1 man. Drunk, and was run over by his own tank. Your stepdad was right, I spent 10 months in the bush as an army grunt, and never saw a damn tank in the field. From June 1967, until February 1st 1968, we had 110 Kia, and 258 wia. From the 1st of February 68, until the 28th my unit had 40 Kia, and 150 wia at a place called lz hardcore, about 15 miles from the big marine base, lz baldy at danang. We damn sure could have used some tank support.

    • @Davivd2
      @Davivd2 Před 2 lety +7

      @@Pointman-yf6or Wow. That's rough. Thanks for your service. 07

    • @e.lake13
      @e.lake13 Před 2 lety +4

      @@Pointman-yf6or Nothing but admiration and respect to you and all those you served with and continue to serve. I hope life is treating you much better these days. I'm glad you came home sir, though I don't know you. I'm not even American, but one of your northern neighbors instead. However, that doesn't diminish my respect for the brave soldiers of our closest ally and friend. If the end of days comes in my lifetime, I would stand next to any one of you to defend our continent and bring peace back to humanity. Be well friend. Lest we forget.

    • @forevermarked5826
      @forevermarked5826 Před 2 lety +1

      @@Pointman-yf6or wow. Thank you for your service my friend! It's a shame where our country is headed but thank God for.men like you!

  • @darkquaesar2460
    @darkquaesar2460 Před 2 lety +27

    I had an uncle that was a tank driver. Occasionally they'd run over anti tank mines one of which killed him. The gunner who was in his tank said that when you run over an anti-tank mine, very rarely was it the actual explosion that killed people. It was the concussion/vibration of it that was deadly because it would rattle your head so violently that it scrambles your brain.

    • @DeadPixel1105
      @DeadPixel1105 Před 2 lety +2

      Yes, the concussive blast does tremendous damage to your internal organs and that will kill you, even if you are far outside of the range of the heat and shrapnel of the blast.

    • @MrRedberd
      @MrRedberd Před 2 lety +3

      Sorry to hear that. My uncle's schizophrenia came out during Vietnam era marine boot camp. He was essentially gone for the rest of his life. I could feel my father's pain over the loss, because his little brother no longer trusted or wanted to be around him.

    • @fukkitful
      @fukkitful Před 9 měsíci

      Hitting your head against the inside of the tank is probably what killed them, not it rattling there heads.

  • @mentalizatelo
    @mentalizatelo Před 2 lety

    AMAZING production. So lucid, vivid experiences. Thank you.

  • @christiangallien3730
    @christiangallien3730 Před 2 lety +3

    Honestly.. God bless all you Vietnam veterans still showing up to youtube vids to tell us stories. You guys are seriously underappreciated, I just want to speak as a man in his late 20s.. and i'll speak for everyone around my age: we ALL appreciate your stories from lived experience, and we're so lucky to be here to ask questions!

  • @scottyjordan9023
    @scottyjordan9023 Před 2 lety +9

    My father was with B 1/9 and wounded at Con Thien on 7 November 67 operation Kentucky. It’s 2021 and he’s still having small fragments of shrapnel working there way to the surface of his scalp.

  • @GrievenceCapitolist
    @GrievenceCapitolist Před 2 lety +8

    The guy that taught me my trade was a "tank commander " I believe . It's been a long time ago . The title might be wrong . I know he was a Sargent . I never asked him about it , he never talked about it but working near Fort Derrick , there was a lot of helicopter traffic . Sometimes he would just stare off into space for a few seconds then go back to work .

  • @milkman81
    @milkman81 Před 2 lety +5

    Thank you for your sacrifices, true heroes.

    • @Terencetog
      @Terencetog Před 2 lety +3

      You mean the Vietnamese, right? The US had no business being there and they eventually lost the war. The country was united under the communist North and, although no longer communist, is now prosperous and peaceful.
      Committing a war crimes on the other side of the pacific ocean does not deserve thanks or praise. It deserves eternal condemnation. I am apalled that the US school system appears to have the audacity to regard the Vietnam war as 'heroic sacrifice'.

  • @mondomendez5165
    @mondomendez5165 Před 2 lety +30

    Would love to see an episode on the US Brown Water Navy! ✊🏻

    • @olddog6658
      @olddog6658 Před 2 lety

      While i was in a tank up north, my cousin was in a patrol boat down in the delta.
      Somehow we both got home. Semper Fi pogues

    • @mattj616
      @mattj616 Před 2 lety

      Roger that Mondo !!!

  • @KowboyUSA
    @KowboyUSA Před 2 lety +70

    The American Revolutionary War was won in no small part by American colonists fighting a better guerilla war than the Brits. Barely 150-years down the line that fact had been completely lost by those in charge of our wars.

    • @kamikazefilmproductions
      @kamikazefilmproductions Před 2 lety +14

      The Vietnamese knew the land, we didnt.
      Just like the revolutionary war, we knew our land. The brits didnt.

    • @v3ck1n
      @v3ck1n Před 2 lety +12

      We owe the French a great deal for our independence.

    • @Kemite_Gaming
      @Kemite_Gaming Před 2 lety +2

      @@v3ck1n pretty much

    • @nickb3164
      @nickb3164 Před 2 lety +7

      @@v3ck1n and likewise, the vietnamese owe the soviets. Ho Chi Minh actually admired the united states very much and seeked to have friendly relations. Of course that didnt happen, but its interesting nonetheless.

    • @rishz7857
      @rishz7857 Před 2 lety +2

      I'm sure Ho Chi Minh studied how other successful guerrilla campaigns fought & the American revolutionary war was a successful campaign.

  • @WiseGuy5674
    @WiseGuy5674 Před 2 lety +7

    I will say this. I drove the M48-A5 main battle tank in South Korea from 83 to 84 and although I never used it in battle, that machine was a workhorse of all work horses.

    • @roninkraut6873
      @roninkraut6873 Před rokem

      The Patton series gets a bad wrap for some reason.

  • @AFV85
    @AFV85 Před 2 lety +15

    M48A3’s wide tracks gave it good off-road mobility, but Vietnam’s exceptionally soft, deep mud frequently bogged it down. Its shallow fording depth (4 feet) and weight could limit its employment. A kit was available that enabled the tank to ford rivers up to 14 feet deep, but it was rarely used.

  • @anchorpoint5871
    @anchorpoint5871 Před 2 lety +72

    The crew is still here to talk about it ....the tank did not do too bad!

    • @aussibroker93
      @aussibroker93 Před 2 lety +31

      Well they weren't gonna chose a dead crew for the interview

    • @bradshively7109
      @bradshively7109 Před 2 lety +7

      They didn't do so well in the Central Highlands but 3/4 cav were excellent. I wouldn't have a father, nor would I be typing this message if they weren't!

    • @salinagrrrl69
      @salinagrrrl69 Před 2 lety +1

      What year of this series?

    • @salinagrrrl69
      @salinagrrrl69 Před 2 lety +2

      @@bradshively7109 This grrrl txting you now calls you a brother if a tank father sutvivor. Ny dad got the Silver☆Star for running right into TIGERS riding out a blizzard at night during the Bulge. When I txt running right into I txt that literally.

    • @Almalexia88
      @Almalexia88 Před 2 lety +3

      @@salinagrrrl69 Im guessing around 2002-2007 based on the animations, the age of the vet's and the narration style.

  • @GraemePayne1967Marine
    @GraemePayne1967Marine Před 2 lety +3

    07:11 - Amtracs! Amphibious tracked vehicles. Designed for carrying troops, equipment & supplies between ships and shore, and then "Forward, from the sea". These are the LVTP-5 version. (Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Personnel.) I was a mechanic on these vehicles 1968-1970 (Vietnam 1969-70). There are also specialized versions: Command (equipped with communications & other equipment for unit commanders); Engineer (equipped with rocket-propelled explosive line charges and a massive toothed bulldozer blade) for clearing minefields; the H model (equipped with a built-in 105 mm Howitzer) for unit artillery support; and the Retriever for and Recovery (or retriever) equipped with a repair shop and parts, and a boom and rigging for recovering, repairing and towing stuck or disabled Amtracs and other vehicles. (I spent a lot of time with this version ...)
    Riding in one at sea or in a river is "interesting" - when fully loaded there is only about six inches between the water surface and the top of the hull.
    Amtracs were initially developed for the Marines in WW-II. The advantage over landing boats is that the Amtracs can advance with the troops from the beach, providing support and light armor.
    The hull armor is fairly thin (no, I don't remember the thickness.) It would keep out machine gun fire. On the other hand, some other weapons would go straight through, which actually could be beneficial. When I was working at a repair depot in Georgia, one of my co-workers turned pale and started shaking as a 'track was pulled into the building for it's turn to be repaired & refurbished. Turned out that he had been inside that one when an RPG went completely through the vehicle and exploded outside ... instead of inside. He had reacted to the sight of the holes in the hull.

  • @allanallione4766
    @allanallione4766 Před 2 lety +1

    EXCELLENT DOCUMENTARY ! ABOUT TANK WARFARE IN VIETNAM ! THANK YOU ! FOR THIS FOOTAGE !

  • @GregoryWingham
    @GregoryWingham Před 2 lety +52

    This was a very informative documentary. I have never seen information on this subject and enjoyed learning about it. My sincere gratitude to the US armed forces who labored there on behalf of our country, especially to the remaining family members whose loved ones did not return whole! Also, condolences to all of the Vietnamese whom suffered through the bloody war.

    • @gilmojica778
      @gilmojica778 Před 2 lety +2

      it was never a war, it was a "conflict" or a waste of American lives. kind of a preview of the next round of wasted American lives thanks Mr Bush,Obama, and the brian dead guy we have now. c'mon man

    • @atf8721
      @atf8721 Před 2 lety +4

      @@gilmojica778 nobody asked

    • @ericconnor8419
      @ericconnor8419 Před 2 lety +3

      They were invading another country, not defending the U.S.

  • @Monatio79
    @Monatio79 Před 2 lety +51

    As the NVA closed in on Saigon, the war became increasingly conventional in nature. It's ironic how a North Vietnamese tank breaking down the gates of the presidential palace, now the Reunification Palace Museum, symbolized the end of the war.

    • @Monatio79
      @Monatio79 Před 2 lety +2

      @William Smith Which goes to show how the US could never have won, short of nuking Hanoi. The North Vietnamese were willing to do whatever it took to reunify the country under a single government; no sacrifice was too great. The South Vietnamese government, on the other hand, was plagued by corruption and incompetence. Those ARVN soldiers who fought bravely and died, even as the noose tied around Saigon, did so because they believed that their very existence was under threat. Domino theory notwithstanding, the majority of Americans felt that this just wasn't their war.

    • @ishhyyyy
      @ishhyyyy Před 2 lety +2

      @William Smith Don't forget the Americans also lost 400k allies, Vietnam war wasn't primarily fought with just American troops, but with 11 other country's troops. You also said 3 Million Vietnamese, your including civilians and South Vietnamese, your allies, around 800K NVA/VC died.

    • @pudanielson1
      @pudanielson1 Před 2 lety +1

      @@Monatio79 Contemporary sources basically said if the U.S kept supporting South Vietnam, they very well could've been the South Korea of today, it was just too much support was cut off form fuel and ammunition, but who could blame them the U.S was going through rough times by 1973

    • @Monatio79
      @Monatio79 Před 2 lety +1

      @@pudanielson1 Indeed, "could've" being the word of choice. Ten years from now, we could be saying the same about Afghanistan. "If only Biden hadn't..." The benefit of hindsight. Ironically, it was only after doi moi and the US's normalization of relations with Vietnam in around 2000, that the country really started to see exponential economic growth. Perhaps the US should have intervened with McDonalds and KFC to begin with ?

  • @CG-kf5vh
    @CG-kf5vh Před 2 lety +116

    And did we learn anything? No, we went to Afganistan to loose another war and more brave soldiers. Nuts!

    • @knarftrakiul3881
      @knarftrakiul3881 Před 2 lety +25

      All depends on how you look at it. ALOT of people including some politicians made millions through government contracts. War is great way to launder money 😉

    • @Zer0thehero117
      @Zer0thehero117 Před 2 lety +4

      Lose*

    • @g.k.1669
      @g.k.1669 Před 2 lety +6

      @@knarftrakiul3881 Bingo! The munitions manufacturers get rich...again...again and again.

    • @TheBlankJoker
      @TheBlankJoker Před 2 lety +1

      We even named out MBT after the General that unfucked the Vietnam War...

    • @c1ph3rpunk
      @c1ph3rpunk Před 2 lety +10

      You cannot lose if “win” was never defined, success is never achievable when there are no clearly defined goals. I would argue that was in fact their plan, so, they, those that did not define success, did in fact “win”.
      If the plan was to lose then we did win. Think quagmire.

  • @jeremysweeney4282
    @jeremysweeney4282 Před 2 lety +2

    My dad was in tanks during Vietnam with the 11th armored Calvary division 1968-69!
    GOD BLESS ALL THOSE VETERANS WHO FOUGHT IN THE VIETNAM WAR THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT WAS SACRIFICED 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

  • @georgele872
    @georgele872 Před 2 lety

    I am appreciated and respect what you guys went through, hat off, and salute. You all are my hero always

  • @berniepenner6204
    @berniepenner6204 Před 2 lety +4

    As Member of MCB-11, I was given complete Jungle Training before being deployed in 1969 ...the things we were exposed to were like nothing else imaginable...

  • @gunchief0811
    @gunchief0811 Před 2 lety +9

    Vietnam has always been a very mysterious and scary but alluring Place for me i grew up watching a show called "Vietnam the 10'000 day war". And other Shows about the war and read time life books about it.
    I want to visit Their country and see the Landscape that the brave men and women had to live in and fight in during the sixties and seventies...
    I joined the Marines in 1984 and went to boot camp in 1985 June.. i became an Artillery Cannoneer and worked on a Howitzer crew. I always thought about Vietnam when I was on active duty we had many many Vietnam veterans who were senior staff N.C.O.s and Some were captions or Majors Lieutenant Colonels Full bird colonels. Generals. Etc...
    They had some harrowing stories about Artillery fire bases and The Vietcong attacking them at night.
    The U.S. Artillery was a major target for the Vietcong.

  • @Me2Lancer
    @Me2Lancer Před 8 měsíci +1

    God bless my brothers who fought and died in Vietnam. I served there in 1965 as part of US Navy coastal operations. I have good friends who fought during and after the Tet offensive of 1968. It was definitely a tough place to be.

  • @jessestout8646
    @jessestout8646 Před 2 lety

    Thank you for your service, sir!

  • @daveshrum1749
    @daveshrum1749 Před 2 lety +134

    I'm curious about who the genius was that decided to head out without any infantry support. I notice they just said they made a mistake and didn't clarify who ordered it. Nothing happens in the military without someone ordering it. Tanks in a jungle against Guerrilla forces that have anti-tank weapons without infantry support, brilliant.

    • @FuzzyDunlots
      @FuzzyDunlots Před 2 lety +6

      Dumb is how more bullets make banks go whrrrrrrrrrrrrr

    • @cenccenc946
      @cenccenc946 Před 2 lety +8

      I just came to post almost 5he same thing with a big old, WTF?
      like the definition of terrain and situation not suited for tank operations.

    • @CharChar2121
      @CharChar2121 Před 2 lety +16

      @@alien4422 There was a draft. I don't blame them one bit. Drafts are a terrible idea. Being in the military sucks, but for volunteers, we chose the bed we lie in. Conscripts don't get that. They didn't choose this, so when their glory-hungry boot LT wants to sacrifice them for a promotion, yeah, they're not gonna take that quietly.

    • @JRobbySh
      @JRobbySh Před 2 lety +10

      @@CharChar2121 Draftees fought WWII. Further they went to war with less training than troops did before Nam. And when they got inside Germany they were faced with troops better trained than the Vietnam and as equally motivated as the Vietnamese. I will add that they also had better Generals and behind them politicians who had clear goals in mind. Neither Kennedy nor Johnson had these.

    • @wumao6797
      @wumao6797 Před 2 lety +3

      @@JRobbySh Well in WW2 they got motivation but in Vietnam what motivation?

  • @markpaul8178
    @markpaul8178 Před 2 lety +20

    Watching this video brings back some great times in my life.The M-60 A3 had TTS,which stands for Tank Thermal sight .This tank had 3 models.The M-60 A3 was the best of the best at that time in history .The high silouette ,or turrent,was it's only negative.I would put it up against any tank during the 60s and 70s.

    • @scotanderson7689
      @scotanderson7689 Před 2 lety +1

      And the 80s too. We loved our M60 A3s in Germany. The new M1 A1 was just coming out and had alot of bugs at first.

    • @markpaul8178
      @markpaul8178 Před 2 lety

      @@scotanderson7689 Scot,when I was in boot camp at Knox in the fall of 83,which was the coldest winter in decades,we trained on the M-60 A3.But there was one motorpool that had about 30 M1 tanks.The tanks had a very limited training detail.They were just rolling out from the assembly line and had not been forwarded to front line units in Korea.I was in Bravo company,2 ND battalion,1st brigade.

    • @Truthbomb918
      @Truthbomb918 Před 2 lety

      British chieftain could engage and destroy an m60 from beyond which an m60 could engage

    • @markpaul8178
      @markpaul8178 Před 2 lety

      @@Truthbomb918 Max range for an m60 A3 was 4,200 m.

    • @Truthbomb918
      @Truthbomb918 Před 2 lety +1

      @@markpaul8178 m60 had a British 105mm and was ridiculous high target, chieftain had a much more powerful 120mm rifled cannon and much heavier armor and could fire hesh as well as heat and sabot

  • @lonniedotson7558
    @lonniedotson7558 Před 2 lety

    true some times the main gun couldn't be effective due to the target. That's one reason why many of us pulled out the gunner's seat, added extension to the main gun trigger. We also added a second 50 cal machine gun on the top for the gunner to use alongside of the TC and the loaders would hump ammo from the back deck rack...worked very well( A troop 3/4 Cav 25th Inf Div)

  • @yoblob34
    @yoblob34 Před 2 lety +1

    Thank you for your service in Vietnam willing or unwilling

  • @slick4401
    @slick4401 Před 2 lety +44

    It is as if the entire US high command was run by career bureaucrats or political officers, not professional soldiers. Then again, the Vietnamese are tough as nails. A bad combination.

    • @idoobbberz_tv6676
      @idoobbberz_tv6676 Před 2 lety +5

      @Flare Bruh what? The German Wehrmacht would fare better against the NVA & Vietcong? The Wehrmacht & SS failed in Operation B. to capture Stalingrad due to the intense weather & conditions they faced in Soviet Russia. I beg to differ for that weird hot take of yours

    • @gfries4906
      @gfries4906 Před 2 lety +2

      @Flare germany lost ww2

    • @idoobbberz_tv6676
      @idoobbberz_tv6676 Před 2 lety +3

      @Flare Vietnam was a cease fire. The United States trained the Afghani Army and gave them all the vehicles, weapons, & equipment they needed to defend and hold themselves. A withdrawl of troops is far from a surrender or a defeat.

    • @Ragedaonenlonely
      @Ragedaonenlonely Před 2 lety

      @Flare Germany would have lost for the same reason the US did. It wasn't a style of warfare they were used to in a terrain they weren't adapted to living in.

    • @lexburen5932
      @lexburen5932 Před 2 lety +1

      @Flare note : was is not for the soviet operation bagration, the germans would have moved troops from east to west. making normany landings impossible. operation bagration tied the german army in the east. Americans should be very thanksfull to the soviet union. later they asked stalin to help fight the japanese in manchuria becouse they couldnt bare the losses.

  • @dutchbrotherfan1284
    @dutchbrotherfan1284 Před 2 lety +30

    I was in Tanks M-60 A-1 and M-60 A-3 1981 to 1984 we had couple Vietnam vet TC’s one named Eickelberger he was blown out on two occasions he looked like a tank. Wonder what became of him

  • @spaceface7775
    @spaceface7775 Před 2 lety +2

    Damn this deserves a movie

  • @jamisonmaguire4398
    @jamisonmaguire4398 Před 2 lety +1

    One of the best Vietnam war books I ever read; "Going Downtown: The War Against Hanoi and Washington" by Col Jack Broughton. The title says it all.

  • @HooDie-Trench-GoTh2022
    @HooDie-Trench-GoTh2022 Před 2 lety +70

    The tactic the Vietcong used by knocking out the lead tank then the rear tank effectively blocking a single column of armour is exactly what the Germanic tribes did against Rome's legion at Teutoburg forest .

    • @comradekenobi6908
      @comradekenobi6908 Před 2 lety +4

      Hungarians did it to the Soviet tanks too

    • @Bonk4Me
      @Bonk4Me Před 2 lety +12

      @@comradekenobi6908 And the soviets did it to the germans. I think everyone did it to everyone at one point.

    • @bodkinofnurk8898
      @bodkinofnurk8898 Před 2 lety +13

      The Romans had tanks...???

    • @Bonk4Me
      @Bonk4Me Před 2 lety +9

      @@bodkinofnurk8898 yes.

    • @comradekenobi6908
      @comradekenobi6908 Před 2 lety +5

      @@bodkinofnurk8898 testudo

  • @JeffBilkins
    @JeffBilkins Před 2 lety +30

    25:44 note how there is often a lot of talk about armour penetration of this and that versus such and so but here this crew gets hurt bad by a weird situational random RPG ricochet that blows off the loaders hatch and splashes into the tank.

    • @jacobcooperbell3735
      @jacobcooperbell3735 Před 2 lety +3

      Its interesting how a tank shell/ricochet can happen.

    • @LuvBorderCollies
      @LuvBorderCollies Před 2 lety +5

      I worked with a guy who's Huey took an RPG hit right on the rotor as it was lifting off from a hot LZ. The Huey dropped like a rock from 30' to 50'. The wounded were hurt worse and the others were all injured. Then they took fire while laying on the ground or trying to get out of the Huey.
      The guy suffered a lot of spine damage and was in chronic pain ever since. He's still around, just saw him in August. I know what back pain is so I can relate to him.

    • @gilmojica778
      @gilmojica778 Před 2 lety

      they should have been locked down you never leave a hatch open in combat.

  • @PeterBengt900
    @PeterBengt900 Před 2 lety +4

    Totally amazing that at 77yrs I can see this historical documentation when I was there in the very early August 1964 -June 1967. It is only now we can see what was going on (the Stars and Strips at the time was a bunch of happy BS) When I returned back home no one wanted me to say anything - they really did not like anyone who was involved the the Vietnam Conflict. The thing I then saw was the Tet offensive rising and saying to myself - Just Damn.

    • @sky5jump
      @sky5jump Před 2 lety

      Thank you for your service sir. I was just a young boy at the time but have had many Nam Vet friends in my life and still do though they are starting to pass now.

  • @ronnietrek6376
    @ronnietrek6376 Před 2 lety +32

    Still can’t imagine you and your fellows going through the jungles or just plains full of Vietcong and traps. It was really lucky to survive without any scar. Wow!

    • @Sinraye89
      @Sinraye89 Před 2 lety +8

      Imagine what the Vietnamese went through, in their own country, without any tanks or air support for protection.

    • @alexanderk5522
      @alexanderk5522 Před 2 lety +2

      They also managed to take a nice shots of vc`s preparing an ambush and launching an rpgs from behind the camera. Incredible filming

    • @ronnietrek6376
      @ronnietrek6376 Před 2 lety +5

      @@Sinraye89 That’s why the guerrilla tactics were adopted by Vietcong. That lack of technology however had a great impact on the Vietnamese civilians in terms of casualties. While VC’s had a chance to hide in the tunnels, the civilians didn’t, take Napalm use for example. Politics start the war while people endure it and eventually pay for it.

  • @StressfulGengar
    @StressfulGengar Před 2 lety +2

    Omg Dan is soooooo old now!!
    I remember the show he and his dad had on the military channel back in the 2000's

  • @craigdouglasmartens7037
    @craigdouglasmartens7037 Před 8 měsíci

    How did tanks fare, not fair😊 Great channel and documentary, thank you!

  • @user-et7fv6fz6q
    @user-et7fv6fz6q Před 2 lety +1

    I love the we used the co2 to cool some beer down

  • @povang
    @povang Před 2 lety +68

    I was a Marine Corps infantryman from 2001-2005 and even the jungle warfare tactics we used in 2001 was far inferior to the North Vietnamese tactics used in 1970. The Marine Corps is incredibly stubborn, it refuses to stoop to guerilla warfare tactics, its always been about all out conventional warfare. Charge the enemy balls to the wall with bounding fire. You could hear a company of Marines sneaking through the jungle a mile away, while the NVA could sneak a battalion up on you without you even noticing. The top Brass are not taught about guerilla warfare in their fancy officer schools, its always been about conventional warfare, throw everything you got at it.

    • @davidwall2919
      @davidwall2919 Před 2 lety +17

      The Vietcong nickname for American soldiers was “the elephants”. They could hear and smell the before they saw them.

    • @noahvannote417
      @noahvannote417 Před 2 lety +8

      Yeah empires are good for conventional warfare but counter insurgency is something different. Not to mention having no real reason to be there so there fore the strategy reflects that.

    • @colinhains3690
      @colinhains3690 Před 2 lety +5

      Yep they were noisy, I was in an Australian platoon that tracked behind an American unit up to the border because they were being followed by the VC. We were using them to hit the VC
      On another occasion when we were short on food, we came across a used US camp site and found enough abounded food to keep us going until we got resupplied. We also found a m60 barrel as well

    • @josephfelder33
      @josephfelder33 Před 2 lety +1

      Truf

    • @edscmidt5193
      @edscmidt5193 Před 2 lety +2

      @@davidwall2919 the Americans could smell the Vietnamese too. I recall my dad saying they smelled like some kind of fish

  • @gumonmyshu
    @gumonmyshu Před 2 lety +9

    I like how eleven hundred sounds less than ONE THOUSAND!.

  • @timsoporowski8768
    @timsoporowski8768 Před 2 lety

    Thank you for your service 💝

  • @chowardlaw8417
    @chowardlaw8417 Před rokem

    This - interesting. I was in Vietnam (Ordnance officer, in a maintenance battalion and then part of the Depot Troop Command). Recall seeing M-41 and M-48 tanks (ARVN had M-41s, our units, or at least those my unit was responsible for supporting, had M48A5s mostly). At 2:37, I see some tanks - one appears to be an M48, but another looks as if it might be an M60A1. Didn't know we had any of those in Vietnam. Huh, if I'm right, learn something new every day.

  • @jurgenkuhlmann9194
    @jurgenkuhlmann9194 Před 2 lety +3

    The digital reproduction of combat scenes is marvelous! It makes one realize how computer technology has improved since the days of the C64 and Atari!!

    • @davidferrara1105
      @davidferrara1105 Před 2 lety +1

      You must be old like me

    • @jurgenkuhlmann9194
      @jurgenkuhlmann9194 Před 2 lety

      @@davidferrara1105 I'm born in 1968, so when the C64 came out - the pride of my Maths teacher!!! - I could take a look at it. I was not allowed to use it. The first computer I used for myself was my dad's personal computer, with a b/w screen and at least a HD drive.

    • @waynegroves6922
      @waynegroves6922 Před 2 lety

      @@jurgenkuhlmann9194 Pfft, my first PC was an 8088 with two 5-1/4" floppy drives, and 4k of memory! With the green CRT screen, and a very expensive dot-matrix printer, that little package cost around $2,000 in 1989.

    • @jurgenkuhlmann9194
      @jurgenkuhlmann9194 Před 2 lety +1

      @@waynegroves6922 I wrote my first exposé for my English studies on my Dad's computer. DOS - operated, with a 14" b/w screen that made my eyes hurt after just half an hour of typing! And bloody expensive, too!

    • @waynegroves6922
      @waynegroves6922 Před 2 lety +1

      @@jurgenkuhlmann9194 Yeah, I had to teach myself DOS to operate the damn thing. Luckily, I had a knack for programming that I didn't know I had. I went on to program in five different computer languages after that.

  • @Buck9672
    @Buck9672 Před 2 lety +61

    This just goes to prove that fighting an enemy on their own soil will lead to many deaths; like this, Korea, the Russians in Afghanistan, the Balkans (where I served in the early 90's) and ultimately the last 20 years of NATO in Afghanistan. RIP all those who came before

    • @marcs990
      @marcs990 Před 2 lety +1

      Ditto mate, I served in the early 90s in the balkans. Where you UN & where did u serve exactly. Cheers mate

    • @lolofblitz6468
      @lolofblitz6468 Před 2 lety +1

      @@marcs990 yea yea 1991 serbian army couldnt defeat Croatian city of Vukovar which had 1200 defenders ( many of them were policemans )
      Serbian army had Tanks, Planes etc
      Croatian defenders barely had hand grenades ...

    • @Chrisamos412
      @Chrisamos412 Před 2 lety

      You’re right, although WWII was fought on enemy soil, and succeeded, thank goodness. Thx for serving buddy!

    • @2011woodlands
      @2011woodlands Před 2 lety

      a lot of the insurgents in afghanistan are not from that country, thrill seekers and religious nuts.

    • @Ukraineaissance2014
      @Ukraineaissance2014 Před 2 lety

      @@lolofblitz6468 the Serbs took vukovar

  • @kfiscal01
    @kfiscal01 Před 2 lety +8

    My old man was a Ranger in vietnam, he told me of one engagement of a heavy force of V.C. on a treeline leading into a dense jungle. Anyway, they were under heavy fire and brought up a M42A1 Duster anti aircraft gun. Now this gun has twin 40mm Bofors cannons, and a Browning M60 machine gun, the way he described this thing in action was unreal. It completely swept the enemy, bushes, trees, everything, the body count was appalling, the ones that were intact. Evidently the "Duster" was better than tanks in the wet soil.

  • @auusstin8404
    @auusstin8404 Před 2 lety +2

    PLEASE MAKE AN EPISODE ABOUT MACV SOG IN VIETNAM WHILE THEY ARE STILL HERE. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING STORIES.

  • @krisfrederick5001
    @krisfrederick5001 Před 2 lety +16

    It's hot enough in Vietnam, now sit in metal box in the jungle. Thanks Uncle Sam

    • @cenccenc946
      @cenccenc946 Před 2 lety +2

      I think that was against the Geneva convention.

    • @pudding1870
      @pudding1870 Před 2 lety +1

      @@cenccenc946 American uses that as a "to-do" list

  • @planetmchanic6299
    @planetmchanic6299 Před 2 lety +5

    Ya, I was a tanker in Nam on the twin forty dusters, 144th batalion. It all seems like a dream now.

    • @LuvBorderCollies
      @LuvBorderCollies Před 2 lety

      I've only seen still photos of that tank. Sounds a little more useful for anti-personnel fire than a single 105 barrel.

  • @TIRCQ
    @TIRCQ Před 2 lety +22

    I had the opportunity to visit Vietnam 3 years ago... absolutely lovely people owners of an amazing and prosperous country built by a truly brave nation that resisted the unforgettable US invasion as same as they did with many other countries before.

  • @ralphpatterson440
    @ralphpatterson440 Před 2 lety +3

    I was in C. Co 3rd tank in 65 and 66. In 66 we moved to Cam Lo. We were told we could not use the canister round and the flame thrower tank. Washington at work.

  • @johndewey6358
    @johndewey6358 Před 2 lety +5

    BIG Thank you to our guys who served in Vietnam, you make us proud. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. Your lessons learned will save thousands of lives in our current and future wars.

    • @Erreul
      @Erreul Před 2 lety +2

      Man, I hope your ready to be disappointed in the next big fight America gets involved in, because it's going to go the exact same way.

  • @rlicon1970
    @rlicon1970 Před 2 lety

    Good work for the hero of the hill. You let our brothers come home. RESPECT.

  • @francesbernard2445
    @francesbernard2445 Před 2 lety

    My uncle Peter worked in a tank sometimes during the Vietnam war and he was decorated for it. Lucky for him he was a machinist mechanic and so he wasn't working only ever inside a tank.

  • @Eric-ye5yz
    @Eric-ye5yz Před 2 lety +13

    American soldiers were in Vietnam at the request of the American corporations, Vietnamese soldiers were in their own country, they have no where else. So like the British in 1939, they had no where else to go, they had their home to protect

    • @grandaddyc
      @grandaddyc Před 2 lety

      Supposedly America was in Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism, "The domino theory" Vietnam was not Communist. But after the incursion of America Ho sought help from the Communist's, thereby defeating the original supposed American goal. Incompetent' tragedy. Choose your politicians wisely.

    • @thitran1362
      @thitran1362 Před 2 lety +2

      @@grandaddyc Its funny how Ho Chi Minh favored the Americans more after WW2 but he felt betrayed after they support French recolonization of Indochina which led to this conflict.

  • @drewishaf
    @drewishaf Před 2 lety +9

    I grew up around tons of men who fought in Vietnam and Korea (including my grandfather.) Hearing stories from some of these men was exciting, terrifying, beautiful, and atrocious all at the same time. A friend of my grandparents was a bombardier in Vietnam and listening to his experiences was probably the first time in my life I had seen a sweet old man, who was tough as nails, break down crying. I even had a relative who was part of MAC V SOG, though he didn't want to talk much about it. Most of his stories came from his time as a personal bodyguard for a couple VERY high ranking officials in other countries (including royalty.) But ever since I was a child and heard all of these stories, I was enstilled with a sense of respect that everyone fighting was just another person with parents, a family, and a life outside of war. I've always wanted to visit some of these locations where the most brave young men and women gave their lives for their cause. I feel a sense of duty to visit these places to respect and honor every soldier who gave their live for the brothers around them, regardless of what side they fought on. Of course I love my country and am steadfast in my belief that the USA is the best country that has ever existed, but that it is by no means perfect or without flaw. And despite my disdain for enemies of my country, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for their bravery and willingness to die for their cause. For me, this is a matter of history and the friends I've made who were forced into impossible situations. But I know that, for these men that fought and died, it was a matter of life and death. I was raised to believe that the religion someone practices dictates their fate after death. So for every single man, woman, and child who was lost in these (and all other) wars, I hope that they all find the peace of rest with their God(s)/Goddess(es).

    • @johnteets2921
      @johnteets2921 Před 9 měsíci

      I think Eisenhower summed up LBJ the best : "He encouraged to nation to persevere in a course in which he was not willing to lead."

    • @CrossOfBayonne
      @CrossOfBayonne Před 6 měsíci

      Same here, Had 2 Uncle's in Korea and a friend of my uncle in Vietnam