ANNEX 3-11
Note: This ANNEX is presented here,
somewhat out of sequence (i.e., action took place in 1967) because the
timing of the receipt of the information obviated inclusion in Book One
and because its content too important to be lost to the readers of
Marine Tanks and Ontos action in the Vietnam War.
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS HISTORY
DIVISION
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WRITTEN
TRANSCRIPT
Interviewees’ Names:
Cpl Gary M Tefft #2093019, Tank Commander, 3rd
Platoon, C Company, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st MarDiv Cpl Richard W Benzal
#2115392, Tank Commander, 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Tank Battalion,
1st MarDiv Cpl Chester M Rayne #2130380, Tank Commander, 3rd Platoon, C
Company 1st, Tank Battalion, 1st MarDiv Cpl Larry W Massey
#2130921, Tank Commander, 3rd Platoon, C Company 1st, Tank
Battalion 1st MarDiv
Date of Interview: 2 May 1967
Conflict: Vietnam
Military Unit: 3rd Platoon, Company C, 1st
Tank Battalion, 1st MarDiv
Duties: Tank Commanders
Interviewer: MSgt Robert H Oliva #651559,
USMC, Team Chief 1st Marine Division Historical Team
Length: 1:00:00
Location of Interview: CP Company C, 1st
Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Quang Nam Province, DaNang TAOR,
Republic of Vietnam
Individual Completing Summary: Aryn
Willhite
Recording Format and Number of Recording:
CD#918
Documents Submitted with Interview: None
Related Material: None
Classification: secret until downgraded by
proper authority/Unclas
Transcription Priority: Note: The
following is a verbatim transcript
Abstract: The experiences and
observations of 4 Tank Commanders since their arrival in Vietnam. They
discuss the tank capabilities and importance of utilizing tanks within
infantry units on operations; the importance of formal school training
prior to assignment in Vietnam along with many challenges tank
commanders are confronted when operating tanks in the 1st Marine
Division Tactical Area of Responsibility (TAOR).
Key Words: AmTrac, ONTOS,
Operations STARLITE & STONE, ammunition, willy peter, terrain, Operation
TETON, Operation HUMBOLDT, Mike Boat (LCM)
03:08-05:25 My name is Cpl Gary Tefft
#2093019, I was asked to talk about tanks during my tour of duty in
Vietnam. I’ll start off around 18 Aug 1965 during Operation STARLITE, my
tank was knocked out by 57 recoilless rifle. We came under fire shortly
after landing on the beach. It was heavy growth and jungle in the beach
area. We pushed inland about 5 miles and the terrain sort of flattened
out. A lot of rice paddies, a lot of hedge rows and it was pretty
difficult to see. We ran into an ambush as we went through a channelized
area, the VC swung around behind us and they opened up with recoilless
rifles all in a complete circle. We just had to get a 360 degree
perimeter and stay there and fight. The most damage done to the tank
from the 57 recoilless rifles was the ones hit from behind. The rounds
from the front didn’t penetrate and did not hurt anyone. The ones that
did the damage mostly to people and tanks was the suspension in the back
of the tank. In this operation we had 10 tanks, when we came back we had
two that were absolutely running with a full crew, the one gun tank and
one flame tank. The others were towed back manned with other men. One
tank was totally destroyed, we had to blow it up in place, and the
reason was it was on fire and it had 90 rounds in it and they were
afraid if they towed it in, the 90 rounds would go off. It was too hot
to get inside, they packed it with C4 and blew it in place so the VC
wouldn’t get any documents or valuable knowledge from this vehicle.
05:25-10:20
During my time here in Vietnam, I learned
that tanks can operate better in the Da Nang area than they can in the
Chu Lai area. The Chu Lai area is limited because of the mountain ranges
and close to the ocean, Da Nang has wide areas to operate in, different
types of terrain, sandy, rice paddies, swamps, jungle, hills, just about
all kinds of terrain you can find in Da Nang.
As far as capability of the tank goes,
there’s not much over here that stops it. Mostly there’s water, swamp,
jungle, dry rice paddies and hills, the tanks can operate pretty good,
not much stops them. Just the wet sand does stop the tank from
operating.
As far as guns go on the tank, I think the
.50 caliber should be mounted co-axle alongside the 90mm instead of the
.50 in the cupola. In the cupola the .50 caliber does not function
right. It doesn’t feed correctly, it doesn’t have the amount of rounds
that needs to be mounted. The .30 caliber should be mounted on top
outside for a quick reaction weapon because a lot of time the VC will
jump out on the trail right in front of you and by the time you get the
turret swung around and the gun ready to go it is too late. He got away.
But with the. 30 caliber up top, all you got to do is grab it and start
firing.
During my time here in Vietnam, I also saw
that the VC did not bother the tanks very much. When the tanks surround
the infantry they don’t shoot at the infantry as much. Because of the
quick reaction of the tanks when they stop firing, the tank’s swing into
action the 90mm is real accurate. When there’s sniper fire you shoot the
90mm you never hear from them again. There’s no more firing from that
positions. The tank is fast, the mobility keeps the infantry from
getting hit, it helps a great deal. I think without tanks the infantry
would have more casualties than they do now.
It also seems to me that the VC is
terrified of tanks. Anytime our infantry unit is getting hit and they
call tanks the VC can hear the tanks coming and they seem to break
contact and leave before we even get there. We can go out there and
drive around, two tanks and no infantry and the VC don’t seem to bother
us. The only time I’ve seen a VC bother any tanks is when they have
anti-tank guns or when a tank hits a mine and that’s the only time we’ve
seen them go after a tank.
I find also that a tank is very useful to
the infantry. They use it for clearing mine areas and booby trap areas.
Booby traps and personnel mines have no effect at all on a tank. The
only mines that do bother a tank are heavy anti-tank mines and if it
does hit a tank it usually blows off a track and breaks up the
suspension a bit. A tank usually doesn’t have casualties when hitting a
mine and no tank has been totally destroyed by a mine, an anti-tank mine
that was hit.
Infantry also uses tanks for emergency
med-evac. If someone is not really seriously wounded and going to die,
they’ll call tanks to take them to the hospital. Daily routine here with
tanks, we go with an infantry company and sweep or set in a blocking
positions and then we’ll come in, resupply and refuel, go back out with
another infantry company, sweep with them, possibly set with them all
night move out early in the morning. Go with another infantry and start
the same thing the following day.
10:24-20:52
My name is Cpl Richard W Benzal #2115392,
Tank Commander, 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine
Division. We left the States in Feb 1966, just one platoon leaving. (of
C Company) We were the first ones leaving. We were going on a float with
4 tanks for a long period, about 3 months in the well deck of an LSD. We
were given 10 minutes a day to let the engines run, like a car if you
don’t run it can break down easily. We couldn’t run them much because of
the fumes they give off in a confined area, but we did try to run them
10-15 minutes. After we got over here, I believe most of us found out it
was not enough. On one tank the (fuel) injectors went out on it and a
few others were messed up. It took a little time to get fixed. We did
get to Chu Lai and off load off the ships. At Chu Lai we were attached
to Alpha Company for little while. We were put on the airstrip, of
course we didn’t do much but run out and guard. I can’t say I remember
ever having a sniper fire at me or during the month I was in Chu Lai. We
finally moved up to Da Nang in the middle of June (1966). We got up here
and immediately turned to Operation LIBERTY to work with 2 or 3
different companies of infantry. We went through a lot of pine;
something I didn’t think would happen in Vietnam. I’m sure a lot of
people wish they had screens to keep the bugs out, they were a big pest.
We ran back and forth in this area about 7 miles and didn’t really do
much. Found out going through this heavy brush, like this pine, got
caught in the tracks, getting on the sides of the hills, loose sand and
backing up and slight turn, I know of one tank who came in and saw him
backing up off a hill, we started to go down and he couldn’t go down
because of the hill. He cut right instead of left and it threw a track.
In the sand it’s a real problem with a track like that because the tank
tends to throw off, there’s nothing solid for the tank to be on so it
sinks up to the hull in the sand.
We were on Operation TETON in October or
November. We had a 360 degree perimeter around the VC trapped in a
village that they were trying to get out of, in that circumstance, two
tanks were on the far side of the perimeter from myself. Many of the
infantry walked up to the tanks and told the tank commander that if they
didn’t have tanks the VC would have gotten through them. That night one
tank fired 70% of their load. On our side we were getting sniper rounds,
we were doing a little fire but not much. The infantry was find (?) but
not much there either, then one night they told us to run up and down a
road to see if we could draw fire and we drew a little bit. So there was
one use of tanks being sent out to draw fire. Where it would be
dangerous for infantry to intentionally draw fire where they could see
where the enemy was firing from and we are safe inside the tank. This
way we went out drew fire and they saw where they were firing from.
That is one good thing about how a tank
can be used here, I’m not saying it’s the only thing but like med-evac.
We do a lot of that, say someone is just shot in the leg then we’ll go
out pick them up and bring them back to the area. Maybe a squad or
platoon is pinned down; we’d go out to supply fire if needed or just
supply fire. Let the infantry sweep, mount up, and take them back.
One night we were operating with one
company and it was night, just before dusk, you could still see and
usually you can pretty well figure that the VC are watching what you are
doing. So the infantry Capt. decided we’d try to throw them off using
the tanks so he put a platoon around the two tanks and we left with the
idea we would go to the north about 3 to 5 miles then swing back around,
it would be night so they couldn’t see the tanks. We would stop where
they thought the infantry had gotten off the tanks. The idea was to go
back to the Company and let the infantry off about 1000 meters outside
the gates. We would have done it but we heard that another tank had hit
a mind and, like I said, it was dusk and we went to the area we call the
“Horseshoe” by 1/1 Battalion and we went over there and it was one of
our tanks that hit the mine. They had one more tank with it and we had 2
tanks and we camped and set a perimeter around it. They had 4 people
injured pretty badly and they were bringing in helicopters. Like I said,
it was minor injuries that a tank would med-evac, it’s a pretty good
ride but not like a helicopter would be. We had 4 tanks there maybe 5
when the helicopters did come, we did receive heavy fire from the VC.
Usually anytime there’s a perimeter for the helicopter you can pretty
much count on getting hit and be on your toes.
As I said earlier, I came over as a
gunner, and we usually took a book in the turret compartment where we
could say we fired 700 meters with HE, different HE like HE M71 or T91
something like that, what the range was, the amount of elevation, and
deflection we had on the M31 periscope or telescope or whichever one we
were using. We had a pretty good record going. A record of hits, firing
on bunkers, across the river, on what the infantry wanted us to fire. We
had this record and you could see what you did.
20:52-31:30
The infantry using the tanks, I’ve already
said 2 or 3 things like helicopters setting up a perimeter for that,
med-evac or trying to draw fire or fake ambush with dropping off troops
in one area but not letting them off. Some more uses we used were on
some sweeps, the VC planted a lot of punji stakes over a dyke and rather
the infantry trying to get them, in case there maybe mines and other
things, we just took the tanks, I think we had 3 tanks. We just ran down
the punji stakes up and down the dyke and made it safe for the infantry
to go through. A lot of times on a sweep we’d get hit, we could get over
it fast or use the tank’s mobility. Really a much better weapon than an
AmTrac or ONTOS because we can withstand the mines better. We’re always
towing AmTrac or ONTOS back in from the field that have hit mines or get
demolished. I’ve yet to see a tank over here hit a mine and get
demolished. Separate a turret from the hull or something like that, we
usually hit a mine and lose maybe 8 or 9 track blocks, 2 or 3 road wheel
sections, arm support rollers and maybe bend a fender up if it isn’t too
bad. We usually carry a spare track hooked up on the hand rail on the
side of the tank and it comes in pretty handily. There was this one tank
in the company carrying a spare road wheel on it which I thought was a
pretty good idea. I think if one tank in each platoon carried a road
wheel it would help a great deal where hitting mines is concerned.
The most recent operations I participated
in was Operation STONE, we were working with, I think 2/4 and 2/1 it was
crossing a river just south of 3/1 about 12 or 15 miles across a river
south of Hoi An. We crossed the river here at Da Nang in a Mike boat,
made a run down to 2/4 and where we spent the night got up at day break
the next morning and went to do recon where we were going to cross the
river. 2 tanks made it across the river then the Mike boat stopped short
in a slightly different area than it had before, the Mike boat Commander
said this was fine here and go ahead and get off. The tank went off and
sunk, so that was a loss of a tank in the operation. We learned that
someone should walk forward and make sure the ground will hold the tank.
It took the rest of the day to get the Mike boat out from underneath the
tank and the tank hauled up on the beach where they could get it back
across the river. By that time the other two tanks had gone and put up a
blocking position. By evening 2 more tanks got across the river, the
next day the rest of the company got across and we started in on the
operation.
That operation was a lot different terrain
than what we were used to. Even though it was 15 miles, here we have
mostly sand that soaks up the water well, it tends to be firmer. There
is hard mud, jungle, vegetation, very thick, a lot of times you’d be
running through it and come across holes that you couldn’t see, even 5
feet away from the tank. It was hard operating and good to a degree
meaning the ground in most places you could run, get good speed. When
you were going through the jungle, it was really thick, we were lucky we
weren’t ambushed, which I thought they could place ambushes in the
vegetation in the jungle and they could have done damage to us. As far
as operating in this area, it couldn’t stop the tanks, we had some rough
going but we can go over the trees, or through and push our way right on
through the jungle vegetation which I wouldn’t expect an ONTOS to do,
AmTrac, I don’t know it probably go through it but not much else.
The type of rounds we usually fire and use
over here, the main ones would be HE round with a tracer, T91 is what
we’re getting now. It’s a slow round but pretty effective. We’ve got
good range on it when we’re firing across a rice paddy it could be 1500
meters to 4000 meters. The longest I’ve fired it over here was 2200
meters I believe. We carry HE rounds mostly, usually 20-25 round
canisters, canister type round that separates as soon as it leave the
gun turret. I believe it’s got about 1500 pellets in it, it is a very
effect round over here in close firing. After about 200-250 meters it
usually isn’t effective but like at night when you can’t really see
anything you’ve got the sniper fire in front of you and undergrowth. You
can get rid of some canister and it really quiets things down. I don’t
know if it kills them, I’d imagine. We’d get kills here that we don’t
know or think about and then we have 8 rounds of willy peter one in each
tank, which we don’t use very much but when we do have the occasion to
use it , it’s a pretty good round and I believe most everyone enjoys
firing it. At night, say when you need to mark a target and daytime
anytime with the jets coming for a drop, we can mark it with a willy
peter round which gives off all the white smoke and then they have a
mark for their target. That’s one good thing about the willy peter;
marks real well. It’s very effective when you can’t bring a flame in or
maybe it’s too much trouble to bring in a flame tank or maybe they want
it done too fast, you fire a willy peter into the area and get a pretty
good effect on these straw houses they have. They’ve got sniper fire we
can fire the willy peter usually we don’t, usually we use canister, but
the willy peter, I feel is very good for that. We have used it for that.
HE, HT or APT we don’t use at all, we have
no occasion to use it and we don’t even carry it on the tank.
31:35-34:30
We had tried an experiment with the .30
mounted on top of the tank. He’d requested to get the whole company done
like that but the request was denied so we can’t do that but we tried it
out 4 months ago with the .30 top-mounted, sky mounted and the .50
co-axle (with the main gun) and found that it worked very good due to
the fact that the .30 was extremely easy to get to. Usually you have a
target that is within 200 yards from the tank, like you are carrying
supplies for infantry when you come across a VC in a paddy and they
start running, the easiest thing to reach right in front of you and
point your gun and fire it rather than jump inside the tank. Firing a
.30 would be a lot easier than telling the gunner whichever way you
want, go unlock the cupola, you can’t keep the cupola unlocked. So
you’ve got to reach down, unlock it, flip on the 2 switches, get the
fire, come back up top side, swing the cupola around and fire. So the
.30 makes it a lot easier even the .30 inside mounted co-axle would be
easier than the copula. It gives you the advantage of more rounds that
you can keep inside the tank than just the .50 rounds. .50 on the side
is hard to reach and load. If you have a jam and get to it, links jam
very easily. I admit you could carry a lot more .30 inside.
34:33-42:10
My name is Cpl Chester M Rayne #2130380,
Tank Commander, 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine
Division. My experience in Vietnam covered many different opportunities.
As a tank commander, I experienced quite a bit, quite a bit with the
Viet Cong. They are very good fighters, very deceptive. As in tanks, we
don’t worry about them too much. The only thing we worry about is mines
that they do plant. I’ve been fortunate enough in Vietnam, I’ve been
here 15 months and I have not hit a mine and I have not been on a tank
that has been mined. I’ve seen many tanks mined and I’ve seen what they
can do.
The territory around Da Nang is especially
suitable for mines. Viet Cong knows this and takes advantage of this.
It’s soft sand and can camouflage a mine very easily. It’s hard to see,
it’s almost impossible to see, you don’t notice it until the tank hits a
mine. I’ve operated in areas different from Da Nang, Chu Lai the terrain
is rather high. It’s easier to pick out a mine on a high road than it is
in soft sand. Around the Da Nang area we’ve hit most mines but in Chu
Lai, we haven’t hit anything. Of course we were on the airstrip there
but we have Bravo Company and Charlie Company here also Alpha Company
from Chu Lai. Charlie Company has the most mines hit. Bravo is next
because they are here in the Da Nang area. I feel that the tank can
operate and do well in Da Nang because of the terrain, sand, rice
paddies that aren’t real soft. In the summer months we operate quite a
bit, the monsoon season slows us down because of the rain, the rice
paddies, mud, sand soaks in quite a bit during the monsoon season.
As far as infantry goes, tanks and
infantry are almost one word around here. We operate together all the
time, maybe a few times a tank will take out a patrol without infantry.
The tanks are in direct support of the infantry here. We give them more
support I think than any other outfit over here. The infantry mainly
bases their maneuvers, operation and tactics with tanks because the
tanks are versatile enough and mobile enough to go wherever the infantry
goes. Tanks are a direct support weapon and are used heavily with
infantry in Da Nang and Chu Lai and throughout Vietnam. We have no
occasion to be held in or confined around this area except a few rivers
crossing and lakes. We have the range with our 90mm to support the
infantry if they do need. The range is more than enough to cover these
areas.
Throughout my experience I have not
received too much sniper fire. There have been occasions where a tank
has hit a mine and sniper fire has been fired at the tank. We have
returned fire and the Viet Cong seemed to retreat. We have never had a
tank completely knocked out. I think this is the reason why the Viet
Cong did not venture to come closer with sniper fire. We usually travel
in groups with tanks. There are 5 tanks to a platoon, the heavy section
consists of 3 and the light section has 2. The tanks operate in at least
pairs, 3 or 2 no more than that. If one hits a mine the other is right
there for direct support. We have occasions where the infantry has been
pinned down and we have not been with them because of the mobility of
the tank we can be out there, we have speed enough to get into direct
contact with the Viet Cong within contact of the infantry. The infantry
knows that we are versatile and can operate even if we are not in direct
support of them. There have been many occasions I can remember for one
instance, a mine sweep had left the CP and was ambushed on the road. We
were in the CP at the time, we took two tanks and when we got out there,
the mine sweep was almost annihilated, they had 17 casualties and when
tanks arrived we had 2 kills that day and the VC fled. The section
leader received a Bronze Star for his actions that day.
As for weapons, besides the 90mm gun on
the tank we have a .30 and a .50. I believe the 50 caliber is a very
good weapon; however it has to be mounted correctly as mentioned before.
Had occasion to shoot the 90mm gun as far as 3100 meters and it is very
effective. The .30 caliber stateside would be a short range weapon maybe
90 meters effective range whereas over here, sky mounted, I’ve shot 1600
meters although not with complete accuracy. I believe the .30 is a fine
weapon and has the capability of mounted either co-axle or sky mounted.
I have mine, one .30 co-axle and one .30 sky mounted. I don’t have a .50
at this time but I plan to get one in the near future because it has a
more effective range.
42:11-47:42
I’d like to cover the experience of tanks
coming over to Vietnam. I myself and a group of others were sent to tank
school and they don’t cover completely what we have to do over here. We
learned about a tank in a short amount of time and you forget. When you
come over here, I learned more things than ever before about a tank; the
water, the sand causes the tank to change tracks, reverse sprockets,
change sprockets, change hubs, change road wheels, change track more
frequently than you’d ever think of. There’s a lot of wear on these
tanks while operating quite heavily over here. If we have time we do
preventative maintenance on them. When tanks hit a mine and tanks are
down there isn’t always that much time, if tanks do have time we get
what we can do on them. I think back in the States they should train for
men coming on tanks preventative maintenance and care of tanks and how
to change tracks, change sprockets, reverse sprockets, how to change
hubs and so forth on tanks because they will be doing it over here and
it has to be done it’s the one thing the tanks will need.
As far as being a tank commander in
Vietnam, we have many challenges and many decisions to make. As far as
I’ve been here I’ve learned many different things, map reading,
coordinates, radio procedures, and firing measures, when to fire and
when not to fire, you have a lot of decisions to make. I feel that in
Vietnam we have a great number of young men here that know what they are
doing as far as finding the enemy, searching them out and destroying
them. We have many men 19, 20 and as low as 18 all doing the job of men
much older. When you get over here you move fast because you have to. I
feel that I myself have learned a great deal. We have good leadership in
our Platoon and in our Company, we have a fine maintenance crew and have
a good section head. Of course, when you have mine damage and problems
with the tank there’s always a need to perform higher echelon
maintenance. I feel we could use high echelon maintenance men because of
the work that has to be done on the tank if it hits a mine. It may go
deeper than just the suspension, a lot of times the engine is messed up
and other things inside the tank including the electrical system.
As far as operations in Vietnam, I
participated in quite a few the most recent HUMBOLT. The Operation took
place in terrain that is different than soft sand. We did a lot of
operations in soft sand; this was in rice paddies, different kinds of
operating than we were used to. We went over a lot of dykes, trees,
jungle, vegetation and tanks had no trouble what so ever. We took
through some AmTrac and we ended up towing them out in the operation. In
this operation we had the okay to fire H&I and this was different than
we had done before because we were shooting at targets we did not see.
We shot all night and part of the next day, just harassment fire to
coordinates where the enemy was. Tanks, as you can see, have been used
here in many different things. We can take the place of artillery, short
range mortars, and long range mortars and in some occasions the range of
the 90mm gun will exceed that of artillery. It is a mobile weapon and
versatile especially in regions around Vietnam where both of these
factors come into effect. You need a weapon that can go and have the
range to shoot where it can’t go and that’s what tanks do here in
Vietnam.
47:42-49:00
Jump back to mine casualties and mines
that tanks hit, anti-tank mines, the only injuries we have had have been
small cuts either from the driver, gunner or loader from bouncing his
head off the side of the turret or receiving small shrapnel. We’ve had a
concussion and broken ear drum in this company due to the fact that the
loader at the time was not wearing a helmet when the mine when off, he
lost his ear drum in his left ear. The chest concussion was from the
tank Commander received from a mine blast, the mine did not hit the
track, the tank belied up to the mine and the mine exploded underneath.
The driver at the time was saved even though he suffered no injuries he
was completely blown clear of the tank. We had one man killed in this
company since I’ve been here in Vietnam. This is not due to a mine or
any sort of enemy fire. The man died as a result of pulling out another
tank. One tank was struck and another tank was backing up to hook onto
it and pull it out. The man was killed on the armor plate next to the
gypsy rack of the tank that was stuck. The other tank backed down and
the brakes failed, the tank rolled right on top of him and crushed this
man. We had another man injured in this incident. It just goes back to
everything that has been said, back in the States before they came over,
ever since they came into tanks, that’s beware they can kill you even if
you’re not in combat. Tanks are 52 tons of steel and it can be
dangerous.
50:01-1:00:00
My name is Cpl Larry W Massey #2130921
Tank Commander, 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine
Division. I’d like to tell of one incident that happened this morning to
me. First of all, I’ve been in Vietnam approx. 15 months I extended over
here. I’ve never hit a mine until this morning. I was coming across a
crossing everyone had gone across it one time or another. I’ve seen a
tank hit a mine or had hit a mine. I was leading the way, I got all the
way across the crossing coming up the last bank and if I hadn’t been
going the speed I was going it would have caused damage to the tank but
I lucked out and it went up behind the tank and it curled up the back
fender. As far as casualties my loader was sitting up on the tank at the
time of the concussions, I had the cupola in the upright position so I
didn’t get much of the blast just the concussion scared me. I didn’t
know what it was. I looked around and found out what it was and
proceeded on the way.
All the time I’ve been in the Marine
Corps, I’ve been a driver for almost 2 years. Recently I was put up to
Tank Commander. One thing I could say for people in the States who are
learning to drive is there’s a lot of difference from Vietnam and the
States. In the States you’d be driving on hard ground, paved roads and
maybe if you were at Pendleton, some rough terrain. Over here you have a
lot of sand, wind in your face, rain and a lot of dust. You’ve always
got to keep your eye on the road, look for things that might be a mine.
Don’t go over the tracks twice, try always to make new trails, learn how
to go over rice paddies, if it’s the monsoon season there’s a lot of
rain, remember when you start into a rice paddy, don’t stop until you go
through it, if you stop the tank will sink. The dykes give a lot of
people trouble going up them. Take your time and you’ll be alright.
When you are in
Vietnam during the monsoon season a person has to adapt a lot to it.
You’ll be out in the field a lot operating in tanks, you have to bring
enough gear to change clothes when you get wet, get used to sleeping in
the rain, working in the rain and you have to be especially careful of
the weapons on the tank. Keep all the weapons clean constantly. As far
as the rest of my buddies in the 3rd Platoon who talked about the .30
and .50. I too feel that the .30 should be on top of the TC cupola
outside the tank for a quick reaction. It’s a fast weapon and in many
circumstances because of the simple fact that it does take time to swing
the turret around, of course your telling the gunner this and his
looking around for VC. You just can’t do this quick. When if you have
the .30 right in front of you. You can do this without saying anything,
just a reflex. As far as the .50 co-axle I believe that the .50 is made
to fire not on the side but upright like it is. When it’s on a cupola it
doesn’t work properly. You don’t’ have enough ammunition for it in the
TC cupola and if you did get in a fire fight you’d have to manipulate it
plus you’d be sticking your head out of the TC cupola to see what
direction to fire. You can carry more ammo in the turret for the .30 by
the main gun also if you have trouble firing the .30 in the TC cupola
you could fix that easy enough. But if the .50 jammed it’s a lot of
trouble to take it off and find the trouble especially in a fire fight
with a loader it would be his job with the gun. He’s got the light, he
doesn’t have to worry about being sniped at, the TC would be inside the
tank.
For infantry, the tanks support the
infantry. We have on occasions out by ourselves and as mentioned before
with 2 or 3 tanks at a time. The infantry would be useless without us.
That’s speaking pretty boldly but we’ve saved them a couple of time in
tough spots. We are their only support unit. There are times when they
need instant fire power which we have done and can use that they need
and appreciate. Thanks put on many miles during resupply of infantry
also we carry 10-20 gallons of water on each vehicle. A man in the field
can’t survive on 2 canteens of water. So we run back and forth to the CP
for resupply. We can go just about anywhere except in the monsoon
season. As far as terrain, there’s good terrain for tanks to operate in.
Our weapons, I found the average range for the 90 mm is point blank to
1000 meters and in that range the effective range is supposed to be
30-900 meters. That’s one more reason I feel that it’s good on top of
the TC cupola because the fire fights we are in are under that distance.
END OF INTERVIEW
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