[john_preston]

True or False: Tanks could not be used in the jungle terrain of Vietnam.


I never saw a Nam film with an armored vehicle in it. Soldiers relied on rifles, pistols, shotguns, machine guns, sub-machine guns and the helicopter for that fighting environment.

I ask because I've never really seen any armored vehicle, tank or otherwise, in any Nam film or Nam news footage.

I can't recall ever seeing any tracked vehicles in Vietnam films or coverage.

 

[gvaldeg1]

Tanks for the viewpoint! :wink5:

 

[AgedWarrior]

False. Over the years there were a variety of tanks and armored vehicles used in Vietnam. Movies and media clips never tell a complete story.

 

[RMLamp]

M113 APC's were used in Vietnam as well as other armored vehicles.

 

[Stevejet]

M24 or M48 light tanks were used (Full Metal Jacket showed them in the movie) and MBT60 Marine tanks were used as defensive hard-points at Khe Sanh, 1968, as well as in Tet - same year - in Hue. It's all on the History Channel and in the history books. Just put your question or subject into your computers search engine window and hit "Enter".


https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=tanks+in+vietnam+war&qpvt=tanks+in+vietnam+war&FORM=IGRE

 

[Stevejet]

https://www.pinterest.com/larry66pate/tanks-vietnam-war/

 

[Stevejet]

https://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/vietnam-war-tanks.asp

 

[john_preston]

False. Over the years there were a variety of tanks and armored vehicles used in Vietnam. Movies and media clips never tell a complete story.

My guess is that terrain with heavy jungle vegetation might have made it very difficult if not virtually impossible for tanks and other tracked/armored vehicles to a maneuver in battle.
Helicopters can fly over such difficult terrain.

In the psyche of most people, Vietnam was a southeast Asian jungle war with helicopters and soldiers on the ground, in foxholes and in tunnels. When one says "tank", people immediately think of Patton and World War II.


I saw We Were Soldiers with Mel Gibson back around 2002 when it came out. I had heard of "air cav" while I was in the army (1988-1995) but
didn't know what it was all about. Never in such a unit type. I was surprised to see how the soldiers in the film fought. They were jumping off the helicopters (Hueys) when they came in and fighting on foot with literal boots on the ground. My idea of "cavalry" had always been "mounted warfare"; soldiers' fighting while mounted on horseback, motor vehicle or aircraft. The birds in the film seemed to be merely "air taxis" of some sort bringing in troops and supplies and pulling out casualties to/from the battlefield. You call, we haul.

 

[Popeye]

Not all of Viet Nam is jungle.

 

[john_preston]

Not all of Viet Nam is jungle.

Hanoi was a concrete jungle filled with SAMs.

 

[AgedWarrior]

In the psyche of most people, Vietnam was a southeast Asian jungle war with helicopters and soldiers on the ground, in foxholes and in tunnels. When one says "tank", people immediately think of Patton and World War II.

Too much cinema and not enough reality often results in deception or misinformation. We have become a people who accept history as being what ever Hollywood and media presents for consumption instead of learning the truth.

 

[Popeye]

Hanoi was a concrete jungle filled with SAMs.

Wrong!!! again.

 

[Mad Scientist]

The North Vietnamese held a fairly large number of American POWs captive in Hanoi, to act as a deterrent against the US from bombing the city.

 

[PrairieHunt]

Ask Carlos Hathcock about armored troop carriers.

 

[Northtidesix]

The Marines favorite perimeter defense weapons was Tanks, and a little weapon called the Ontos (Greek for thing). The Ontos was a tracked carriage with 6, 106mm recoiless rifles mounted on it's sides. It was originally designed as a tank killer. Since the communist did not deploy their tanks until 1968. They were loaded with "bee hive" rounds containing hundreds of flechette darts, nasty little tracked vehicle.
The Marines used the M 60 tank, and amphibious tractors (AmTracs) all over Vietnam throughout the war.

I have never seen a war movie that wasn't full of ****. We were soldiers came real close, then screwed it up at the final scenes. That was NOT the way the Ia Drang valley fight ended.

 

[underdog]

The Marines favorite perimeter defense weapons was Tanks, and a little weapon called the Ontos (Greek for thing). The Ontos was a tracked carriage with 6, 106mm recoiless rifles mounted on it's sides. It was originally designed as a tank killer. Since the communist did not deploy their tanks until 1968. They were loaded with "bee hive" rounds containing hundreds of flechette darts, nasty little tracked vehicle.
The Marines used the M 60 tank, and amphibious tractors (AmTracs) all over Vietnam throughout the war.

I have never seen a war movie that wasn't full of ****. We were soldiers came real close, then screwed it up at the final scenes. That was NOT the way the Ia Drang valley fight ended.

M50 Ontos: The Forgotten Tank-killer​

https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/m50-ontos-the-forgotten-tank-killer/

 

[QuickdrawMcgraw]

Open a book and read. Dont get your views and information bout anything based of real happenings from follywood. Yes, armored vehicles and tanks were used in Vietnam.

 

[deputy]

M50 Ontos: The Forgotten Tank-killer​

https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/m50-ontos-the-forgotten-tank-killer/

appreciate the link.......

and a reminder of another seldom remembered note in American history...... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Civil_War#U.S._intervention

 

[Stamps6]

Keep in mind the the Vietnam War wasn’t about an organized front or battle lines. The plan wasn’t to occupy areas in as a war of attrition. The plan was to kill so many of the enemy that they would give up. Flawed but we did kill a whole lot of them. Tanks as an offensive weapon as they were used in the Second World War and Korea wasn’t feasible or needed. There were a few tank battles but tanks were used as an artillery piece or support weapon. Not like the Patton years.

 

[Fitasc Shooter]

The North Vietnamese held a fairly large number of American POWs captive in Hanoi, to act as a deterrent against the US from bombing the city.

LBJ also allowed the liberal media of Cronkite et al to convince him that "killing innocent civilians" was not the way to win the war. Had he bombed civilain targets, the "conflict" would have ended sooner.