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Friday, December 16, 2022

The Unsung Heroism Of Vietnam's Tank Crews

On January 31st 1968 The Tet Offensive began. It would be one of the largest offensives of the Vietnam War, and  marked the beginning of Vietnam’s bloodiest, as forces from North and South battled for control of the country. Greatest Tank Battles takes us back to this 1968, speaking to those soldiers who  experienced it first hand and looking at the tanks that carried them through.

VIDEO HERE  (48 minutes)

9 comments:

  1. DUDE!!! That is me in the beginning of the video!!! Too funny!!!

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  2. I had an uncle that was a tanker in Vietnam. They had a AK round come in through a view port and bounce around where it went through his arm and killed two others in the tank. He spent the rest of his tour in the hospital and rehab in Germany. He went SF after that to get away from tanks.

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    1. I certainly don't mean to be a nay-sayer but that "round going through view port" story is a bit far fetched. I'm not saying that it did not happen like your uncle said but tanks are not built like that. Viewports are (like) ten layers of glass so a round penetrating it would most likely be stopped before it got all the way through.

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    2. https://laststandonzombieisland.com/2017/01/13/ever-wondered-how-bullet-resistant-a-tank-vision-block-is/

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    3. Thankfully the NVA and VC did not have sophisticated .50 cal. sniper rifles. The average bullet hitting our tank was a 7.62 round from a Chinese or Soviet made 7.62 rifle (SKS or AK-47)

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    4. Now that I read the story of the "round coming through a view port" I see that it is an 7.62 AK round. Never happen. Never in 100 years. Maybe a fancy .50 cal. sniper rifle but never a whimpy rifle round.

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  3. I saw a tank take an RPG at a glancing blow. Those guys came outta that tank and man were their bells rung.

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    Replies
    1. Chinese RPG rounds tended to bounce or splatter and not penetrate. Russian RPG's were feared almost as much as death itself.

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