The 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division was ordered to Vietnam in the summer of 1965 as permanent replacement for the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Due the war's rapid escalation the 173rd remained in-country and the 101st was assigned as the 'fire brigade' reaction force for II Corps Tactical Zone.
The various infantry battalions of the Brigade were among the finest combat units in the US Army. The men who wore the famouse ; Screaming Eagle' shoulder patch were all qualified paratroopers and were proud to their Division's Illustrious heritage.
101st Airborne Uniforms, when subdued version of the shoulder sleeve insignia were introduced as compulsory wear later in the ware, the 101st largely ignored the order and continued proudly to wear their full-colour patch.
The steel helmet is fitted with an M1C Parachutist's Liner with its distinctive web A-straps and chincup. The issue elasticated Camouflage Helmet Band was intended as a camouflage aid, but was more typically used in Vietnam to hold small items that the owner wanted to keep either close to hand or dry - e.1. cigarettes, matches, etc. The most common items, a plastic bottle of insect repellent is shown.
On the OG107 utility shirt this paratrooper wears his Division's shoulder sleeve insignia, basic jump wings and the single chevrons of his ranks.
The trousers have been modified by the addition of patch pockets on the outside of each leg - a common practice in Airborne units at the time.
The M1956 LCE is worn in typical fighting order with various items attached. The olive drab plastic one quart canteen was introduced as a replacement for the aluminium type and by 1966 was the more common of the two, M26A1 Fragmentation Grenades are carried on the universal pouches, correctly secured by their levers with a retaining strap passed through the safety rings.
The metal snap-link or o-ring attached to the harness on the left shoulder was used for rappelling from helicopters, and as such was a distinction of Airborne and Air Cavalry troops. A plastic angle-head flashlight with red safety filter is also worn on the front of the suspenders.
The man's sleeping gear is rolled and secured in the Sleeping Bag Carrier. Sleeping bags were rarely issued in Vietnam: most troops got by with at most a poncho and the quilted Wet Weather Poncho Liner. THese camouflage poncho liners were hugely popular, being extremely lightweight yet retaining the insulating propoerties of a heavy blanket. The liner is shown rolled inside an early rubberized poncho and hung from the H-harness by the straps of the carrier.
THe awkward nature of this arrangement is clear, and points up the need for a suitable rucksack for line units. An inflatable air mattress was issued, but rarely carried by experienced troops, though it was useful for floating equipment across jungle streams.
Slung over the right shoulder is an M18A1 Anti Personnel Mine Carrier, commonly called a claymore bag. This two compartment cotton bag was issued to transport the M18A1 Claymore anti-personel mine along with its accessories, thought it was also used throughout the war as a carr-all for ammunition and personal kit.
The weapon is the newly introduced 5.56mm M16 rifle in its original version with three pronged flash supressor.
Airborne in Vietnam Books on Amazon..
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NAM SENSE: Surviving Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division List Price: Sale Price: $11.50 You save: $8.45 (42%)  |
DescriptionAn honest tour of the Vietnam War from the soldier's eye view . . . Nam-Sense is the brilliantly written story of a combat squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division. Arthur Wiknik was a 19-year-old kid from New England when he was drafted into the U... |
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Blood on the Risers: An Airborne Soldier's Thirty-five Months in Vietnam List Price: Sale Price: $4.27 You save: $3.72 (47%) |
DescriptionFrom Dak To to the Tet Offensive, John Leppelman saw it all. In three tours of duty, he made combat jumps, spent months of fruitless effort looking for the enemy, watched as his budies died because of lousy leadership and lousy weapons... |
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LAND WITH NO SUN: A Year in Vietnam With the 173rd Airborne (Stackpole Military History Series) List Price: Sale Price: $11.30 You save: $10.65 (49%) |
DescriptionA no-holds-barred, straight-in-your-face account of combat in Vietnam You know it's going to be hot when your brigade is referred to as a Fireball unit. From May 1967 through May 1968, Ted Arthurs was in the thick of it, humping an eighty-pound rucksack through triple canopy jungle, chasing down the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam... |
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Clerk! The Vietnam Memoir of Paul A. Myers List Price: |
DescriptionPaul A. Myers landed at the air strip in Phu Bai, Republic of South Vietnam, in March 1970 as a rifleman PFC with additional training in electronic warfare. Refusing a typing test during “in processing”—he didn’t want to get sent to a supply unit typing manifests—he was sent to Screaming Eagle Replacement Training School at Camp Evans... |
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A Year In Vietnam With The 101st Airborne: 1969-1970 |
DescriptionThe author was one of many reluctant soldiers who served in the Vietnam War. Drafted out of graduate school and trained in the infantry, he spent a year with the 101st Airborne. This work is a journal of the experience, a day to day description of what it was like in a "grunt unit" fighting in the Central Highlands, dealing with the heat, the bugs, the rain, the endless patrolling in the villages and mountains, the ever present boredom and occasional violence... |
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