OT-Interesting articles on Vietnam

I have personally seen a Soviet colonel, who earlier was an advisor to VC. He told us some intresting stories, most of which revolved around air defense issues. Like how they set up fake surface to air missile batteries from wooden logs.

i

That reminds me, anyone know where you could find inflatable tanks or jeeps like they used in Britan before d-day?

Tim

-- "I've got more trophies than Wayne Gretsky and the Pope combined!" - Homer Simpson Website @

Light-up snowman and santa figures on the front lawn just not cutting it these days? :)

I've often thought of contructing a 1:1 replica of a field howitzer.

GTO(John)

:-)

Strider

Im personally aware of the shooting of a Russian Major. Unfortunately it was not known he was a Russian Major until the bastard was rolled over and his pockets picked. Shrug. Would have been a fine propaganda coup, or a real can of worms to have taken him alive.

Gunner

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there. - George Orwell

I can't say I'm personally aware, as the story came to me second hand from some guys who were on the scene. But a SEAL team told me they'd waxed a Russian on S Vietnam.

They were a bit pissed about it. They'd not known or suspected a Russian was present. Or they might've put off an ambush and instead might've tried to figure out a way to capture the fellow. But as things turned out, they'd initiated the ambush, pretty typical one, and the action was started and getting hot fast before a couple team members spotted a caucasion amongst the enemy bodies. Guy was already down and done for, tho still alive (momentarily).

They'd set up an ambush, usual routine, using claymores. Intent upon taking out a group known to be a VC control group. A hit and run scenario. Fire off the claymores, then hit em with massed gunfire. Run in, grab satchels, briefcases, etc of plans, maps, correspondence, and so forth. Then ditti mau the heck outta there. As there were large numbers of bad guys all around. No time to goof around.

Anyway, one of the SEALs spoke some Russian and this caucasian was still alive, but fatally injured. And he was mumbling in Russian. Only time for a quick search, but guy had no ID or any other sort of identifying papers or items on him. And there was no time to do anything else but pull a fast ghost act as they had a full battalion breathing down there necks, coming fast and pissed off. With even more not too far behind them. So they had to do the fade away NOW with what they had. And be happy with that.

Never heard, myself, any reliable stories about Communists Chinese in the field in South VietNam. Not to say there were none. I sure as heck didn't know much and wasn't privy to a lot of things.

But I gotta wonder if some stories didn't get started about spotting Red Chinese among the VC as a result of someone seeing Nungs. Some of whom, if working for a Recon or Recondo outfit for instance, carried AK47's and wore black pajamas.

Bob

I am surprised none of them fell into the UShands alive...

i

I always thought it was common knowledge that the allies of North Vietnam sent "advisers" into combat with both regular and irregular troops. Their primary role was to gather intelligence about US troop tactics, morale, weapons, etc. then feed this information back to their respective military commands. Really no different to the military "observers" that say the US had in the Falklands War, or the British during the Vietnam/American War. I doubt there has been a conflict since the end of WWII that has not had one side or the other "inviting" their allies to come and watch.

Yes, and it was my cousin's job to shoot and kill them.

He was a Marine sniper who worked mostly at night with a Sniper Scope and a Remington 700, in Laos and later near the Ho Chi Minh Trail, watching for patrols. There was a "tall" guy (relatively speaking) at the front or the back of many Vietnamese patrols. That would be the Chinese advisor. He was the assigned target.

Ed Huntress

You guys act like this stuff was secret... About as secret as the fact that there were American "advisors" in South Vietnam.

Sheesh. No wonder you guys have problems with facts...

Dan

You don't present facts because every time you try, you get your head handed to you because your "facts" are wrong. That's why, out of frustration of getting smacked by your betters, you sulk behind your 'puter screen and try to snipe at your betters, until they smack you down again.

You have the attitude and mental maturity of a teenager.

Strider

Among which groups? CPUSA? SDS? Weathermen? Not all of us have your "advantages" regarding history, not being members of such groups.

Provide a cite from the mainstream press from that era mentioning Russians among the NVA and VC.

No, we don't get the position paper fax from the Democrat Party.

Among which groups? CPUSA? SDS? Weathermen? Not all of us have your "advantages" regarding history, not being members of such groups.

Provide a cite from the mainstream press from that era mentioning Russians among the NVA and VC.

No, we don't get the position paper fax from the Democrat Party.

Mainstream press? Da, comrade. How about Pravda May 13, 1967? In an article reporting on Leonid Brezhnev's speech to the Bulgarian Communist Party, Pravda revealed that the Soviet Union had 3,000 advisers with NVA troops, and that 13 had been killed in action (Heros of the Soviet Union).

This was indeed no secret, even the official Soviet newspaper of record was openly reporting it. Why wasn't it prominently mentioned in the US press? Good question.

Realize that major US news operations had Moscow bureaus in

1967, and they certainly subscribed to Pravda. So they had to see the story. Perhaps they didn't consider it noteworthy since the extent of Soviet financial, logistic, training, and direct military support for Vietnam was widely known.

The Soviets bankrolled approximately 70% of NVA expenses,

15% came from China, and the rest came from other socialist countries (notably including in this case, Bulgaria). With that level of expenditure at stake, it should be no surprise that the Soviets had people on the ground to see that it was used wisely.

You gotta admit that the Soviets were getting more bang for their buck (and blood) than we were. They were, after all, the acknowledged experts at running wars of liberation. We've never been that good at colonial empire. So when we took over from the French, it should have been pretty obvious that we didn't much know what we were doing.

Gary

The NV movement was akin to Mao's communist revolution. That was one early indication.

We knew then from the Korean escapade that Russia aided the Chinese and the Koreans. That was an indication that SEA was on the USSR watch list.

Some captured AK-47s were Russian. I believe all the early ones were.

I'm pretty sure that Russian involvement was in the papers by 1968.

Hm. I've been posting on newsgroups for almost 20 years, and have yet to have my head handed to me, nor yet been "smacked" by betters or inferiors or peers. Certainly not by the likes of you >snicker

You don't seem to get much information at all, gauging from your posts.

Dan

More likely still playing with the lab set your parents gave you. Do you still have to ask an adult to help you with the big words?

Strider