Weapons of War and their Meaning to the Men who Carried them
From the moment they entered basic training to the day they would leave Vietnam, weapons were an essential part of life for the service members deployed to Southeast Asia. It was a time of technological change and the weapons that they carried changed throughout the conflict. The firearms they were issued were both their means of self defense and the tool to prosecute the war. Though many different types of firearms were issued out during the Vietnam War, the majority of all soldiers handled and used either the M14 and or M16 series rifle.
When the United States entered the war, most deployed in 1965 with the M14 rifle. Designed for a war against the Soviets on plains of Europe, the M14 struggled in the equatorial climate of Southeast Asia and within the tight confines of the jungle. Though ultimately replaced by the M16 soon after being initially deployed to Vietnam, the M14 holds a special place in the hearts of those who carried and used it. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Most service members initially trained with the M14 during basic training so many had a familiarity and comfort with the system. Soldiers and Marines that deployed to Europe and the fighting along DMZ of Korea in the 1960s were issued M14s while its presence in Vietnam dropped in favor of the M16. (Used with permission of Allen L. Louthian and WCU Special Collections.)
The comfort factor of the weapon for many service member cannot be overstated. No weapon system is perfect but many preferred to trust their lives to the M14 rather than that of the M16. Though the Army phased out use of the M14 in Vietnam relatively early in the conflict, the Marine Corps held onto it until 1970
The M16 series of rifles began its time in Vietnam with special operation units for purposes of field testing the weapons platform before the 1965 mass deployment of the U.S. military to Southeast Asia. The weapon had growing pains and soon developed a reputation for unreliability amongst the soldiers and marines that would stick with the weapon until the end of the conflict. Soldiers and Marines called the weapon a product of the Mattel toy company. Even with these initial problems, the weapon would continue to go through updates throughout the conflict.
Even with the reputation of being unreliable from the early models, the M16 would prove itself in some of the worst battles in the early years of the conflict. It is arguably the reason why the U.S. Army won the battle of Ia Drang Valley in 1965.
A lot of the reliability issues stem from a lack of training in cleaning and properly caring for the rifle. Soldiers were sent to Vietnam without proper training in maintaining the M16 to function properly. To rectify this, comics were produced that show how to keep the M16 properly functioning and were issued in mass to those in Vietnam. With proper training, performance of the M16 in combat greatly improved.
By the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon in 1975, the M16 series of rifles had permeated most of the U.S. Armed Forces across the globe. Its image had become synonymous with the Vietnam War and it had passed through most of the service members to deploy to Vietnam.
