0:02 War breeds monsters. And in the jungles
0:04 of Vietnam, American ingenuity and
0:06 desperation gave birth to some of the
0:08 strangest combat vehicles ever to roll,
0:11 float, or fly across a battlefield.
0:12 Today, we're taking a look at five of
0:14 them. Let's
0:19 begin. Number one, gun trucks. It's 1967
0:20 and your supply convoy is getting
0:22 hammered by Vietkong ambushes along
0:25 Highway 19. The brass hasn't given you
0:26 enough firepower, so what do you do? You
0:29 grab a wrench and create a monster.
0:30 That's exactly what the drivers of the
0:32 Army Transportation Corps did when they
0:35 transformed ordinary M35 so-called juice
0:38 and a half and M54 5-tonon cargo trucks
0:40 into rolling fortresses. These gun
0:41 trucks were born in makeshift field
0:43 workshops where soldiers welded on steel
0:45 plates salvaged from destroyed vehicles,
0:47 downed helicopters, and anything else
0:48 they could scr up. They had to
0:50 tactically borrow, another way to say
0:52 steel, everything they needed to protect
0:54 themselves and their convoys. If you're
0:56 wondering why gun trucks had to do this
0:58 instead of just using armored vehicles
1:01 or tanks, the answer's simple. Early in
1:02 the war, there just weren't enough of
1:04 them. Most armor was tied up with
1:06 infantry units or in other regions.
1:08 Convoys were soft targets driving
1:10 through terrain just ideal for ambushes,
1:11 and the troops driving them were left to
1:13 figure it out themselves. The first
1:15 versions of gun trucks might have had
1:17 just a single M60 machine gun mounted on
1:19 a pedestal, but crews quickly learned
1:21 that more was better. Soon, these
1:23 Frankenstein vehicles were bristling
1:25 with 50 caliber machine guns,
1:28 twin-mounted M60s, and even M134
1:30 miniguns or the monstrous M55 Quad50,
1:32 originally designed for anti-aircraft
1:34 use. The armor was enough to stop small
1:36 arms fire, but they were still
1:38 vulnerable to RPGs, mines, and
1:40 especially hand grenades since most had
1:42 open tops. This happened in the gun
1:44 truck Brutus when Sergeant Larry Dah
1:45 threw himself on a grenade that landed
1:48 inside during an ambush, sacrificing his
1:50 life to save the rest of the crew. He
1:51 was postuously awarded the Medal of
1:53 Honor for his bravery. To protect
1:55 themselves against mines, crews lined
1:57 the floors with sandbags or any Kevlar
1:59 blankets they could find. Even damaged
2:02 M113 armored personnel carriers were
2:04 given new life. Stripped of everything
2:05 but their armored hulls and loaded onto
2:08 truck beds. The armored shell and truck
2:10 created a kind of hybrid vehicle that
2:12 surprisingly worked. Each truck became a
2:15 unique creation built by its crew, often
2:16 with a cool nickname painted on the
2:18 side, like the Executioner,
2:20 Satisfaction, or Hell's Wench. Crews
2:22 took pride in their trucks and their
2:24 firepower setups, and they developed a
2:26 tight bond both with the machine and
2:28 each other. Gun trucks weren't
2:30 invincible, however, but by 1970, they
2:32 had helped cut convoy losses by around
2:34 60%. Not bad for a bunch of motorpool
2:36 mechanics with welding torches, scrap
2:38 metal, and a whole lot of attitude. Now
2:40 you'll see what happens when you give
2:42 some sailors a bunch of speedboats and
2:45 heavy weapons. Number two, PBR, patrol
2:47 boat river. The rivers of Vietnam were
2:49 the highways of the Mikong Delta, and
2:51 they were deadly for many reasons.
2:53 Unlike our gun trucks, the PBR was
2:55 actually factory designed by United Boat
2:57 Builders specifically for the Brownwater
2:59 Navy in Vietnam. But that doesn't make
3:02 it any less of a Frankenstein creation.
3:04 It was a strange mashup of a commercial
3:06 speedboat hull, twin jacuzzi jet drives,
3:08 and of course, way more firepower than
3:10 you'd expect from something its size.
3:12 With a draft of only 9 in, these boats
3:14 could skim over barely submerged
3:16 sandbarss and slip through tight jungle
3:17 waterways that other vessels wouldn't
3:20 dare approach. Their twin engines pushed
3:23 them to over 28 knots. And since they
3:24 used water jet propulsion instead of
3:26 propellers, they could avoid snags from
3:29 roots or debris and quickly pivot for
3:31 faster maneuvering in ambush zones. The
3:33 standard armament was twin 50 caliber
3:35 machine guns mounted in a forward gun
3:38 tub, a pintlemounted M60, an M79 grenade
3:40 launcher for shoreline threats, and
3:42 sometimes even a 20 mm cannon in the
3:45 rear. This provided them with 360°
3:47 coverage with weapons able to fire in
3:49 all directions. But they weren't built
3:52 for comfort or safety. Crewed by just
3:54 four or five men, PBRs had fiberglass
3:56 hulls that wouldn't stop a rifle round,
3:58 let alone an RPG. They had no real armor
4:00 and their only defense was speed and
4:02 overwhelming aggression. Crews would
4:04 fire on the move, performing fast
4:06 strafing runs on hidden Vietkong
4:08 ambushes along the shoreline. An
4:10 interesting tactic used by PBR crews was
4:12 the so-called revolving the boat. They
4:14 would circle at high speed with all
4:16 weapons firing outward, creating a
4:17 moving wall of fire to break out of
4:20 river ambushes. PBRs were crucial for
4:21 controlling the river systems, running
4:23 patrols, chasing smugglers, and
4:25 inserting SEAL teams deep into contested
4:27 areas. They were also one of the most
4:29 frequently ambushed platforms in the
4:31 war, constantly fired upon from hidden
4:34 shoreline positions. Now going back to
4:35 land, where our next creation started as
4:37 a battlefield taxi, but got turned into
4:39 a combat vehicle with more add-ons than
4:43 a Christmas tree. Number three, M113 APC
4:46 variants. If the Vietnam War had a Swiss
4:49 Army knife, it would be the M113 armored
4:51 personnel carrier. This aluminum box on
4:53 tracks started its life as a simple
4:55 battlefield taxi designed to shuttle
4:57 infantry through danger zones. But war
5:00 had other plans. The standard version
5:02 carried 11 troops plus a crew of two
5:04 with a single 50 caliber machine gun
5:06 mounted on top with no protection at all
5:08 for the gunner. That surprisingly proved
5:10 to be a massive problem in real combat.
5:12 So once again, soldiers got to work
5:14 making improvised upgrades. The armored
5:16 personnel carrier was then turned into
5:18 an armored cavalry assault vehicle, a
5:21 modified M113 with a gunshield for the
5:23 50, and two additional M60 machine guns
5:24 mounted at the rear of the troop
5:27 compartment. But why stop there? The
5:29 M113's chassis turned out to be so
5:31 versatile that it became the base for a
5:34 whole family of combat vehicles. The
5:36 M106 mortar carrier swapped out infantry
5:39 for a 4.2in mortar, allowing the crew to
5:41 fire protected from inside the hull.
5:43 Then there was the M132 flamethrower
5:45 variant, capable of devastating anything
5:47 in close quarters, especially useful
5:49 against bunkers and tunnel systems.
5:51 Although it wasn't exactly the most
5:53 humane weapon in the world, if a weapon
5:55 can even be called humane. Some were
5:57 armed with 40mm automatic grenade
5:59 launchers, extra machine guns, and
6:01 bolt-on steel armor, pushing the
6:02 vehicle's weight close to double its
6:05 original 12ton baseline. But with all
6:07 that firepower came real
6:09 vulnerabilities. The M113's aluminum
6:11 armor could stop small arms fire, but
6:14 that was about it. RPGs tore through it.
6:16 Mines were even worse, and heavy machine
6:18 guns didn't have much trouble either.
6:20 Its flat, thin belly meant hitting an
6:21 anti-tank mine could turn into a very
6:23 bad day. One of the reasons it earned
6:26 the nickname aluminum coffin. Because of
6:28 that, troops often preferred to ride on
6:30 top of the vehicle rather than inside.
6:32 If a vehicle hit a mine, you'd rather be
6:34 thrown off than cooked alive inside.
6:36 Crews welded on scrap steel, packed the
6:38 floor with sandbags, and added extra
6:40 protection wherever they could. There
6:42 was also a variant armed with the M61
6:45 Vulcan 20mm rotary cannon. Originally
6:46 designed as an anti-aircraft gun, but
6:48 repurposed to rip through targets on the
6:51 ground. Despite its flaws, over 80,000
6:53 M113s were built, making it one of the
6:55 most produced armored vehicles in
6:57 history. It wasn't perfect, but it was
6:59 everywhere, and it adapted to survive.
7:01 And speaking of surviving, our next
7:03 vehicle wasn't so lucky in the long run,
7:05 but it sure left an impression. Number
7:09 four, M50 ontos. Imagine if a tank and a
7:10 porcupine had a baby. You'd get
7:13 something close to the M50 ontos. Unlike
7:15 our DIY gun trucks, the Ontos was a
7:17 factory-built nightmare rolling off
7:20 production lines in 1955. But it found
7:22 its true purpose in Vietnam, where its
7:24 compact size, just 9 ft wide, allowed it
7:26 to go places conventional tanks
7:28 couldn't. jungle trails, tight urban
7:31 streets, you name it. What made the a
7:33 true Frankenstein vehicle were the six
7:36 M40 recoilless rifles strapped to its
7:38 tiny body. Mounted in three pairs, they
7:40 were linked to a 50 caliber spotting
7:41 rifle, which fired tracer rounds with
7:43 nearly identical trajectory to the
7:45 rifles. Gunners would fire the spotter
7:47 first, and if the tracer hit, they knew
7:49 the recoilless round would follow the
7:52 same path. When multiple rifles fired at
7:54 once, the back blast was insane. It
7:56 created a danger zone for anyone within
7:58 50 m behind the vehicle. More than one
8:00 unlucky infantry man found out the hard
8:02 way not to stand behind an ontos when it
8:04 lit up. A single ontos could shatter
8:07 bunkers, ambushes, or enemy morale with
8:09 a volley from its six recoilless rifles.
8:11 But once you fired, you had to get out
8:13 of the vehicle to reload the rifles one
8:16 by one by hand in the middle of combat.
8:18 Crews usually had one man reload while
8:19 the others provided cover, but more
8:21 often they fired and then pulled back to
8:24 safety. With just 17 mm of steel armor
8:26 at its thickest point, the Enttos wasn't
8:28 made to take hits. It was made to strike
8:31 hard and get out fast because RPGs,
8:33 heavy machine guns, and mines could tear
8:35 it apart without much trouble. Still,
8:37 Marines loved it in certain roles,
8:38 especially urban fighting and bunker
8:40 busting, where its massive firepower and
8:43 small frame made it a portable ambush on
8:45 tracks. Now, moving to the air, our next
8:47 creation proves that even the Navy
8:49 couldn't resist the urge to modify their
8:51 helicopters. Number five, Seawolf
8:54 Hueies. When most people think of
8:56 helicopter gunships in Vietnam, they
8:57 picture Army Hueies with door gunners
9:00 blazing away. But the Navy took that
9:02 idea and turned it up to 11. The Seawolf
9:04 squadrons, officially known as
9:06 helicopter attack squadron light 3 or
9:10 HAL3, operated heavily modified UH1B
9:11 Hueies that were constantly upgraded and
9:13 customized in the field. These weren't
9:15 your standard slicks. They were flying
9:17 gun platforms with some of the wildest
9:20 arament configurations of the war. While
9:21 most army Hueies relied on fixed
9:24 forward-firing rockets and guns, Navy
9:25 crews mounted flexible pintlemounted
9:27 weapons that could swivel over wide
9:30 arcs. The typical loadout could include
9:33 M60s50s and automatic grenade launchers.
9:35 The most heavily armed Seawolf Huies
9:39 carried two M134 miniguns, two M60s, 14
9:41 Hydra 70 rockets, and a grenade
9:43 launcher, all packed onto the humble
9:45 Huey airframe. Of course, all that
9:48 firepower came at a cost as the added
9:49 weight pushed these helicopters to the
9:51 edge of their performance limits.
9:53 Seawolf pilots developed a tactic that
9:55 became their signature. They would
9:57 approach targets at high speed and
9:59 extremely low altitude, sometimes just
10:01 inches above the water, then use that
10:03 momentum to pop up, clearing trees,
10:05 obstacles, or ambush zones before diving
10:08 back down. Fast and unpredictable.
10:12 Seawolf Hueies flew over 120,000 combat
10:13 missions. Fired more than 8 million
10:15 rounds of ammunition and provided close
10:18 air support for Navy Seals, PBR patrol
10:20 boats, and riverine operations all
10:22 across the Mong Delta. But like all
10:24 helicopters in Vietnam, they were
10:26 vulnerable to ground fire. The Seawolves
10:28 lost 44 aircraft and 50 crewmen during
10:31 the war, and HAL3 became the most
10:32 decorated unit in the history of US
10:35 naval aviation. Some of the things we
10:36 covered here already have full videos on
10:38 the channel, so check those out if
