Joe , Your Question was passed on to me,
I Drove Sheridans for the
199th 69-70 , Lost two , one to a mine the other to a RPG .Looked over
your Page to the M551 , yes it did have its problems .The main problem
was the main gun ammo , if it caught fire the whole Game was over . The
crew would Burn . The ammo was Hazardous to fire due to the absence
of a brass container to hold the powder , Electric firing of the
powder was a cause of failures also and when that happened it was quite
a job for the loader
to remove it underfire and then get rid of it safely while trying to
do get another ready .
Since we in Viet Nam , usually
fired on Infantry in the open ,Beehive canister Rounds were used mainly
the only time we used High Explosive is when we were out of the others
, last resort .
As a Driver; Maintenance
was simple , Only problem was getting Filters and clean Fuel . Track
blocks would distort if the tension was to tight especially in the wet
season , the bushings within the block would work out of position .
Transmissions , not Engines
were always going out , especially when they would use them as tow vehicles
.As with all vehicles the power could be more , but it was a tank not a
Bulldozer or a Race car although
it would run with most and out run alot of jeeps and M113's .I could
understand the designers problem to get all that was asked into a air dropable
package . Light, fast, Big Punch fire power ,within limits that a early
technology that limited the design. To much , to little , which would be
the priority .
Thanks for putting history to
a war that was a part of my life . The only mistake I Seen , was
the third picture on your page It isReversed negative or slide was put
in, 180 degrees out .
Write
on anything I am fuzzy on , see if I can clear it up .
I asked him a few more questions about ammo, modifications made
in country, and about unit organization. Here's what I got.
Hi Again ,
Running out of ammo was
not often ,you could usually count on them withdrawing as soon as the air
support or artillery , would show did happen to me on April 1, 1970
.Left that Tank When RPG got us with , Last Round HE In breech , 50 cal
MG single shots only , Coax went South , WE the 4 men with 16's and
79 grenade launcher , only Left in
working order .Nice April fools day! Took Three Rpg's one went
into turret two slid over the Engine deck Igniting 50 ammo and Personnel
effects Lost a lot of good Care Package Pudding and Photo's,
Since all since Ammo for main Gun was gone WE all got Spalling ,
and shrapnel wounds No fire , another good thing .
The Other Tank was Mined
and Never Got off a round of main Gun . I was swimming in Diesel Fuel ,
the Mine Had Cut the Fuel tank and the Bilge was Full of fuel . That was
Friday The 13 th day of February 1970 .Thank heavens the fuel
did not ignite , Surrounded by Ammo Dipped in Diesel fuel , I LIKE to Bar
B Que But not as main course .
And People wonder
why I don't Like Valentines , and April Fools day .
Chicken Shit Holidays not Good with me.
The sending of clean fuel to a forward position out in the Bush was done
mainly by chopper and was by Can Drum or Bilvet Bag ,since we were
small, the Brigade gave first priority to Infantry support we Were Hind
Nipple and given low Priority . Never
did find why the filters were hard to get .
We never set up RPG wire
. Fences could not get filters , how we going get Fencing ! Seen
these pictures think it could work but we had Jungle so thick around us
we did not have That Problem .
Only One troop: 3 Platoon's
Front Line with 3 tanks, 4 crewmen sometimes , with only 3 crew , driver
, loader , and TC at the end the Brigade was leaving and replacements were
not coming since they did not want to do temp's .
The m113's , ACAV version 4 man crew Rarely 5
,Mortar M113 3 to 4 man crew! Since they NVA/VC would not confront
us when together we operated with 3 and 4 tracks to get an answer , the
times I just
mentioned 4 tracks at each action at first til help arrived , Ambush
Bait .
One HQ platoon Mechanics , Radio
Commo , Finally got Bridge track 's small and Large when Bigger units started
Pulling out under Vietnamization.
We only had Jeeps and trucks with us
in Convoy's , We did security for ROME Plows the first 4 to 5 months I
was there, we had moved into sa new Area and instead of Agent Orange the
Plows would Just Cut and Plow a 100 yard race track in the Jungle then
Choppers and Infantry would Patrol for new Trails , think they tunneled
to avoid that . OJT again .
Main reason we could out run APC 's
and jeeps they did not have power and the ride the tank had a good
suspension , the jeeps and trucks along with the a APC's , would throw
you out of the seats , on convoys us Sheridans would Not be Point ,
Cause they wold outrun the convoy .
Got to remember every thing
we did over there was new to us the jungle fighting in WW II was
different and the Guys who did It were all Gone and the rules were made
by Politicians , not the Military . OJT again
Think It would be Good to get
others from different units to give there side we only had Sheridans for
One Year And Never did Get a good Lessons Learned for Our Unit strictly
, OJT with our Group , the Cav Of the 199 th started with Jeeps as a Rat
Patrol , and was then Up graded to Acav's On MO Gas first With Recoilless
Rifles on the right side .
Then after another year we got Diesel Fuel
Rigs, since the 199 th was only their from November 66 to October 70 .
Every Year was a new Learning Curve the Crews were just getting used to
one saddle when they got a new AO and a New Horse , what a Country .
BeSides Some of us only were 11E Tanker
Trained ,and not for Viet Nam but for Germany , we Only Knew What
the Newspapers said . My tour started out as 11E , converted to 11D which
is Armor Recon That means we could replace Infantry If we dismounted ,
you know I never saw a M-60 MG till I got to Nam and only fired one
when a free fire was
on. I never was trained on Sheridans .
Only M-48 's and M-60's , never drove a APC in the Field
But I also never had a Drivers Military License for a Sheridan Only a APC
GO FIGURE! I LOVE OJT in a war Zone but Beats walking and Never
did think I should fly , or try to Swim .
Hope this is help talk to other drivers from other units 11
ACR and I think 101st had a Sheridan troop within it , the 82 was
gone by the time sheridans Got to Nam .
All of us; even the Infantry , has different tales
of that war ,take a little from each , that would honor all , any way .
Take Care