Vietnam: When Tank Combat Failed Against Guerilla Warfare | Greatest Tank Battles | War Stories

Vietnam 1965. American Marines have landed in the south. With them, two platoons of 3rd Tank Battalion Armour. Heading up this offensive is General William Westmoreland. A veteran of WW2, Westmoreland attempts to draw Viet Cong forces into a conventional war and beat them with conventional methods. But this will turn out to be a very different war…
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[@GoodmanMIke59]

I was about 8 years old when I was being driven home by the father of a neighbor kid. I remember they were talking about ”body count" on the AM radio news. I remember the numbers seemed to be in the favor of the United states. I remember naively asking Mr Valente: "Are we winning?" Mr Valenti responded: "Nobody's winning"

[@genekelly8467]

According to the body count, the war ended in 1970-as every man woman and child in NVN was dead.

[@GoodmanMIke59]

@@genekelly8467 I'm just disappointed that I spent even a limited amount of time in the naval Reserve. War is a racket

[@GoodmanMIke59]

Folks, I don't have much hope. I'm a little older than some, make sure you have things secure in your personal lives. Look up something called "the fourth turning" and you might also conclude that every 80 to 100 years things repeat because all of the older people who know what had happened to a century ago are long gone.

[@johnmorgan4124]

Indeed. Let's hope that learning can be passed on. The only way humanity will go forward is if we educated kids to be human. We must stop doing the biddi g if the rich who are the only I es who prosper from imperialist wars.

[@GoodmanMIke59]

@Robert Sears: tell me this is tongue in cheek. War is a much needed thing? .... I'm not a peace nick, I'm just not into prosecuting globalist proxy wars. Tired of funding the military industrial complex. I know because I was a minor COG in that process.

[@jdwilliams5244]

I was in the Marines 1965-1968. Never met a man who believed in the VietNam war. I lost many friends during that time and I have no good memories, only sadness every day. We just wanted to go home.

[@catharina5386]

I’m so sorry for you sir.

[@chiranjibsahoo7833]

I respect your sentiments....

[@haroldmcnabb7603]

@@catharina5386 hi am I with you

[@haroldmcnabb7603]

My boy is now done his time was up

[@tamwilliam1]

@@haroldmcnabb7603 It is a shame that the US has been at war for so many years .

[@genekelly8467]

A lesson for us-$20 million tank destroyed by a few $500 RPGs. Part of the reason why using tanks in a jungle is a bad idea.

[@sarttee]

the tanks weren't destroyed, only damaged.

[@SuddenStrike_Kemo_Centeral]

@@sarttee That’s not entirely true Out of every tank one will have been destroyed Plus the M48 Patton can die to a RPG if the M60AE can

[@SuddenStrike_Kemo_Centeral]

@Bren Beeler Yeah the Sheridan is a weird tank It does not sound American Here is from the internet The M551 "Sheridan" AR/AAV was a light tank developed by the United States and named after General Philip Sheridan, of American Civil War fame. It was designed to be landed by parachute and to swim across rivers. It was armed with the technically advanced but troublesome M81/M81 Modified/M81E1 152mm gun/launcher, which fired both conventional ammunition and the MGM-51 Shillelagh guided anti-tank missile. They swapped a MBT for a light tank with weaker armour it attributed to losses in sure

[@devonlord99]

Tell that to the Australians who didn’t lose a single tank in Vietnam

[@taketimeout2share]

Part of the reason? No one uses Tanks in a purely Jungle scenario. It took 5 minutes to find that out. It was common knowledge. Stupid commanders. But worse, they seemed to think John Wayne films are what War is like. Still do. Grenada, Iraq, Afghanistan. And no tank costs $20 million back then. Not even a Jumbo Jet cost $20 million when they first came out. $50k tops for the very ordinary tank which was the Sheridan. They used them on every film set even back then because they were nothing special.

[@notlike706]

Using a Fire extinguisher to cool down beer is about the most American thing i've ever heard.

[@larryvalencia1792]

The vietnamese people had guts, confidence , they were defending their place, dignity and sovereignty. This intelligent and noble people did what the good must always do

[@srothbardt]

You got it!

[@badfoody]

North Vietnamese

[@nobodyknows3180]

@@badfoody They didn't see it that way. They thought of themselves as a country where the southern half was occupied and controlled by foreign powers.

[@AQS521]

Oh yes, America bad everyone else good

[@nobodyknows3180]

@@AQS521 we do tend to take a bad rap for what turned out to be a very unpopular war, they always show the atrocities of Nam and say 'if Americans hadn't stuck their noses in there, this wouldn't have happened.' I prefer to think that if America hadn't stuck their noses in there, that whole region of the world would have caved in to communism. Judging from where they are nowadays, I can't say which was worse, 'us' or 'them'.

[@tienthang8496]

Greetings from Vietnam 🇻🇳

[@johnmorgan4124]

✊🇻🇳❤️

[@phoghat]

Sorry

[@tienthang8496]

@@johnmorgan4124 are you from USA?

[@Flyingkitty1234]

Greetings for Vietnam from fellow Indian. Victory for Vietnam.

[@Jarod-te2bi]

Hello from Canada 🇨🇦

[@j_demus]

If you don't respect your enemy ,you will be defeated systematically

[@kevinhealey6540]

Don't know. I was in operation desert storm. It was so ridiculous that News men going into invasion areas after the attack and they Iraqis were giving themselves as prisoners to them. Same happened with the invading army taking prisoners, because the Iraqi soldiers had nothing to eat.

[@johnmorgan4124]

Yes. That is because the Iraqi army had no spirit to fight for Saddam. And they were using 1950s kit against you. Note how the iraqi Shia wore down the US and Btisish with Gurrilla tactics so that they had to withdraw by 2007.so, same applies..... Don't underestimate anyone. Trying to fight USA on equal terms is a no no. Gurrilla tactics are different. Ultimate answer is to stop following the rich imperialists who want power in other peoples lands. They just want to use the working class as gun fodder to make themselves richer. The working class never prosper from foreign wars.

[@hansvonessen6259]

junior demus : I agree with your point of view on it friend.

[@kevinhealey6540]

@@johnmorgan4124 ARe you talking about Marxism?

[@larryvalencia1792]

@@kevinhealey6540 Vietnam was different. , Americans knew nothing about the rest of the world. The Vietnamese People had defeated the mongolian empire and the french invaders before. History doesn't lie !!

[@Dr.Pepper001]

I was in the Marine Corps 2nd Tank Battalion and the canon on the M-48 and M-60 Tanks were at the time the most accurate canons in the world. They could consistently hit moving targets thousands of yards away.

[@JohnSmith-rd8cr]

I am Vietnamese, after learning this war in history, until now I still do not understand why American soldiers can join this war without preparing anything for a guerrilla war. The French have failed because of the same kind of guerrilla warfare like this. The Americans engaged in this war after the French should have thought, "That guy suffered heavy losses for this kind of war, maybe we should change our tactics to be more suitable". But they simply brought in a ton of firepower and a rigid general and thought it would be all right, without further discussion.

[@keiko909]

i think that they got complacent. it's odd because they fought in korea a few years prior, which some or most was jungle territory. its the same with the air battle. they thought that missiles would be the future of air combat. they were proven wrong. again, they had a great air to air kill in korea and the second world war a few years prior as well.

[@ngjliang303]

The Vietnam War was probably the first conflict the Americans faced with all out guerrilla warfare. There was no solid tactics developed yet to counter the North Vietnamese and they probably used the same strategy fighting the Japanese or North Koreans which was very different. Plus with protests against them by their own people, a new unfamiliar M16 rifle issued that brought a multitude of problems and many other points eventually lead to their defeat

[@drewnogy]

Just because a war is partly fought in a jungle setting does not make it a guerrilla war. The Japanese and British fought each other in the jungles of Burma for three years, and that was a conventional war, fought with conventional armies, using conventional tactics, but in a jungle setting. Same in Vietnam. The American forces were facing conventional, organized VC Main Force units, and units of the regular North Vietnamese Army, in a jungle setting. It was a conventional war fought with organized and trained professionals, moving in planned military campaigns (such as TET, and the 1972 Eastertide invasion.) in a jungle setting. The VC did use guerrilla tactics such as hit and run assaults if that's what you mean, but the VC's goal was to occupy and control the land of South Vietnam, a conventional military goal. Where Westmoreland and the military got it wrong in Vietnam was relying on the Search and Destroy policy instead of focusing in on pacification .Which they later did but ii was too late for the people of South Vietnam.

[@pineapplethief4418]

@@keiko909 what, korea is jungle now?)

[@bgjb-r1499]

I’ll tell you why America was over confident. The US thought that this was a war of attrition against China and Russia. In other words, the U.S thought that in time China and Russia were going to deplete their resources and walk away from Vietnam. Richard Nixon immediately started talks with China and Russia which was a mistake.

[@grantm6514]

"We underestimated them really, really badly - that was the case early on in Vietnam" - and everywhere else. The US military has a long history of rejecting history lessons and getting a bloody nose in the first bout of a fight. Overconfidence costs lives.

[@billfarley9167]

Overconfidence perhaps. I call it arrogance and stupidity.

[@Kojak0]

Generally I would agree with you, but in especially the first Gulf war, that was not the case - the US won by extremely superior air power to astounding low cost in life and materiel. The second Gulf war however, and the subsequent occupation war of Iraq however... not so much.

[@earlwilliams73A77]

@@Kojak0 This is not about the golf war.... This is about Vietnam and the V.C. I lost few family members there, in a war got nothing to do with America.... But oh we're the big bad guys; so we'll show them... Show them what??? How the VC made use of the use 66mm tubes.... How when ones in the foxhole; the mines were reversed so it did the opposite... There are quality soldiers and there soldiers... . Vietnam that was a war something totally different.. Wow... Communism, Capitalism or Marxism... They are all evil within themselves..... Same as Religion and Politics goes hand in hand ... None better than the other... Each tells pack of lies. These are the days of John the Devine..

[@Kojak0]

@@earlwilliams73A77 I don't think you read my reply properly (or the guy who I was replying to) - I wasn't talking about Vietnam or the gulf wars specifically, but more in general terms, with the first gulf war mentioned as an exception.

[@earlwilliams73A77]

@@Kojak0 Got the message understand it quit clearly. But as said before the subject and statement it was about the Vietnam/ Vietnamese war. No other war. !

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

"DMZ" is a technical term meaning a particularly heavily militarized zone.

[@26michaeluk]

Right? Most people think DMZ is demilitarized and it couldn't be further from the truth.

[@neelgovender5932]

Great point

[@MrChiangching]

Actually, no it isn't. It means the zone has no or highly limited military troops and equipment. I think you mean the obvious, that both sides of the zone are very heavily fortified.

[@MrCoolguy425]

@@MrChiangching if you guys couldn’t tell that was obviously sarcasm he spat lol.

[@MrChiangching]

@@MrCoolguy425 Dunno, the stupidity on the net is just that high.

[@Ender-bg2hx]

Damn,the Vietnamese even managed to intercept radio communications and also use them to cause friendly fire? Damn those VC or NVA were smart

[@marlinweekley51]

During Tet a friend of mine was a tank platoon leader (I think 5-6tanks) they were left in forward position to slow the advancing VC as the US troops retreated. They were on a hill top clearing with plenty of ammunition. For 3 days the enemy charged the hill and were repulsed with many casualties. On the 4th day they simply went around leading them behind enemy lines. He and his men were evacuated a few days later under heavy fire. An amazing story - he is an amazing guy and marine. May all those who died RIP.

[@davidhimmelsbach557]

His tanks were being used as instant pillboxes -- not as tanks in mobile warfare.

[@johnthomson6507]

I have been there and I loved it. Wonderful country.

[@Ash-ey9oy]

Did you visit old Vietnam battlefields ?

[@matofritzsk]

wonderful country to invade

[@knight1506]

@@Ash-ey9oy I think he meant the current Vietnam

[@Ash-ey9oy]

@@knight1506 yeah

[@thanhthanhtungnguyen8536]

@@matofritzsk and to be defeated

[@odessaxmusicclips6028]

This is one of the best documentaries on the Vietnam conflict I've ever watched. Thumbs up.

[@nikolasmelka5620]

It is pretty bad honestly. Not saying much about the Vietnam war, it is really incomplete in full spectrum. This documentary is only to be taken literally as "tanks in Vietnam" and thats about it it.

[@odessaxmusicclips6028]

@@nikolasmelka5620 The doc is only focusing on several tank battles... and it does that very well. Its not a holistic doc about the Vietnam war. That goes without saying.

[@nikolasmelka5620]

@@odessaxmusicclips6028 That might be, but its highly devalued right at start when the commentator states that the first 3500 marines were to defeat North Vietnam, in the reality they were there to defend air bases/ strictly defensive missions.The whole portrait of Vietnam war is in this documentary devalued and vague. There is no further explanation given .

[@odessaxmusicclips6028]

@Jamie Interesting, thanks for letting me know

[@Shipfixer]

Instant LIKE and SUBSCRIBED! Nice going! Great documentaries.

[@user-qp3xe6vn6d]

Lol same 👌

[@robertmaybeth3434]

I've seen every ep of GTB on military channel but for some reason, this episode they never aired, at least in the USA.

[@AQS521]

They never did now that you mention it! I knew there was something off about this episode

[@generalripper7528]

@Jamie someone is a bit butthurt

[@ngjliang303]

Huh interesting

[@generalripper7528]

@B Whit I don't see how the US are losers when they literally bombed Vietnam back to the stoneage, with Vietnamese losses far exceeding those of the US.

[@sgt.duke.mc_50]

We spent more time digging the tank that was assigned to us (nicknamed "Lickin Stick") out of the mud than it had of any benefit to us. Worked well on the perimeter of our fire base, which is where we left it most of the time.

[@user-by5zt6ju4p]

G troop, 2/11 ACR. November 69 thru December 70. M-551 Sheridan and M-113 ACAV. The year I was there. We drove the NVA completely out of South Vietnam and had to invade Cambodia, after them. They kept on running from us. They were afraid of us. What an adventure that was. After that I realized that war was just a live fire exercise. The quick and the dead. A running gun battle, with machine guns. 18yo that was my video game with real bullets and someone trying to kill me, as well. WORLD PEACE NOW

[@Mrgunsngear]

Thanks

[@yoyyoy6357]

Tanks*

[@PivotMaster474]

Man I see you everywhere lol

[@adamolmedo9126]

@@yoyyoy6357 Pwat

[@beckster181]

Australia also had tanks in Vietnam we had the centurion mk7 but we didnt have so much trouble with them as they were always ment to be infantry support tanks like the Churchill of WW2 slow and well armoured. Also they worked with APCs Mii3A3s and mounted infantry though some were damaged and crews lost in both tanks and APCs due to mines we always had shared plans and routes known between the elements of the area so when we called in for arty if we were known to be in the close area they would double check for unit ids etc to make sure it was real call not a spoof as described here. Vietnam was a new style of warfare that continues today in the long running Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It just relearns the lessons of WW2 that tanks have their limits especially in urban areas or jungle type places simple because the enemy can close to within the shortest effective ranges of the weapons on a tank this is why they need infantry support to keep them safe as much as the infantry needs the tanks to keep them safe.

[@ivabiggin2299]

You are so correct the Aussie tanks support the infantry and visa versa I believe tank support saved many lives

[@georgepantazis141]

Didn't the Australians heavely mine there bases and the VC or NVA would dig up the mines and reposion the mines.

[@ivabiggin2299]

Well said mate

[@ivabiggin2299]

@@georgepantazis141 that was true another stupid ide

[@SuddenStrike_Kemo_Centeral]

Yeah the use of panzerfuasts Limpet Mines Bazookas and so on just foreshadowed that’s tanks are not invincible to infantry

[@loschekell]

"Americans don't understand that when they cross a border they are in someone else's country." --- Daniel Ellsberg

[@davidhimmelsbach557]

The irony: his Pentagon Papers made him infamous -- but they ONLY described the Kennedy-Johnson years in Vietnam. But, in the public mind, the PP indicted Nixon -- who was reversing essentially EVERY ONE of Kennedy-Johnson's policies. Isn't that cute?

[@loschekell]

@@davidhimmelsbach557 Nixon stepped up the bombing. Nixon and LBJ killed eight million people in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

[@davidhimmelsbach557]

@@loschekell Absurd statistic alert. BTW, it takes TWO to tango. Without Ho's aggression, the Northern invasion of the South would've never happened. BTW, the North and the South had ALWAYS been two different polities. Both were centered around their own river systems. This is still true, as it's Saigon that's getting all of the Foreign Direct Investment... typically occupying old MACV bases. The North and the South STILL don't really 'get-along.' The South resents the fact that the North controls all of the top slots -- politically -- in what is still a Communist//Socialist regime. Vietnam is very much like a mini-Red China in most respects. Considering the DNA involved, that's not really surprising. At the end of the day, Nixon got the USA OUT. Kennedy-Johnson got the USA in -- big time. I mention Kennedy because he set the stage. Johnson largely did what he did BECAUSE of ORAL commitments that Kennedy had already made to Japan, Korea, Taiwan -- and NATO. Kennedy had already delivered BIG: Bay of Pigs Berlin Wall & full on Iron Curtain Cuban Missile fiasco Every single critical American ally was freaking out -- for it was obvious that the Grand Strategy of the Cold War was breaking down: Containment of Communist Totalitarianism. Nixon reversed everything by triangulating the USSR and Red China in 1972. If Nixon had been president in 1961-1965, Kennedy would've stayed alive, and none of his fiascos would've transpired. Lastly, while in office, Kennedy was CONSTANTLY being grilled by the Press and critics over his epic gaffs. How could ANYONE overlook the Berlin Wall, his baby? It took Reagan to get rid of that Wall.

[@loschekell]

@@davidhimmelsbach557 The south Vietnamese "government" didn't exist. It was a front set up by the CIA. McNamara admitted this in his book "In Retrospect."

[@hansvonessen6259]

My American cousin of my father's extended family was a tank driver in 1966 & 1967 in Vietnam.

[@chasacart]

Did he make it back to the states alive?

[@spencerskewes9370]

@@chasacart my mother’s cousin did not make it back. His name is on the memorial in Sacramento.

[@chasacart]

@@spencerskewes9370 So sorry to hear that! Thanks for sharing the story..these brave people should never be forgotten!

[@hansvonessen6259]

@@chasacart Yes, he did. He went back to the States in the end of December 1967. He was supposed to go back to Nam in February 1968 after finished his month long holiday in his hometown Seattle & then in Hawaii. However, he got informed not to go back as Tet Offensive broke out.

[@hansvonessen6259]

@@spencerskewes9370 Feel sorry for your mum's relative loss. May he still live in your hearts forever as he was a good soldier and a real hero of the USA.

[@prabhatdungdung8113]

thank you for sharing 🙏

[@dienduongcong9586]

Im a vietnam and hearing this make me feel good, i love my country

[@zulkifliebinjaffar.zulkifl9337]

Vietnam...is a Champion of Guirella War Tactic...n its remain till now...

[@mgagapaz6801]

The vietcong commender used sun tzu tactics

[@lennydado1]

@@mgagapaz6801 what means sun tzu ?

[@beegaming8919]

@@lennydado1 sun tzu is a chinese dude about 2500 yrears ago. wrote a little book called, the art of war. check it out. watch a youtube vid.

[@lennydado1]

@@beegaming8919 thanks mate

[@steve-ip6qs]

excellent vid

[@jordaneban7993]

salute to the bravery of vietnamese warrior defending their motherland, from Philipines

[@Edmund007013]

What a great story and lessons learned. Mr. Charlie was a deadly foe.

[@montanabulldog9687]

I was "Attached" to the 147th S.V. Marine Brig. . . . instructing them in the use of the M-48A3 Tank, but I took it on to "Myself", to ADD "Steel Armor Side Plates", to our turret sides, which NULTAFIED any form of "Rocket Attacks" . . . as far as I know, this "Modification" was NOT DONE by "Any other Units" . . . but it WAS, "Completely Effective" ! ( We "Also" ADDED an M-60, to the "Loaders Hatch", with a "Small" GUN SHIELD, as well as an M-79 Grenade Launcher "Inside" of the tank, with 100 grenades.

[@user-xq4st9ie7r]

So those tanks were immune to almost any attacks in Vietnam? Mines excepted?

[@montanabulldog9687]

@@user-xq4st9ie7r No, "Mines" were STILL . . . a "Problem", but B-40's, RPG-2's were "No Longer" a problem . . . one of "Our" tanks even took a HIT, from an 84mm R R, without damage . . .

[@robashton8606]

Heads up man! Looks like Charlie has managed to infiltrate your comment and carpet bomb it with several tonnes of completely unnecessary punctuation! The horror.....The horror.

[@JB-yb4wn]

@@robashton8606 🤣🤣🤣😂😅😅😅

[@happyman5.798]

Yo this is some historical stuff man.

[@defencebangladesh4068]

Thanks A Lot

[@nikluv91]

Long live Vietnam!

[@Zakaius]

The best Vietnam war stories I've seen do far. 👍👍

[@votefraudjoe997]

It is if you didn't read deep enough into the conflict.

[@user-xq4st9ie7r]

Impressive story

[@happynoname2488]

I never saw this episode when it was aired on tv, or in any youtube look-up so it's cool you guys are posting episode for this and other series

[@happynoname2488]

@Jamie right I forgot that about America

[@vananhnguyen482]

love this, it seems true and honest

[@johnnywindsor183]

Brilliant documentary, used to watch there programs on sky documentaries, not no more it’s full of oak island and pawn stars shabite etc etc now

[@EverythingNetwork1]

good video

[@benquinney2]

Bringer of light

[@andersnilsson7917]

Operation Starlight: 600 VC dead against 45 Marines. Ok, so a Marine is costlier than a VC. Enemy does not give up but instead step up their efforts and send NVA units. Hmmm......maybe time to take these people seriously? Operation Buffalo: Due to bad intel you run into an 1:9 ambush. At your disadvantage. Then you predictably send a "too small number of tanks to make any real difference" which the enemy anticipates and set up another ambush. And then, the piece de resistance, "-We tried to put out the fire with the CO2 extinguisher but it was empty since we used it to cool some beer the night before". Priceless. It's videos like this that makes me better understand how the US could lose the war. The only good operation in this video was when the US troops threw the ROE book out the window and, at 16:50, blows up the enemy artillery base with just a few tank rounds.

[@hongvietnguyen2313]

Now, we are friends. (and I am hoping will be close friends). The main point in tactic is co-operation between tanks and infantries, that we should think more carefully about when attacking. Tanks will fire from far distance to help infantry moving ahead and infantry will protect tank by destroying the opponent positions that could harm the tanks as the tanks may be not cover all the battle field. But the moral of soldiers and discipline is more important, each NVA and SVNLA soldiers thought he would die for mother land, I think I don't need to talk about the American patriot soldiers during Revolution War (1775-1783) whose had the same will and ready to die for independence of USA. Long live George Washington!

[@Nikowalker007]

That was the tactic of Syrian government forces who were using T72 supported by infantry against insurgents in cities and it proved to be very effective

[@teddylabis6969]

Nva and vietcong veterans should be in this program

[@MrZorro3250]

Awesome .stories

[@sgtfargant2126]

I don't know where the Americans got the idea to use tanks against enemy troops that knows about Guerilla warfare like the back of their hand

[@johnmorgan4124]

Because they are arrogant and see themselves as superior through technology. 👍

[@thomasschreiber9559]

Weatmoreland's hair brained ideas

[@jerrynelson5289]

Yankees always arrogant anywhere they go.

[@jayjohn9680]

Imagine if native americans had these kind of weapons just 100 years before.

[@Bornst3ll3r]

?

[@user-xq4st9ie7r]

This could be a Dan Carlin quote

[@admiraltroll5255]

They had captured the top rifles if the time, the lever action.

[@carloste3ichert120]

We have a group of sergeants commenting on strategic objectives?20/20 hindsight is invaluable 30 years later. The historian has a vomitous smile on his face as he shares his pearl of wisdom long after the war was over.

[@billm3210]

Thanks bro. I liked this series when young. Maybe you can add Battle 360.

[@seka1986]

Its no good as you age?

[@peterwilson5528]

Would have been a fitting gesture here to show Vietnamese tanks taking Saigon. After all they were brave soldiers dedicated to victory or death for their nation.

[@johnmorgan4124]

✊🇻🇳❤️

[@danelassiter6809]

47:00 i think this is what you wanted

[@defencebangladesh4068]

❤️

[@hagalazmultiverze3411]

Fire extinguisher was empty, because they had used it for cooling beer the day before... Hasn't changed since...

[@kampfer91]

Lucky the RPG kept missing the target , although i doubt the RPG-2 could deal any damage to a M48 .

[@cowgoesmoo3850]

Is that a huge spotlight on the tank, next to the gun barrel?

[@kebertxela941]

Its a IR spotlight, so the nightvision works better.(i think)

[@kekistanimememan170]

@@kebertxela941 early night vision was active meaning it required an it spot light to help it see as night-vision improved to 2nd to third generation the ambient light from the stars and urban areas provided enough light this is known as passive night vision. In a cave however your gonna need an. Ir spotlight still.

[@cowgoesmoo3850]

@@kebertxela941 cool, thanks. I hate how you can't directly comment to the poster. I didn't even know you replied until I seen the comment below yours.

[@finnmanproductions9240]

Fascinating story about the use of tanks in Vietnam.

[@david-leethompson62]

The great Westmoreland... Tanks vs The Jungle! Remembered,,, he conferred with the French + British (Not)

[@billfarley9167]

Sounds like Admiral King when he conferred with the British in 1942. NOT!

[@samsungtap4183]

For all you x american servicmen if you could could see Bien Hoa now you would be very surprised. ..all the houses just beautiful. .i mean not mansions but large and modern with outdoor lighting so as of a night they look wonderful...of course your airbase is a no go...still too toxic but the most amazing thing is the factories...as far as the eye can see...German, Japanese, american, from all over the world, just wonderful

[@brittsmith8260]

I know how well Vietnam is doing with manufacturing. Many of my guitars come from Vietnam and their quality is very good. Much better overall than their Chinese made counterparts.

[@JD1976]

Napalm it.

[@johnmorgan4124]

Your rich masters tried that and failed. And you will always fail when you follow the rich capitalist imperialists who do not care about you. Fascism will always be smashed ✊🇻🇳🇨🇺🇨🇮🇨🇳🇦🇴🏴

[@vaclavjebavy5118]

@@johnmorgan4124 tet offensive lol

[@EnigmaEnginseer]

@@johnmorgan4124 The irony in claiming a system founded upon competition doesn’t focus on the individual when the entire point of communism is complete equality is too good

[@michaelsinger4638]

The US went into this war totally unprepared to fight this kind of enemy. Also they underestimated their opponents as well.

[@ubermenschen3636]

@18:18, this tank dude is not telling you that he has received US aerial recon info that had identified potential targets. He hit an NVA artillery site not because lady lucky was helping him aiming the 90mm.

[@South_Ga_mafia]

-he probably "choose" not to say a WORD....that generation KNEW HOW TO KEEP THEIR MOUTH shut..

[@Holocaustica]

@@South_Ga_mafia that generation included as members some of the most destructive and deadly spies in US history.

[@nietzchepreacher9477]

@@South_Ga_mafia why keep your mouth shut about that? sounds a lot like boasting to me

[@South_Ga_mafia]

@@nietzchepreacher9477 - yes it is boosting.! Im very proud of my grandfather & his generation..OF GREAT, GREAT MEN.

[@JD1976]

@@South_Ga_mafia my father also. Actually the viet cong was decimated in 1968 and the NVA took over the war. Many VC fanboys wont admit it.

[@smokeypuppy417]

M1 Abrams and Bradley's are the spearhead, you either move move fast and kill all in your way and push past the enemy infantry left behind or you tactically support the infantry in front of you without the risk of running into dug in enemy infantry with RPGs and atgm's to snipe you one by one.

[@MrChiangching]

The VC would just melt away in the face of a massive tank attack

[@cheese2002]

Tanks are ineffective in jungles, they were made to fight through plains or light woods

[@johnmcmahon5225]

The Imperial Japanese, American, and Commonwealth forces all used tanks effectively in jungles in WW II. Armor is ALWAYS vulnerable to infantry except in the desert. When the NVA came south to Saigon in 1975, they had over 2,000 armored vehicles. US Army studies after the war, particularly 'Mounted Combat in Vietnam' by General Donn Starry, came to the conclusion that armored units were the most cost effective units deployed, and there should have been more of them. Anyone who would have rather served as a foot soldier than a tanker or armored cavalryman in Vietnam should have had their head examined.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

@Jamie The Australia-American War of 1978-1981 in which Kangaroos threw boomerangs at US troops and Emu Troops did unspeakable crimes against everything.

[@sahholsteins1]

25:31 they're so lucky that rpg didn't hit the bottom of thank

[@emeryalmasy7727]

Rubbish. Armor, especially Armored Cavalry, was decisive in the proper terrain (over 50% of the populated ares of Viet Nam). If used incorrrectly by cluless Infantry officers (3 of my classmates dies in such cicumstances) tanks were deathtraps. During TET, Armor was used to break the NVA's offensive, slaughtering whole battalions that were caught in the open by highly-mobile armored forces. Contrary to poular belief, tall grass, underbrush and rice padddies were fullt traversable by armor (M-48s and M-113s) and oftem caught the enemy by surprise. On the other hand, sending tanks ahead unsupported by infantry was tanamount to murder - and that happened more than once. 500-lb bombs buried under well-travelled tracks waited for anybody who got predicitable - or attacked the same way 3-4 times in a month. North VietNam invaded with 600+ tanks in 1975 for a good reson: they worked just fine.

[@bricemantel3191]

Even in hindsight we can't seem to get that war right.

[@votefraudjoe997]

That isn't always such as during the siege of Plei Me when the 3rd. ARVN armored cavalry squadron didn't have the benefit of advance infantry screens in their attack on route 5 to relieve the beauleagered special forces garrison of Plei Me for tactical reasons but did have advanced artillery and air support which inflicted heavy casualties on the ambushing NVA 32nd. regiment and drove them back and relieved the siege.

[@user-xq4st9ie7r]

@@votefraudjoe997 Was ARVN really able to use armor efficiently?

[@votefraudjoe997]

@@user-xq4st9ie7r They were later on after politics and doctrine stop getting in the way and during the Battle of Plei Me they still have a lot to go.

[@lancecahill5486]

It was not the tanks (and the soldiers) that failed. It was a war ran by civilians from Washington DC that failed.

[@james_the_darklord]

Nope it was the military brass who think they can easily defeat rice paddy farmers. The US clearly underestimated the NVA which is actually well trained in guerrilla warfare.

[@lancecahill5486]

@@james_the_darklord Do you realize that the military brass actually report to the civilian authority? Do you know that Lyndon B. Johnson personally picked out strike targets in North Vietnam for the USAF and the USN from the office in the basement of the White House? Do you also know that early in the air war over North Vietnam, US pilots were not allowed to pursuit enemy MiG fighters pass the 19th parallel, a stupid rule of engagement of which the North Vietnamese Air Force took full advantage? Those are just a few of many RoEs that resulted in disastrous consequences for the US military.

[@seka1986]

@@james_the_darklord sure, nice fairy tale.

[@kentershackle1329]

@@lancecahill5486 N.Vietnam is a sovereign country , since USA did not openly declare WAR to them , doing that will RALLY other communists leaning countries in South East Asia to openly support the WAR. which is bad idea.. u guys kinda surrounded 🤣🤣

[@kentershackle1329]

@@seka1986 Still in Denial?.

[@Holocaustica]

It seems that, looking at its history, the true tactical potential of the USMC is being squandered if it's units are ordered to defend. I always thought that the army was best equipped for general defense.

[@laurencetilley9194]

Unfortunately another Little Bighorn. General William Westmoreland should have known better. Less We Forget the heroes of Vietnam that were sacrificed. Excellent video documentary.

[@OumuamuaOumuamua]

Wasn’t the lesson of having tanks support by infantry is important learned in world war II

[@billfarley9167]

But if you keep believing you're No. 1 perhaps you don't have to take lessons from anyone. Got a lot of people killed with that arrogance.

[@muhammadali3155]

Whenever I watch/read about Vietnam war, i remember legendary Muhammed Ali 👊

[@robertroselle3341]

"No Vietcong Ever called me a N...R!!!" (summing up his reasons for refusing to participate in the racist war against the Vietnamese people!) Much respect to the Brother who risked his WHOLE career on a mater of principle...giving inspiration to millions of young Black men!

[@mrstratau6513]

at least the beer was cold

[@elforeigner3260]

You can hear a tank coming from miles away 😀😀😀

[@xxbpxpeanutxxx162]

18:00 poor guys thought that was accomplishing something

[@123gamerlion1]

@@osamabinladen824 maybe what he/she saying is what they hit it just a decoys,

[@ubermenschen3636]

The early RPG-2 has been gradually improved until finally emerging as the RPG-7. Newer armor technology employing reactive armor and ceramic armor have almost neutralized the lethality of the RPG-7. The performance of the modern RPG bares little resemble to even the latest RPG-7 revision in terms of guidance, accuracy, range, and armor penetration. Vietnam gave a glimpse to the future of tank battle against the ground soldier just as the WW1 tank gave a glimpse to WW2 tank blitzkrieg.

[@corvusduluth]

What is vunerable?, the treads/tracks.

[@BoatLoadsofDope]

Haven't there been developed different warheads for the munition though to try to keep it up to standard? It still does pretty well against the Saudi Abrams, although they're export models without DU.

[@ubermenschen3636]

@@BoatLoadsofDope ::: dual warheads are used to defeat reactive armor. ‘Squash head’ is used against ceramic armor. RPG-7 still use the ‘monroe effect’ warhead.

[@SuddenStrike_Kemo_Centeral]

The RPG-7 can still destroy Trucks APCs Helicopters AFVs Boats Also cheap tanks in Syria like the T55

[@ivabiggin2299]

The Australians used tank for infantry support and fire base defence the tank was the centurion and firing canister nasty

[@mickmerriman6825]

Coral and Balmoral Fire Bases were saved by the Centurion Tank of the 1st Armoured Regiment

[@kennirochok5067]

Stop war! Stop !! Om ne love

[@logicalspartan]

Poor leadership on the US side lost the war. Use of tanks or not has little to do with it.

[@jimmykjazz]

Poor political not military leadership.

[@logicalspartan]

@@jimmykjazz Army leadership lied repeatedly. The military used a flawed plan and wasted the lives of over 57,000 Americans.

[@CH-pv2rz]

@Logically Stupid... LBJ, and the other idiot McNamara, ran the war during its truly crucial period from '64 to '68 and would not let the Military run the war to win, limiting everything they did, right down to individual flight paths for aircraft and each of their targets. And they did it stupidly, something it seems you have a lot in common with...

[@jimmykjazz]

@@logicalspartan I disagree with your assessment. I'm not an expert but my boots were on the ground in the Mekong Delta from Sep. 69 to Sep. 70. When were you there ?

[@gavinvelez9540]

Nobody said tanks were the reason the US lost the war.

[@JunPetsWorld]

Guerilla technique is very good

[@ricklindblade6509]

So much different of the history channel.

[@anonimofied]

americans with their guns, tanks, aeroplanes, helicopters, napalm, bombs, agent orange, rocknroll and lost the war, its like taken from comedy movie

[@user-xq4st9ie7r]

I've red that Black Horse 11th Armored was the unit causing the most casualties among the Vietnamese side. Among brigade sized units. So how did armored warfare fail?

[@majungasaurusaaaa]

It didn't. Armor, despite what the US initially thought, proved to be very useful. Not in the same way it would be on flat, open terrain, but useful nevertheless. This "docu" is just the typical sensationalism entertainment material you'd come to expect.

[@LuisLopez-zh9kh]

Wars are not won by kill counts but by who achieves their strategic objectives. The US left Vietnam in 74 and the South Vietnamese government collapsed.

[@majungasaurusaaaa]

@Jamie Nothing to do with Aussies lol. They lost because their rifles had no ammo. Their artillery no shells, their airforce grounded due to no parts, their bombs missing fuses while the north had the latest toys the whole communist block could supply. Aid was cut to unfightable levels after 72. Out of all the non sense the west spewed to smear the RVN, this one is kinda cute.

[@MrChiangching]

@Raja Humala Martua especially when you have virtual kamikaze troops who would readily sacrifice himself to take out a tank.

[@watef3]

The M16 jammed, that was why though.

[@leewood331]

The 16 jammed because one ammo contractor switched from flake powder to ball which is very dirty.

[@muizzashraf1871]

Never underestimate your enemy.

[@Babydady560]

I love the military

[@reginaldmassey3272]

I actually met general Westmoreland in nyc in court during his trial for enemy troop death numbers.

[@seka1986]

OK but how did it go? Did you praise Westie or give him a raspberry? And what were you doing in court?

[@reginaldmassey3272]

@@seka1986 I was there with a veterans group, this was around 1985 or 86, it was a big trial, I believe he was acquitted, our guide introduced us to him during a recess, at that time he was around 70 or so.

[@captainkangaroo1628]

Didn't 3rd Marine have Ontos tanks too?

[@vuvuvu6291]

Even during WW2, many of Soviet tanks were destroyed by kids during the Battle of Berlin. If urban warfare is already difficult enough than jungle terrain is a whole another level with many ambushes especially from high grounds, tighter space, and perfectly concealed mines. Well, I guess at least you have a good spot to cover once it is blown up.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

True. Tanks are simply vulnerable without infantry. Can stop a lot of those attacks.

[@terencewinters2154]

The term " bullet sponge " comes to mind.

[@tigertiger1699]

Really sad learning about the Vietnam war.., the more you know the more you want to skin Westmoreland and his fair mates...why.., what did it achieve... for what... if you’re going to fight.. at least learn from your mistakes

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

Iraq: When Tank Combat Failed Against Guerilla Warfare.

[@66kbm]

Not agianst a Chally 2 it didnt.

[@johnmorgan4124]

Brits still got kicked out. They had to withdraw at night with and agreement with local Shia militia. Britain running Way with tail between legs. Stop being a puppet of USA. Wake up and smash your own fascist government.

[@kikiscorralandfriends4289]

34:11 that probably turned them to red mist...

[@RoninTF2011]

Good thing the M48 is so mineresitant...

[@oldreliable40]

god bless the 11th armored cav in nam!!!!and elsewhere!!!

[@vishnunarayan8850]

Dear Uncle Sam, for god sake let the world live in peace..🙄🙄

[@terencewinters2154]

Friendly fire casualties caused by frequency overlap.

[@javasrevenge7121]

War belongs in a museum, propably a lot of people loves war. I am a descendant of war victims.

[@scottyfox6376]

It's a pity General Westmoreland wasn't replaced to change up the US military strategy.

[@achillesrodriguezxx3958]

General Abrams had the right strategy to fight the war but by 1968 it was too late. All he could do was build up and train the ARVN, eliminate as many NVA and VC as possible. As he knew that US withdrawal is not a matter of if but when. When the US military leaves the ARVN would have to fight the war by themselves. The ARVN did fight admirably but due to Congress reducing military aid in 1974 they did not have enough equipment and supplies for the fighting season of 1975.

[@peterjones4180]

The Australian experience was the exact opposite, centurions proved essential for infantry support operations, mind you they were more heavily armored than M48's, prior to their deployment the infantry suffered higher casualties.

[@andybrennand1576]

Aussies did far better.

[@jimczerwinski4951]

Yes but with one exception. The Centurions had infantry support

[@looseunit1615]

The Aussies and Kiwi troops fought well in the Vietnam war. They punched well above their weight.

[@davidboland7447]

Our troops (aussies) fought a guerilla war in the Malayan emergency from the late 40's-1960 so we got a taste for what a prolonged guerilla war would be like, thus the operations had a far higher success rate but on smaller scales to the U.S which just tossed firepower at problem spots instead of conducting counter insurgency operations.

[@peterjones4180]

@@davidboland7447 Quite so, all infantry battalions did Kanungra prior to deployment, i do not believe that U.S infantry units did an equivalent (though S.F units did) so Australian units were trained in jungle warfare and counter insurgency operations prior to deployment. Also the attitude was different Australian strategies were focused on separating the population from the insurgents , the U.S concentrated on kill ratios.

[@ratache]

Very interesting documentary. I think if the firepower is needed in a setting like this for tactical reasons you should embed the tanks into the mechanized units. But the overarching strategic approach of the west in this war based on the assumption that it was possible to destroy the enemy's will to fight by just killing lots of them rendered any efforts of regular units ineffective in the end. Also the historian talking about reunification seems onsided or biased.

[@mikepict9011]

Thay survived the American War machine and he is one of the holiest men alive. Id be so ashamed

[@mh-ki2dv]

“There isn’t really a way to carry an infantry support gun around the battlefield” pack howitzers: *am I a joke to you*

[@istillusezune82]

He said "for direct fire".

[@AliAli-ky3jh]

Nice video program... but the fake CGI tanks, laughably fake computer graphics of explosions, and video game imagery really needs to be completely excluded because it gives a really cheesy and fake feel to the other footage of real war scenes!

[@johndowe7003]

It's just to help visualize for those folks who aren't too familiar with these things .. I agree it's cheesy but it's useful for someone

[@AHaupt70]

this poor souls ...

[@xxbpxpeanutxxx162]

That was a POW calling in mortars on His own friends. What a shame.

[@johndowe7003]

Friendly fire isnt