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1. Were helmets worn by soldiers in Vietnam? Yes, helmets were worn. The helmet worn by soldiers was the M1 Steel helmet. The M1 was introduced during during World War II and was worn up to the early 1980's. Some soldiers often opted not to wear the helmet. These were mainly special operations and LRRPs( Long Range Reconaissance Patrol).
2. Were flak jackets worn in Vietnam? Yes. However they saw limited use, well by the Army anyway. The Marine Corps often had it's soldiers wear their M1955 flak jacket during any situation. However, in the Army, wearing of the flak jacket depended on the unit's commander or the individual soldier. Soldiers often did not wear flak jackets out on patrol beacuse they were hot and heavy. The flak jackets wera mainly worn in firebases and defensive positions where physical activity was minimal. Soldiers who became "short"(their tour of duty was almost up, maybe a month or a few weeks left)would sometimes don the jacket to protect themselves during their last few weeks in Vietnam, regardless of how hot and humid it may be.
3. Was Kevlar used during Vietnam? No. During the 1960's Kevlar was just being developed (by Dupont I believe). The Army did not begin to experiment with Kevlar until the 1970's. During the Vietnam, nylon was used as the ballistic material in protective vests. Helmets were made from steel which provided limited protection from shrapnel. Small arms fire could easily pierce the thin steel shell and nylon liner of the M1 Steel helmet.
4. What is a "Mitchell Pattern" helmet cover? The "Mitchell Pattern" helmet cover was the helmet cover used by the Army and Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. The Mitchell Pattern camoflage was lime green with varios shades of green oak leaf shapes. Thus the camo pattern is sometimes called the oak leaf pattern. The helmet cover was reversible. It's reverse had brown spots on the other side.
5. What is ERDL Camoflage? ERDL is the acronym for the Army's Environmental Research and Development Laboratories. The ERDL camoflage used during the Vietnam War was developed in 1948. During the mid 1960's, the Army wanted to develop a standard camoflage uniform for use by Special Operation units in South Vietnam. Thus the 1948 ERDL camo pattern was chosen. The EDRL camo pattern slightly resembles our modern Woodland camo. The camo pattern was manufactured in two Variations: 1. Green Dominant-Camo colors of Lime green, dark gree, brown, and black. 2. Brown Dominant- Camo colors of tan, brown, dark green, and black. The ERDL camo pattern was used on Jungle Fatigues, boonie hats, ponchos and poncho liners, and helmet covers. However the ERDL camo helmet covers were rarely used in Vietnam. In fact I have never seen combat troops wearing the helmet cover, except for Marines during the 1975 evacuation of Saigon. An ERDL camo boonie hat is illustrated here as an example.
6. Was the M14 rifle used by the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam? Yes, the M14 rifle was used by 25th ID troops in Vietnam. The M14 Rifle was the standard infantry weapon of U.S. troops from the late 1950's to the mid 1960's. When the 25th ID arrived in South Vietnam in January, 1966, it's troops were armed with the 7.62mm M14. Both semiautomatic and automatic versions were carried by troops of the 25th. My father had an automatic M14. After the 25th had been in country for awhile, they began to recieve the M16 rifle. Though the M16 was lighter than the M14, the weapon had alot of faults. The M16s would jam often and the 5.56mm ball it fired did not have the man-stopping power the M14 had. However, throughout 1966, some troops still carried the M14 alongside the M16. Photo's in the 1966 yearbook of the 25th show some soldiers were armed with the M14 while their buddies had M16's. The soldiers with the M14s often wear the BAR(Browning Automatic Rifle) cartridge belt, and the M14 has a bipod attached. The rifle was probably used in this manner as the BAR was used before the M60 machine gun was fielded.
6. I wish you had the real songs on your website rather than midis. I do not have enough space to put actual, full length versions of songs on my website. Even if I did, I would would be violating someone's copyright. Also a page full of actual song files would take forver to load, especially for people with slow PCs.