I grew up with a guy, been best pals since we were 11 years old. Never known him to exaggerate or spin wild tales. Anyway, he enlisted in June 1969 and was soon off to Vietnam where they made him a Combat Engineer. He wrote me almost every week he could, keep me up on what he was doing. He was there for two tours.
Originally he was with the 24th Infantry, then the 5th Mech. The entire time he was there he and a lot of guys used M-14s and they loved them to no ends.
My question is this: Did the army just not have enough M-16s, or did they not care what a guy used while there? Did at any point did the army make guys turn in their M-14s? Why were the Engineers allowed to keep them for so long?
Just wondering . . .
Originally he was with the 24th Infantry, then the 5th Mech. The entire time he was there he and a lot of guys used M-14s and they loved them to no ends.
My question is this: Did the army just not have enough M-16s, or did they not care what a guy used while there? Did at any point did the army make guys turn in their M-14s? Why were the Engineers allowed to keep them for so long?
Just wondering . . .