Gun Truck Accessories

[historyfanatics]

I'm getting ready to start Phase Two (adding the quads) of The Widow Maker, and need some advice from the Gun Truck guys.

What "accessories" do I need?

Examples are: frag vests, ammo cans, etc. What else?

Also, sources for the stuff would help greatly.

Thanks.

 

[WarrenD]

I've seen Mermite cans, frag vests (M69 for Nam), and lots of ammo cans. I have been told that they also carried a variety of other hand held weapons such as M-16s, M-14s, M-79, LAW, grenades, smokes, and did I say ammo cans?
As for sources, local MV shows and gun shows come to mind for the bigger stuff, internet search for the rest. Sadly E-Pay has some decent stuff but I just can't bring myself to do paypal.

 

[Driver523]

M-79, ammo, any kind of side arms that was around, any kind of rifle besides the personal weapon of the period your displaying, there was probably a 60 laying around to use as a ditch gun if need be, some gun trucks even had LAWs, we generally had anything we wanted we could get our hands on.

 

[historyfanatics]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I figured the ammo cans bit right after I posted my query. By my math, I need about 90 ammo cans. One of the vets told me that The Widow Maker carried 10,000 rounds of .50 cal ammo! So, more ammo cans is definitely a must.

I've got the M79 (airsoft), dummy M16, mermite cans (can always use more), and a couple of frag vests.

With luck, I'll have everything ready for The Gathering this year. If fuel prices get low enough, I may be able to bring the truck.

 

[minigunner64th]

Ammo cans. Just about any weaponry that was military issue in the previous 30 or so years would show up on one truck or another. Thompsons, M-3 grease gun, LAW, 1911 45, 38 revolver, M-79, M-16s and 60s. A couple of stretchers, ponchos, spare M-2 barrels. Couple of C-ration cases busted open and all the good stuff already gone. Anyone mention ammo cans?

 

[73m819]

AND ak47s plus ANYTHING ealse a good scronger could lay hands on

 

[wsucougarx]

A handful of .50 cal brass thrown on the deck, era correct radio, c-rats,

 

[vtdeucedriver]

You got a good list going of what a GT would carry but let me add to that list by asking you this. "What would you have if you were 19 yrs old on a quad mount gun truck?" Its hot or raining with long days and cold nights.

First of all, I would want to keep those 50s firing and what other than ammo are you going to need?? Spare barrels perhaps?
How about riding around in a truck that has no armor sides for procection for you riding with the gun? If you are hit, a good size first aid kit would be needed. Most of your GT's had em that were 20mm cans full of bandages.

OK, say you are in a convoy and a tractor brakes down and is stranded. No time to stiff hitch it, we need the wrecker at the company motor pool and the CC has told zero that you are remaining with it for support til the wrecker shows. They get it all hooked up and you all haul the mail to get back to Pleiku before the road closes. The wrecker is dragging because of dirty filters so you make it to the ROK bridge where its a bit safer for the night. Your tired and hungry so maybe some C rations and a nice stretcher and a sleeping bag to sleep with would make a evening in the Centeral Highlands just a bit more pleasant. Time to kill, maybe you can whip out a small panasonic radio and listen to some AFVN with your buddies while sipping a PBR from a Mermite can OR another 20mm can filled with ice from the mess tent that morning.
Would you smoke a cigarette, maybe the Marboro's from the C's or maybe you still have a pack of Palmalls from the PX earlier in the week. Your time is getting short in VN and you got some $$$$ stashed asside and would like to buy a 1969 Camaro that you have been dreaming about from the issue of Car & Driver Magazine.

These are typical experiences from have been shared with to me by guys who were there and once you put yourself in their shoes, do what you can and what you think you might have done, if its period correct, it wont be wrong.

 

[SMOKEWAGON66]

...Couple of C-ration cases busted open and all the good stuff already gone.

LOL...ahh that gave me a good laugh. In Iraq, Obviously we didnt have C-Rats..we had MRE's. The MREs also had good stuff in them, but it was different for every menu number. If you opened them to get the good stuff and left everything else, you would say you were "rat-f***ing" it. More often then not, out on the road on a long mission, Id go for an MRE, hungry as all get out, and get madder then H*** because someone already snuck through our truck and "rat-f***ed" our box of MRE's. Its funny how something so little can piss someone off so much.

As for the OP question....Ammo cans lol..or am I

 

[wreckerman893]

Back in the day liquid refreshments such as Coca-Cola came in bottles......bottled locally in country.

Some period empty soft drink bottles laying in the floor (or full bottles chilling in an ice filled Mermite) would make your truck look "lived in".

I had a buddy in the 101st Airborne Division that had gotten an Article 15 (non-judicial punishment) for putting a belt of 7.62 rounds through a coke machine that took his money and didn't dispense his drink while in Nam. He kept it posted on the inside door of his wall locker. He had to pay for the coke machine too......it was DOA.

 

[historyfanatics]

Okay, so what were the "good" C-rations? The only ones I've heard about are the 4 fingers of death (wieners), ham with lima beans, beanie-wienies, and eggs with ham.

Ammo cans won't be a problem, as long as I can figure where to put them, I'll have them.

Also, I have the M79 (airsoft) and a couple of LAWs. And crew individual weapons.

I do need a crew for some displays, though.

And, I have a couple of mermite cans. I hadn't heard about using the 20mm can as an icebox. That's pretty cool - I think I'll do that.

I have some period magazines (mainly Playboy - great articles!). And a personal radio that still gets AFN-VN tunes.

Thanks for all the ideas! Definitely giving me all kinds of ideas.

I also need to build a couple of sandwich boards that show the history of both the Quad Trucks and Gun Trucks in Vietnam, plus photos from building The Widow Maker.

And, a ladder to make it easier for the vets to climb into the back of the truck. They don't like my current boarding ladder and have requested something easier to navigate.

So many things to do...

 

[m816]

We recently removed the davit from the back of the Untouchable. It could be used to hoist some of the more corpulent vets, by rigging the hook in the back side of one's belt. It is a Harbor freight machine with hydraulic pump and a crank up winch. I'm bretty sure we could of got a couple guys in the truck without the ladder but we couldn't get anyone to admit they couldn make the climb.