Did US Armed Forces personnel have any type of body armor to protect themselves during the Vietnam conflict?

As far as I know the GI's had flak jackets (which you see so often in photo's) But due to the heat these were often worn unzipped and open. Furthermore, as far as I know these jackets didn't stop too much.

(p.s. This is my 600th post.... who would have thought that!!)

lol, the flack jackets were ment to stop shrapnel they didnt stand a chance in hell agaisnt a rifle round of any size.

Originally Posted by Ted

As far as I know the GI's had flak jackets (which you see so often in photo's) But due to the heat these were often worn unzipped and open.

This is one guy who was there and wore the flak jacket as it was supposed to be worn...zipped up.

Yep, it should be worn zipped up. I don't know if you have ever been to the tropics? When I was in Vietnam, the last thing I would have wanted to wear was a zipped up flak jacket and all other gear! With the oppressive heat and humidity...... it wasn't funny at all!

Helicopter crews were issued body armor with ceramic plates that would actually stop bullets. I'm not sure when they first started appearing, but by the late 60's I'm pretty sure all the crewman that wanted them had them. I've never actually had one on myself, but I have been told that they were not comfortable (really what body armor is), and that any above waist flexibilty was gone.

Originally Posted by Forrest_Gump

Helicopter crews were issued body armor with ceramic plates that would actually stop bullets. I'm not sure when they first started appearing, but by the late 60's I'm pretty sure all the crewman that wanted them had them. I've never actually had one on myself, but I have been told that they were not comfortable (really what body armor is), and that any above waist flexibilty was gone.

"Chicken Plate." Most A/C drivers would, instead of wearing them, sit on them, or put them under their feet.

There was also the small arms protective vest, not much different than the A/C vest, it had plates and was made for the ground pounders. It weighed around 22lbs, so it wasn't very practical and was mostly worn by rear guys.

Great info guys

Thanks a lot for responding to my question

Flak jackets? What flak jackets? PJ's right, the remfs were the ones wearing them. The rest of us had to worry about staying on our feet any way we could for as long as we could. It came down to a simple fact that if you wore the flak jacket and the steel pot, you couldn't carry as much ammo or food because you were only physically able to carry a finite amount of weight for extended periods of time. We would take the jackets and use them to try to reinforce the sandbags around our foxholes for example. We improvised a lot. I remember a firebase I was at that used reclaimed miniguns on the perimeter. That sure cut back on uninvited guests.

Originally Posted by DTop

Flak jackets? What flak jackets? PJ's right, the remfs were the ones wearing them. The rest of us had to worry about staying on our feet any way we could for as long as we could. It came down to a simple fact that if you wore the flak jacket and the steel pot, you couldn't carry as much ammo or food because you were only physically able to carry a finite amount of weight for extnded periods of time. We would take the jackets and use them to try to reinforce the sandbags our foxholes for example. We improvised a lot. I remember a firebase I was at that used reclaimed miniguns on the perimeter. That sure cut back on uninvited guests.

My Dad had minguns at one of their fire bases too.