This is one guy who was there and wore the flak jacket as it was supposed to be worn...zipped up.Ted said: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.
Forrest_Gump said: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.
DTop said: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.
DTop said:I remember a firebase I was at that used reclaimed miniguns on the perimeter. That sure cut back on uninvited guests.
We use essential cookies to make this site work, and optional cookies to enhance your experience.