Nick Gallo models the latest in TA-50 in 1970.  His gear is carried in an aluminum-framed nylon rucksack.  He has two different types of canteens: the quart sized hard plastic and the 2 quart "bladder" type.  Under his rucksack is an M-72 LAW (Light Antitank Weapon), used for "bunker busting."  You can also see the cylindrical smoke grenades used to mark positions so our aircraft would know where we were, and a couple of round fragmentation grenades.  His rifle is the M-16A1 version, with a closed flash hider.  Notice Nick has his sling setup in a non-issue manner with the front of the sling attached to the front sight, and the back wrapped around the butt.  His ammunition is carried in the pouches that came in the waterproof ammo cans.  Notice the OD towel - needed to mop that sweat.  All told, Nick is carrying somewhere between 75 and 100 pounds - depending on how many letters from his girl friend he is carrying.h

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Courtesy Nick Gallo

Compare Nick's gear to what SFC Antonio Torres-Perez wore in May 1966, four years earlier.  His weapon is the first model M-16 with an open flash hider (often used to break the wire around cases on C-Rations).  He is still wearing state-side fatigues (no cargo pockets on the trousers), though he does have jungle boots on.  His load-bearing equipment is the harness, web belt and butt-pack of that era.  His entrenching tool (small shovel) is attached to the belt.  He is carrying the then new plastic one quart canteen.)

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Courtesy Edgar Irizarry

All during the war, the main chow in the field was the C-Ration - canned meals consisting of such delicious entrées as ham & lima beans, beans & wieners, or turkey loaf.

The trooper at right (the only name we have is Sadler, and we think he was from Florida) is "enjoying" his meal.  Circled in red is a plastic package that probably holds his letters from home.  Perched on top are three cookies.  Circled in blue is a 5 pack of cigarettes - they came with the meal.  The green circle shows a can of food being heated over a "field expedient" stove - nothing more than a short can with holes punched in it, with a blue "heat tab" in the bottom.

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Courtesy Don Jensen

On occasion, troops in the field were able to get hot food.  While not exactly what Mom used to cook, it sure was better than C-Rations.  But, a number of things had to happen before hot chow was sent out - the company had to be in a place where there was little likelihood of enemy contact because the helicopters that delivered the food had to return to pick up the Mermite can (large insulated cans, seen at right, that kept the food hot) and because the company would be in one place for awhile - a tempting target for enemy mortars.  Tom Rutten's picture taken in 1967 indicates C 2/5 Cav was operating near a village.

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Courtesy Tom Rutten

Getting Clean - Showers in the Weeds

While operating out in the field, there wasn't much chance to get clean, unless you came across a river or a flooded bomb crater. Even at a base camp, showers were not luxurious.

Clockwise, starting upper left:  The showers at Camp Radcliff (An Khe) in October, 1966.  Note the water cans on the ground.  Somebody had to climb the rickety ladder to get water into the 55 gallon drums.

 Upper right:  Sometimes we could build a shower out of ammo boxes, such as the one to the near right on LZ Ike in the summer of 1969.  (All we know of the trooper is that his name was Gonzalez.)  

Bottom:  A different kind of shower used in 1970.  Note the metal water cans in 1969, and the plastic water jugs of 1970.

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Courtesy Ray Long

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Courtesy Jim "Tree" Machin

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Courtesy Jim Holcombe

MPC (Military Payment Certificate)
It was illegal to carry American currency in Vietnam.  As soon as you arrived "in-country", you had to turn in your "greenbacks" for MPC.  Officially, the Vietnamese currency was the piaster, but there was little the MPC couldn't buy.  In order to keep the MPC from being the real currency, every few months everyone had to turn in their old MPC for new ones - and each series would be different from the others.  Of course, this caused a panic in the Vietnamese who had accepted MPC from GIs.  These samples are from 1969, and were contributed by Mike Hayes.

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Zippo Lighters
Way back in the 60s and early 70s, nobody was too worried about the dangers of smoking.  A majority of us smoked cigarettes, and most of us used a Zippo lighter.  Each of us carried our smokes in a hard plastic case, and often that was carried in the elastic band that kept the camouflage cover in place on our steel pots.  At some time during the time C 2/5 Cav was in Vietnam, specially decorated Zippos were given to the guys as they left for home.  According to Jim Sims, who served as the Company Clerk in 1968, he ordered them at the direction of 1SG Solloway in September 1968.   This sample was contributed by Mike Hayes, who served from April 1969 to May 1970.

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P38 Can Opener
Okay - did you carry yours with your dog tags, or did you carry yours on a key chain?  For the uninitiated, this is a can opener - and its shown approximately actual size.  From Mike Hayes, April 1969 to May 1970.

Tiger Beer
This picture shows much of the grunt's life in Vietnam.  Didn't we all wear an OD towel around our necks?  It was there to mop the sweat.  And - Tiger Bier - the Vietnamese beer.  Of course, it was never cold, and you wondered if the VC had poisoned it.  And cigarettes - many of us no longer smoke, but most of us did back then.  Cigarettes were even included in the C ration boxes, and cartons of various brands were sent to the field.  You carried your open pack in a hard plastic box (it  had space for matches), often held in the heavy elastic band around the steel helmet.

Ken Burington took this picture while the company was working out of the division's main base at An Khe in 1967.  He titled it "Still Life on Termite Mound."

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See what can be done with a piece of an old mortar round crate?  Jim Mullen was a platoon leader in 1966 when this beautiful swagger stick was carved for him.  The blacken is shoe polish.  Note the beautifully carved Pegasus on the top, representing the winged cavalrymen of the 1^st Cav.  On the backside is carved the word "Trooper."  (Courtesy Jim Mullen)

Remember when the log bird would bring out "bravos and charlies" - beers and cokes?  Along with them came big blocks of ice.  You knew you could have at least one cold beer before the ice was gone.  It didn't take new guys to learn the trick of  "rollin' your own."  SSG Ronnie Hayworth (who once served with 4/6) demonstrates proper technique.  (Identified by Chuck Moore.)

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Courtesy Mel Wilikison