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On Viet Nam, the snipers did see a lot of action protecting their team members. One of my top NCOs had been a sniper in Special Ops unit. He got the Silver Star for one of his missions.
He was a good man.
Jungle didn't matter. Just crept up an inch at a time to get in position then wait for the high value target to become visible. Then you had to get away.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by theoldnorthstate
On Viet Nam, the snipers did see a lot of action protecting their team members. One of my top NCOs had been a sniper in Special Ops unit. He got the Silver Star for one of his missions.
He was a good man.
Jungle didn't matter. Just crept up an inch at a time to get in position then wait for the high value target to become visible. Then you had to get away.
It seems like, from what I'vs seen on The History Channel before it got to be so awful, that it was particularly challenging to be a sniper in Vietnam, because the equipment issued to snipers wasn't particularly good at the time and the top brass didn't let them operate the way they were trained to do so.
From the book Inside The Crosshairs: Snipers in Vietnam
Quote:
At the start of the war in Vietnam, the United States had no snipers; by the end of the war, Marine and Army precision marksmen had killed more than 10,000 NVA and VC soldiers--the equivalent of an entire division--at the cost of under 20,000 bullets, proving that long-range shooters still had a place in the battlefield.
^
Definitely. The interesting thing I'd suggest about the Viet Nam War and US snipers is that I'm not too sure sniping was used so much as to destroy morale as it did say in earlier wars like WWI when to be hit by a sniper while in a trench and presumably protected by it affected an entire army's psychological fighting capability. As the 10,000 figure shows, sniping had its place in making the NVA and VC lose soldiers and sparing American casualties in battles.
After watching American Sniper and seeing the intense desire to protect fellow team members reminds me of my NCO from days gone past. He was extremely protective of others, it was just part of his nature. And seeing the movie, that was an attribute portrayed of Chris Kyle.
Just wondering if we end up leveling off to jobs that suit our personality or if by going into the job we develop the personality for the job.
^
Pretty interesting point. To be a sniper takes a certain personality in order to shoot at an enemy with stealth and to actually see the individual die. One really has to be able to handle that. Thing is how would say someone who has the qualities of a sniper do in a bomber where killing is not as 'personal'? Could the individual succeed in his missions? Really is it 'easier' to go from sniping to bombing or bombing to sniping? I'm sure one's personality and how they view the conduct of war crimes tribunal me into play there.
Finally got the answer to my question about the urine smell and the pan to the wet place. he wrote in his book he peed his pants rather than leave his post.
Good article:
I saw the movie yesterday and what a Master piece! The ordinance stayed until the movie was over and all names and everything was shown and than they started to applaud. It was chilling and so emotional.
I can't say anything that will come close to what a great job Clint Eastwood has done making this movie and the excellent screening to hire the best actors for this movie.
Clint brought to live the struggles and reality of our military in such a real way.
Thanks to all veterans and current military for defending this great COUNTRY!
I saw the movie yesterday and what a Master piece! The ordinance stayed until the movie was over and all names and everything was shown and than they started to applaud. It was chilling and so emotional.
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