An M48 Patton tank drives down a muddy dirt road. Its engine spews diesel fumes into the air;
the dense Vietnam jungle seems to go on forever. Suddenly,
the tank grinds to a stop. A hatch opens, and a moment later,
a U.S. soldier pops his head out of the hole. He scans the treeline for movement.
The soldier is coated in grease; sweat drips from his dirt-covered face. There is a loud bang as a
rocket-propelled grenade is launched from the jungle. It slams into the side of the tank. The
explosion forces the soldier back down the hatch. The three other crewmen look at him as he shrugs,
“just another day in paradise,” the soldier says, smoke rising from his singed body hair.
Being a soldier in Vietnam was tough, and being a part of a tank crew in Vietnam
could be even worse. You would think that the thick armor and devastating firepower
would make the tank a safe place to be, but this wasn’t the case. There may have been no
more uncomfortable place in the entire war than crammed into one of these metal contraptions.
2 The heat and humidity of the Vietnam jungle were already bad,
but the compartment within the heavily armored vehicle was ten times worse.
The engines of the tanks would run hot, basically cooking the crew inside it. The entire time the
tank was turned on, the crew would be breathing in poisonous hot diesel fumes. It was not someplace
anyone wanted to spend a lot of time. But the soldiers did their duty, even if it sucked.
But it wasn’t just the sitting in a boiling, smelly tank that made the lives of a tank crew
terrible. It was everything else that went along with being responsible for a 50-ton war machine.
Being a part of a tank crew meant you were the biggest target on the battlefield, you had to work
extra hard to maintain your weapon, and your body would hate you for the rest of your life.
When you think of Vietnam, tank crews probably aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. So,
let’s put you in the action. Buckle up because it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
3 You have been on an airplane for what seems like days. And it actually has been
as you’ve now crossed the international dateline on your way to Vietnam. You just
passed basic training for the Marine Corps and were assigned to join the 3rd Tank Battalion.
It is an honor as this was the first tank unit to be deployed in Vietnam. The downside is that since
soldiers and tank crews are needed badly, you received months of training in a single night.
You were given manuals to look over on your long flight from El Toro Air Station to Hawaii.
From there, the plane refueled and continued on its journey to Okinawa
for one last resupply run before taking off once more for your final destination. Now you look out
the window as land comes into view and sprawling jungle reaches as far as the eye can see.
4 You land in Da Nang, South Vietnam, where you get off the plane. You are welcomed by a wave
of intense heat and air so humid it feels like you’re wading through water with every step.
You hustle over to the commanding officer standing on the tarmac and hand him your orders. “Ah,
another one for the iron coffins,” he says. He hands you your orders back and
points over his shoulder. “You’ll be manning the turret on that M48 Patton over there.”
You run over to your tank and meet the rest of the crew. There are four of you altogether:
a commander, loader, driver, and you, the gunner. You climb up onto the tracks of the tank,
open the hatch, look in, and let out a whistle. It seems like there is no way
you’ll be able to fit inside with three other men, but what choice do you have?
5 The commander gives the signal to move out. Everyone crams into the small metal compartment
that will be your transportation for the next few hours. The driver turns the Continental AV1790
V12, diesel engine on. It has 750horsepowerr and gets the tank to a top speed of around 30 miles
per hour. However, out here in the jungle, you’ll barely be able to move faster than a snail’s pace.
The terrain is rough, and the jungle paths are full of obstacles like fallen trees and mud traps.
The first thing you notice as the engine roars to life is how loud it is.
You’ll be lucky if you can hear anything at all after the journey to the outpost at Ben Het.
You cough as the diesel fumes fill your lungs. The rest of the tank crew laughs
as they’ve been in Vietnam for a while now and have already gone through this right of passage.
6 They all remember their first time riding in the tank. It feels
as if you’re going to suffocate to death from the noxious fumes and intense heat.
It doesn’t get any better after the first time; you just learn to live with it and do your duty.
The tank begins to roll forward as you pop your head out of the hatch to get one last
breath of fresh air and watch the airstrip slowly fade in the distance. This will be the
final time you’ll see anything but the inside of your tank and the Vietnam jungle for a very
long time. You are about to drive right into the middle of the action. Around every bend,
there could be an ambush; over every hill, there could be a mine just waiting to blow you up.
Every moment inside of the tank could be your last, so you try to make the best of
a bad situation and focus on supporting your crewmembers. Your tank’s orders are to head
towards the Ben Ha river, where you will meet up with another battalion. The road
to the base is a “free fire zone” meaning that if you see anything moving, you shoot to kill.
There are no villages or allies along this path, only enemy platoons and booby traps.
7 You're covered in bruises even after only a few minutes of riding in the tank.
You feel every bump in the dirt road as your body slams into the solid metal all around you.
The seat you sit on has no cushion, so you know by the end of the ride your back and
legs are going to be in excruciating pain. This is the reality of being a part of a tank crew
in Vietnam. You look out the viewport, scanning the treeline for any movement.
Something catches your eye in the foliage. You scream at the top of your lungs to be heard over
the howling of the engine. The commander signals full stop. He opens the hatch and peers out.
The jungle is quiet… too quiet. Suddenly there is a loud bang from the forest.
The commander drops back into the tank, grabbing the hatch lid as he falls down.
7-8 A moment later, a rocket-propelled grenade slams into the 3-inch thick armor plating of the
tank. The explosion is deafening, but the tank only rocks slightly. Then there is a barrage of
machine-gun fire as Viet Cong soldiers unload on your position. Their bullets do very little, but a
well placed shot from an RPG could blow the tracks right off your tank and you’d be a sitting duck.
The commander yells at you to turn the turret to the left where the firing is coming from.
The cannon moves slowly on its rusted hinges. A shell is loaded into the barrel, and the order
to shoot is given. You pull the trigger to fire the 90mm M41/T139 cannon straight into the trees.
The shell slams into the jungle and explodes, creating a massive crater in the treeline.
As the smoke clears the commander opens the hatch and mounts the Browning .50 caliber machine gun
attached to the top of the tank. He pulls the bolt back and opens fire at the forest.
None of the crew can see where the enemy is, but you know the vicinity
from which the RPGs were fired from. The commander mows down bushes and trees. If
there was anyone still alive in this part of the jungle, they are dead now.
9 You fire another shell into the treeline for good measure and wait. No one returns fire. It
seems that you either killed them all, or they ran away. The commander gives the all-clear,
and the crew climbs out of the tank, sweat pouring from every pore of their bodies.
Being a part of the tank crew doesn’t mean you just ride around in an armored vehicle all day;
you also have to get out and fix the tank whenever something goes wrong.
As you scan the M48 for damage, you see where the RPGs hit; they have left dents and scorch marks
in the armor. The tank has been hit at least a dozen times. Luckily, no critical damage was
sustained. You and the rest of the crew take a moment to stretch before climbing back into
the tank and continuing on. It sucks that your vehicle is such a big target, and the enemy can
hear you coming from a mile away, but you know it is vital to get to the Rendezvous point ASAP.
Everyone climbs back into the belly of the beast. You continue on.
Hours later, you reach the outpost where you will spend the night. It is deep in the jungle.
A number of platoons are already there. The outpost is relatively large and has underground
bunkers for you to sleep in. They’ll be much cooler than what you’ve experienced all day.
The tank drives through the gate and parks by the makeshift mechanic shop.
The mechanics shake their heads as they look over your tank. “What did you do to the poor girl?”
one of them asks. You explain your run-in with the Viet Cong. The mechanics tell the crew that
they’ll give the tank a once-over before you head out in the morning to make sure everything is in
working order. You and your crewmates head to the mess hall to grab some grub. The meal consists of
warmed-up beans and canned meat, but it's better than nothing after the long day you’ve had.
10 You’re given first watch over the tank after dinner. The driver in your crew joins you.
The two of you set up on top of the tank just in case you need to hop inside and
return fire if the Viet Cong try to attack the outpost. Your ears have finally stopped ringing,
and you can hear the sounds of the jungle: birds sing, monkeys screech,
and boars grunt. There is a nice breeze, but you know tomorrow will be brutal as you
make your way to meet up with the 69th Armor Regiment's 1st Battalion and head to Ben Het.
As you listen to the nighttime jungle come alive, there is an odd thwomp
sound. You look at your crewmate; his brow furrows. “What was that?” he asks.
There is an explosion behind you as a mortar shell lands in the middle of basecamp.
An alarm starts blaring as soldiers scramble for cover. You’re under attack.
11 Even when you aren’t operating the tank, your vehicle is still a target.
Which means as a member of the crew, you’re a target by association.
Flashes from the barrels of machine guns look like deadly fireflies in the trees.
The bullets ricochet off the tank only inches away from your body. You roll off the top of the
turret and fall 10 feet to the ground. The wind is knocked out of you as you scramble underneath the
tank. Mortar rounds continue to fall all around you; bullets impale themselves into the ground.
Your commander comes running out of one of the bunkers with a couple of M16s under his arms.
You and your crewmate crawl out from under the tank and grab the guns. You return fire as your
commander climbs into the vehicle. The other members of the crew provide suppressing fire
as you follow your commander. Once everyone is inside, the tank comes to life. Shells are
loaded into the barrel. You adjust the turret as your commander shouts out coordinates to fire at.
12 The sound of the shell being fired is like a firework going off right next to your ear. But you
don’t even notice as adrenaline pumps through your body. It is a long night. The Viet Cong
mortars never seem to let up. You stay fixated at the turret, not letting up until morning.
As the sun comes up, all is quiet. You can finally come out of the cramped quarters of the tank.
You drink any water available to help alleviate the cramps that have formed in your muscles. The
attack was successfully repelled. The mechanics checkout the tank to make sure it is good to go.
After breakfast, you check your supplies, refuel, and start the next leg of your journey.
The morning drive towards Ben Het goes smoothly. After hours with no enemy sightings, you decide to
relax a little. You munch on some C-rations. Soon you will join up with the 69th and be surrounded
by other tank crews. You’ll share stories and commiserate about how much manning a tank sucks.
13 You’re jostled out of your daydreaming as the tank begins to shake. “What’s going
on?” the commander yells. The driver throws the gearbox in neutral and slowly comes to a stop.
The engine turns off; everyone gets out. You jump down from the tank and scan the treeline.
All is quiet. You and the rest of the crew walk around the tank looking for what is wrong,
but everything seems to be as expected. Then you have an idea.
You lay down on the ground and wiggle under the tank. You see what is causing the problem.
Your crew has been pushing the tank hard to make it to the next checkpoint.
The terrain has been rough, and one of your torsion bars broke at some point.
It needs to be repaired before you can get underway; otherwise, you could throw an entire
tack. If this happened, you and the rest of the crew would be sitting ducks for any Viet
Cong force passing by. You begin working on the underside of the tank when it starts to rain.
A small river rushes past you as you scrape your knuckles, trying to clamp the torsion bar back
into place. You finally finish the makeshift repair as more and more water accumulates.
14 Now soaking wet, everyone climbs back into the tank. The jungle is full of fungi
and bacteria that can cause nasty infections. Being in a hot tank in wet clothes will only
make you more susceptible to these unpleasant microbes. All you can do
is hope that when you get to Ben Het, they have some extra soap and a way to rinse off.
The tank eventually rolls into Ben Het Special Forces Camp,
where you meet up with the 69th Armor Regiment's 1st Battalion. You talk to
the other tank crews and commiserate about how terrible the conditions in the monstrous metal
machines are. Even though the Vietnam jungle is not the ideal place for tanks to travel,
you and your fellow tankmates play a vital role in the war. However, the following day
you will be tested. You are about to be in the only tank-on-tank battle of the Vietnam War.
Sometimes the waiting is the hardest part of being in a tank crew. The only place where there is
enough room to get some shuteye is in the driver's seat, so you and your crewmates take turns trying
to catch some Z’s. Your tank has been positioned along a ridgeline that looks over the resupply
road leading up to Ben Het. The other tanks have been placed facing the Cambodian border.
16 As you and your crewmates pass the time playing cards and talking about home,
engines are heard in the distance. You radio to the other tanks around Ben Het. They confirm
that they hear the motors as well. No one can see the vehicles that are making the noise,
but it is definitely getting closer. After about 20 minutes, everything goes silent.
It is 9:00 at night; the stars are just starting to come out.
The Viet Cong open fire on Ben Het with rifles, mortars, and artillery.
You and your tank crew spring into action. You return fire anywhere you see muzzle flashes.
Between rounds, you can hear the sound of heavy engines and tracks grinding against their wheels
from the west. The commander yells for a ceasefire as he scans the area with a night vision scope.
17 A little way down the road, an anti-tank mine explodes. It has caught a PT-76 light
tank on fire. This Soviet tank is being used by the Communist side of the war, but it is no match
for your M48. The driver throws the tank in gear and repositions. From the flames of the PT-76,
you can see three other tanks and a BTR-50 APC amphibious vehicle. The disabled tank opens fire,
but its shells fall short. The other tanks are moving to get a better angle of attack.
You radio the squadron to let them know of the enemy tank force closing in on your position.
The battalion provides supporting fire as you unload a barrage of shells and bullets at the
enemy. You hit one of the vehicles in the enemy battalion; it explodes,
sending fiery pieces of armor and metal flying into the jungle.
18 At the same time, 8 to 15 enemy vehicles began to appear at the border.
The first attack force has been dealt with, so your tank is ordered to reposition back
to the east. However, when you and your crew make it to the ridgeline,
you can’t see anything in the darkness of the night. The mortar section is ordered to launch
illumination rounds into the sky so that you and the other tanks can see what’s coming.
Unfortunately, as the sky lights up, the enemy uses it to their advantage. They open fire on Ben
Het, damaging multiple tanks and killing members of their crews. Your commander orders the tanks
to open fire. As this is happening, several members of the disabled tanks yell for help.
You are ordered to switch positions with your commander as he leaves through the top hatch.
It’s only been a few months since you enlisted, and now you are the commander of a tank.
19 Tank crews tend to have a high turnover rate due to the danger associated with their missions
and the big target on their backs, so unwanted field promotions are not uncommon.
You order the rest of the crew to keep firing as your former commander runs across the battlefield
and helps repair one of the damaged tanks in the middle of the firefight. They manage to get
the tank working again, and it begins firing. The M48s are too much for the enemy to deal with. They
begin to retreat. The Battle of Ben Het is over; you and your brothers in arms are victorious.
Although the Battle of Ben Het was the only tank battle during the Vietnam War, tanks played a
vital role in many different situations. The M48s were versatile enough that they could be driven
through cities and aid soldiers in clearing out enemy forces from buildings during urban warfare.
20 However, they weren’t the only types of tanks used in Vietnam. The M24 Chaffee was a light tank
used as late as the Tet Offensive. The Chaffee was then replaced by the M41A3 Walker Bulldog, which
was slightly more adaptable to the jungles of Vietnam and had a bigger gun than its predecessor.
In hopes of having a tank that could easily be deployed to remote locations, the United States
created the M551 Sheridan. The hope was to have a tank that could be dropped by parachute and easily
travel across water. The Sheridan was used mostly for reconnaissance missions and had a 152mm gun
that could fire both conventional ammunition and the MGM-51 Shillelagh guided anti-tank missile.
The entire tank crew didn’t necessarily need to be on board the tank as it dropped from the sky, but
at least one person did, and that was a dangerous job, especially if the chute didn’t open.
21 The U.S. military also used a flamethrower tank aptly named the M67 "Zippo." This was
a variant of the M48 Patton that had its turret replaced by an M7-6 tank flamethrower.
As you can imagine, the M67 Zippo came with its own dangers
that made life for the crew of the vehicles particularly difficult.
Not only did the engine run hot, but you were literally spitting fire out of your turret.
The M67 could also explode in a fiery blaze if the fuel tanks were damaged or ignited by enemy fire.
If there was one tank you didn’t want to be in during the Vietnam War, it was probably the M67.
22 Even in regular tanks, things could go wrong. The Vietnam jungle took its toll on
these machines and the crews inside of them. There was always a constant battle between
physical and mental fatigue while traveling long distances in the tanks or during missions. To be
a member of a tank crew meant that most of the time your life was going to suck.
The last thing you would want to do is abandon your tank, as you definitely didn’t want it to
fall into enemy hands. And if you were ordered to man the .50 caliber mounted on top of most tanks,
you were kind of left out in the open. You would be the first person enemy snipers would target,
and as RPGs were launched at your vehicle, the shrapnel could wound you or more likely kill you.
23 Even trying to get out of Vietnam as a member of a tank crew was miserable.
In order to bring the tanks back home, they needed to be loaded up on LCM-8
“Mike boats”. The only problem was that these were easy targets for enemy mortars
and artillery as they sat out in the water waiting to be picked up by larger ships.
Some crew members of tanks even recall getting incredibly seasick as the boats rocked back in
forth in the waves until they were able to be picked up by an LST. The ship would then sail
back to Okinawa or one of the other U.S. Naval bases in the region where the tank crews would
sometimes have to wait for months before they were finally flown back to the United States.
From start to finish being a member of a tank crew in Vietnam was brutal. Most never saw
tank-on-tank combat, but practically every tank deployed had an encounter with an RPG,
mine, or some form of Viet Cong attack. But the worst part about being in a tank
may not be what happened during the war itself, but after.
23 Many soldiers who were in tanks didn’t make it back alive. Those who did returned
home with all sorts of nasty side effects. Their bodies were permanently damaged from
being crammed in a tight space going over rough terrain for long periods of
time. Others developed breathing issues like asthma from the inhalation of engine fumes.
Hearing loss is common among soldiers due to their close proximity to explosions and gunfire,
and sitting near a tank turret when it goes off can cause someone to go completely deaf.
All of these problems were on top of the PTSD that tank crews,
and practically every soldier who has fought in a war, comes home with. For tank crew members,
triggers such as loud noises, flashes of light, and tight spaces can all trigger high anxiety
and even involuntary actions. This is why it is so important to provide veterans with the help,
medical assistance, and therapy they need to help them re-acclimate to society.
Now watch “Why Vietnam War TUNNEL RAT Job Was so DEADLY.”
Or check out “Why Living On An Aircraft Carrier Sucks.”