The United States Army in Vietnam - Four Films plus a 381 page Field & Depot Maintenance Manual for the M48A3 Patton tank (.pdf). Films on this DVD have received digital color correction and noise reduction restoration.

See the American Army in action in the Vietnam War from the rice paddies of the Mekong Delta to the Iron Triangle near Saigon to mountain fire base fights in the Central Highlands in these revealing color films produced by the Army Office of the Chief of information.

The 1^st Division (1971 Color 30:00) – In July 1965, the “Big Red 1,” one most storied in the US Army, was the first division sized American unit to be sent to Vietnam. This film gives a year by year account of the divisions actions fought from landing through their departure in 1970. From an initial deployment of 14,000 men & women it grew to over 20,000 by 1967, including infantry, armor, engineers, helicopters & artillery, Operating in III Corps out of Di An outside Saigon, the divisions area of operations formed a broad arc north of the Capital to the Cambodian border, encompassing infamous VC & NVA strongholds like “The Iron Triangle,””War Zones C & D” and '”The Michelin Trapezoid.” They fought in almost every major major campaigns & battle in the area during their deployment, too numerous to list here, and heavy fighting around Saigon to defeat the Tet offensive. You'll see air mobile assault operations, armored attacks, “tunnel rats,” jungle fire fights, every day life on the front line & much more.

The 11^th Armored Cavalry Regiment (1971 Color 30:00) “The Black Horse Regiment” was a uniquely independent unit, functioning as an armored fist, re-enforcing other units in battle and in a wide variety of other roles including convoy escort through enemy infested territory and jungle clearing. Arriving in Vietnam in in 1966, operating out of Xuan Loc, East of Saigon in III Corps, they were responsible for numerous firsts that you'll see used in combat, including developing armored vehicles for local conditions like the “ACAV” Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle, a an essential upgrade of the M133 APC with much better armor, additional weaponry & steel shields to protect gunners. (ACAVs were soon adopted throughout Vietnam.) The 11th were also the first to operate the Army's innovative new M551 Sheridan AR/AAV (Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle) light tank. As you'll also see, M-48A3 Patton tank was used for heavier operations, and you'll see the regiment's Air Cavalry component, “The Thunder Horses,” 103mm & 155mm SP howitzers in the field and motorized “Sissors” bridges in action. The 11^th ACR teamed up with other units in numerous firefights, including with Australians in “Operation Santa Fe.”

The 4^th Infantry Division (1971 Color 30:00) The “I Vee Men” arrived in Vietnam in the the Summer of 1966. Part of II Corps, they were soon carving out their base of operations at Dragon Mountain, near Pleiku, and fighting in the mountains & jungles of the Central Highlands. In a 10,000 sq, mile area of operations, they were tasked with stopping infiltration of NVA troops & supplies along the Cambodian border, defending against frequent large scale enemy attacks and rooting out VC bunker & tunnel complexes. An essential tactic in the mountainous terrain was using helicopters to establish a chain of hilltop artillery fire bases, raining shells on the valleys below and as bases for infantry sorties to strike enemy concentrations. You'll also see the 4^th involved in heavy fighting to take NVA strongholds like Hilltops 875 & 1029, battles around Doc To and in the Ia Drang Valley.

The 9^th Infantry Division (1971 Color 30:00) 'The Old Reliables” were deployed in Vietnam in 1967 to IV Corps in Southern South Vietnam. In conjunction with the US Navy, as part of “The Mobile Riverine Force, their primary area of operations were the watery jungles, rivers and rice paddies of the vast Mekong River Delta. The swampy ground was so saturated, they had to build their home base at Dong Tam from scratch, dredging & filling like Hollanders to create stable ground where none had existed before. They also operated from the mouths of rivers from Navy supply & barracks ships like the USS Benewah. Reminiscent of the Vicksburg campaign in the Civil War, they developed a number of highly specialized platforms, including heavily armored canon firing shallow draft “Monitors,” aluminum artillery firing platforms on stilts that could be helo'ed into swamps and a variety specialized boats for river patrols & transport. Helicopters were widely used for resupply and for air mobile assaults. This combination of diverse forces allowed the 9^th to leap into previously inaccessible enemy strongholds concealed deep in the labyrinthine Delta.

* Complete 381 page Field & Depot Maintenance Manual for the M48A3 Patton tank in printable Adobe Acrobat 'pdf file format. Manual viewable & printable on any PC or Mac based DVD player..