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re: The Vietnam War (Ken Burns)
Posted on 9/29/17 at 9:16 am to LSU alum wannabe
Posted on 9/29/17 at 9:16 am to LSU alum wannabe
quote:
Not military. Never claim to be, so I must ask. Which idea is better? Shouldn't a soldiers weapon just fricking work with minimum maintenance? Conditions are beyond control. Should a combat weapon be fickle?
It depends on the kind of soldier, really. Also, it's important to note that the M-16/M-4 is pretty damn reliable in the grand scheme of things - you just can't stick it in the sand for a year and still shoot it like you can with an AK.
quote:
Was there any advantage to an m-16 compared to an Ak-47 in 1968?
Accuracy, number of rounds you can carry, weight, arguably a little more lethal round (this is debated, but the 5.56 tears through flesh in a way that the 7.62 does not - it tumbles instead of just blowing a hole).
quote:
What is the standard soldier/marine handed in combat today?
M-4 usually. Short-barreled M-16, for all practical purposes. There are all sorts of fancy attachments (sights, lasers, etc.) that today's soldiers use that they didn't have back then as well.
This post was edited on 9/29/17 at 9:17 am
Posted on 9/29/17 at 9:24 am to LSU alum wannabe
quote:
I hate when actors or translators take over. They always ham it up.
Yeah, I prefer the subtitles while hearing the speakers voice. The translation was spot on 98% of the time. One of the speaker I think his name was "Bao" had the perfect nothern accent.
Posted on 9/29/17 at 9:41 am to LSU alum wannabe
quote:
Should a combat weapon be fickle?
No - but all new designs have growing pains.
quote:
Was there any advantage to an m-16 compared to an Ak-47 in 1968?
Yes. Lighter, could carry more ammo for same weight. Ranges were similar, but effective range is generally better on the M16.
And - let's get to quality control - you had Colt (yeah, I know) QC versus Soviet QC on the rifles themselves. The Soviet rifles were stamped metal and cranked out at high volume. American rifles were forged and far fewer duds made it to the battlefield.
And the ammo - US GI ammo is made to fairly exacting specifications. Although not perfect, there is a high degree of consistent performance in the ammunition, shot to shot. Even to this day, Soviet/Russian lots of 7.62x39mm can have a lot of unstable, poor burning powder, hinky cases - although over the years production of this caliber has gotten better (as it has gained popularity in the West, BTW).
This is an age old debate - each side has supporters and detractors. One of my favorite photographs of all time:
Posted on 9/29/17 at 3:29 pm to Ace Midnight
Kalashnikov and Eugene Stoner, I'm guessing?
Posted on 9/29/17 at 3:51 pm to Drank
I'm three episodes in now, don't want to rush through it. It's very good and I've learned some things that surprised me even though I was nearly old enough to be drafted for Vietnam and remember much of it quite well.
Dan Carlin in his podcasts talks about how difficult it is to objectively study recent history because people still have their emotions about how it impacted them and their family and friends. So Vietnam is a pretty damn difficult topic for a documentary. I think Ken Burns has done a fantastic job given the difficulty. My one quibble is that I wish he'd spent more time on the cold war backdrop, because that really defined our actions in Vietnam. I'd love to see a Ken Burns do a documentary on the Cold War.
Dan Carlin in his podcasts talks about how difficult it is to objectively study recent history because people still have their emotions about how it impacted them and their family and friends. So Vietnam is a pretty damn difficult topic for a documentary. I think Ken Burns has done a fantastic job given the difficulty. My one quibble is that I wish he'd spent more time on the cold war backdrop, because that really defined our actions in Vietnam. I'd love to see a Ken Burns do a documentary on the Cold War.
Posted on 9/29/17 at 9:21 pm to Tigris
I'm curious on how long it took burns to get all the old clips.
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