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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
I work with a Korean War Vet and was scanning some photos for him this weekend. Actually, he's mostly retired but occasionally works a few days to help us out. Anyway, his name is Vic Veith and he served as a machine gunner in the 45th Infantry Division during the Korean War. He was 19 or 20 years old at the time.

He had a few interesting images in his albums and we thought the Browning MG enthusiasts might like to see some of them. The first is my favorite, even though it doesn't show the gun very well at all. It's his M1917A1 in silhouette looking out of their bunker emplacement. The front is covered with chicken wire to keep the North Koreans from throwing grenades through the opening. They would simply shoot through the wire and repair it as necessary between engagements.



The next is a better view of the gun, although his only print was pretty ravaged. It is of a ROK crew and their gun, complete with M8 flash hider and water chest. I thought it was interesting to see the carrying handle mounted so near to the muzzle. I presume this was done for some sort of 2-man carry technique for the gun and tripod.



One of his buddies humping an M1917A1 tripod in the least uncomfortable way of many uncomfortable ways to carry one.



I asked him about this one because the terrain around the gun didn't look quite as mountainous or as battle scarred as the others. It was actually taken after he returned to the States and was sent to Yakima Training Center in Washington State to train new machine gunners.

 

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Discussion Starter · #2 ·
Loading a 57mm recoilless rifle up on the line.....



Vic leaning up against one of their well hammered bunkers.....



Wearing his usual attire....a flak vest and .45. Note the foliage on the hill behind him, neatly trimmed back by previous artillery and mortar fire. Most of the wood scraps have been policed up to build bunker roofs or for firewood to keep warm during the Korean winter...



With M2 carbine. The ropes behind him were to help keep soldiers from falling off the steep trails after dark.

 

· I wanna go shooting NOW!
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very cool! :D
 

· PhD in Over-Engineering
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Nice stuff! Thanks for sharing those with us! :)
 

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Discussion Starter · #7 ·
And just a few more after getting sidetracked for a few hours after my last post.

A nice assortment of grenades at the bunker entrance, white phoshphorus smoke, thermite incendiary, and frags.



With a few of the ROK troops they fought next to. I think two of these guys were referred to as Mutt and Jeff. Not sure which but likely the tallest and shortest ones.



Posing by some road signs. Note the "ROAD UNDER ENEMY OBSERVATION PAST THIS POINT" sign on the left. Because of the steep terrain with deep canyons and ridgetops, it was often difficult to drive to forward locations that weren't subject to enemy observation and often sniper or mortar fire. He said the Chinese and North Korean troops were very good at lobbing in the occasional 60mm or 82mm mortar round.



That's it. Hope you enjoy them. Kind of nice to see a few shots of the hardware in its indended environment and not just in someone's den or workshop.
 

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According to FM 21-100, the first aid pouch is to go behind the pistol holster.
It's always neat to see photos of kits with uncommon mods or placement! ;)
 

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Thanks

Fantastic Photos.....these are the behind the scenes pictures of the real world. Tell "Vic" a lot of people appreciate his service and his efforts.
Tirediron
 
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