Weapons

By: Nico Vergara

M2 Carbine, What the Vietnamese used.

M16, What the U.S. used.

        Weapons were a big part of the Vietnam war and it changed the war drastically. The M1 and M2 carbine were the two most common weapons used by the Vietnamese Military, police, and security forces. The Vietnamese used these guns for many reasons, including it didn't take that long to reload and it was very lightweight. The United States used the M1 and M2 carbines as well, but that gun wasn't the most commonly used gun for the Americans during this war. It was the M14 rifle, this gun was very powerful and was very convenient at the time. Later the M14 got replaced by the M16, mostly because the M16 had way more power to it and was more deadly.
         Helicopters were a huge part of the Vietnam War, the most common produced helicopter at the time was the Huey. More than 7,000 Huey's were produced and went into war. This helicopter made very easy transportation for the troops and you could fit about 10-12 troops on one at one time. It was very small and light so it could fly at low altitudes and speeds and could land in very small places.

         Many bombs were used during the Vietnam War, and if they weren't actually used the U.S. used bombs as a threat and for the most part it scared Vietnam. Nixon wanted to just use atomic bombs and blow up Vietnam but it was not right to do that and Nixon knew that. Bombs during this time created a lot of controversy and many policies were created because of bombs and how powerful they were. Both sides didn't necessarily use bombs a whole lot but they would threaten each other and both sides eventually fell for it because they both knew how much damage it would do and then they would fall very behind.