SGT. GREIGO'S FLAK JACKET

"Krztalizer" wrote in message
...
I've seen several references to troops in Vietnam (and probably other
places) sitting on their
helmets

Not a very comfortable seat!

What I saw was helicopter pilots siitting on their flak jackets.

On the rare occasions that they were 1) provided and 2) we felt they were
required, the crewmen sat on them, no exceptions. Once we got into the
doorways
and started our approach to the area where we intended to be more "danger"
than
"in danger", we slipped them on the proper way. When you are wearing a
plastic
helmet, a lot of the allure of a flak vest fades away...

Don't know how the rest of his crew used their flak jackets, but I know
sitting on it was not really an option for my brother when he was in the
cockpit of his Dustoff UH-1D/H in Vietnam. What he *did* do, at least
sometime during his tour, was position his trusty S&W .38 special revolver
(which he prefered to the .45, for reasons soon to be obvious) in its
holster between his legs, both to keep it from hindering his operation of
the cyclic and to give some (at least psychological) protection for his most
favorite personal area...

(The lack of stopping power in the .38 was not of great concern, since his
entire crew also carried other small arms besides their pistols; a veritable
arms bazaar apparently supplied their needs, as at one time or another
during his one-year tour he himself carried a M3 greasegun, a 12 ga. pump
shotgun, and his favorite, the old CAR-15, forerunner of today's M-4
carbine).

Brooks


v/r
Gordon
PS, my experiences in this regard are very limited, but I thought I could
share
what I saw directly.
====(A+C====
USN SAR

Donate your memories - write a note on the back and send your old photos
to a
reputable museum, don't take them with you when you're gone.