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The Green Berets
This John Wayne film has the distinction of being one of the few movies made about the Vietnam War while the war was actually going on. It also has the somewhat more dubious honour of being the only (somewhat) pro-Vietnam War film of the era.
It should be noted that, other than the "captured weapons display", there is no explicit section discussing "enemy" weapons due to the fact that this movie was actually filmed at Fort Benning Georgia in the U.S. and a great many of the VC were actually U.S. army personnel hired as extras. In addition, at the time, Eastern bloc weapons were not as readily available to U.S. movie makers as they are today so, undoubtedly, the producers had to make do with what they had.
Captured Weapons Display
At the beginning of the film, when a group of civilians and reporters are being briefed about the capabilities of the U.S. Army Special Forces a number of captured weapons are seen on a display board behind the two U.S. Army sergeants, they include:
MAT-49
This French designed submachine gun was used widely throughout (then) French Indo-China with a great deal of them being left behind after the defeat at Dien Bien Phu. The weapon displayed here could be a locally manufactured copy which chambered the 7.62,, Tokarev round.
Thompson
Also seen on the board is what appears to be a stockless M1928A1 Thompson submachine gun. However this could have been a locally manufactured copy since the VC were, by all accounts, quite adept at manufacturing small arms to serve their needs (at least in the early days of the war).
SKS Carbine
This popular Russian semi-automatic rifle is also on display.
PPsH-41 Submachine Gun
This ubiquitous Russian submachine gun is also seen on the captured weapons display but, like the SKS above it could very well be a Chinese clone.
- I haven't seen this movie in a couple years, but I specifically remember it being referred to as a Chinese copy of the PPSH. Not sure if that means the actual prop weapon used in the scene was of Chinese origin, of course. -MT2008
I remember it being refered as the "ChiCom K50 submachine gun". User:Cutaway
Unknown Revolver
Though it is never clearly seen a revolver is displayed on the weapons board. Keeping in the theme of abandoned French weaponry it could very well have been St. Etienne Model 1892 revolver in 8mm.
Unknown Semi-Auto Pistol
Another weapon on the board is a small (relative to the other weapons) semi-automatic pistol.
Unknown Over & Under Shotgun
The Airborne Colonel who shoots skeet with John Wayne(and who was the real commander of the Airborne School at Fort Benning Georgia where the film was shot) uses an unknown over-under double barrel shotgun.
Remington Model 1100
Wayne uses this semi-auto shotgun while shooting skeet. It could very well be a Remington 870 but Wayne never pumps the action to clear the spent shell which is seen being ejected from the weapon.
M16 rifle series
In real life the U.S. Army Special Forces were one of the first units to actively field the M-16 in combat. In the movie Wayne's troops carry early model M-16A1 rifles noted by the presence of a forward bolt assist with the early model three prong flash suppressor.
Later in the movie Wayne is seen dramatically smashing one of his men's M-16 against a tree after he is killed fighting 3 VC on his own. Thing is, if you look carefully, the "weapon" is actually a Mattel M-16 Marauder, a plastic toy gun manufactured in the 1960's. Also it would be near impossible for him to smash the aerospace-grade aluminum receivers by hand against a tree, which is what he would have done to really render the weapon unusable to the enemy. Like in most movies, this was done just to give viewers a 'macho' impression on the screen.
M-6E3 Weapons System
This system, consisting of two double sets of M60 machine guns (the M-60C version) mounted above 8 shot rocket pods is seen attached to a UH-1 "Huey" (probably a C or D model) gunship in the movie.
Browning M2 Aircraft
Seen mounted on tripods throughout the A Camp is this aircraft version of the venerable Browning M2 easily denoted by the full length ventilated barrel shroud. The reason for using the M2 Aircraft version on film was the ease of blank conversion compared to the M2 Heavy Barrel ground gun.
Browning M1919
Also used in the defense of the A Camp is this classic general purpose machine gun.
Note the M1919 in the upper right corner of the pic
GE M134 Minigun
Seen in the interior of Puff The Magic Dragon (a name bestowed on most early USAF gunships) are a pair of these devastating weapons.
M79 grenade launcher
Glimpsed briefly (though never actually fired) in the movie is one of the U.S.'s more reliable light support weapons.
M1 Carbine
Seen mainly in the hands of the ARVN troopers as well as the U.S. Navy "Seabees" is this lightweight U.S. rifle although some are seen being carried by the VC.
M1 Garand
Seen in the hands of the ARVN troops as well as some VC is the all time classic U.S. battle rifle.
M18A1 Claymore
This standard (and extremely devastating) U.S. anti-personnel mine makes a brief appearance in the film though the "mine" displayed is clearly a training model given its' blue coloring.
