Gun Trucks of Vietnam

Thanks for posting LTC Jason Mackay and making us aware about the Smithsonian documentary on the Gun Trucks developed during the Vietnam War. The ingenuity of the American fighting man never ceases to amaze our enemies..
In WWII, we developed half tracked armored vehicles and later M-113 and M-114 APCs for the infantry to accompany tanks into battle. Since ancient time logistics convoys have been at risk. Horse cavalry was well capable of protecting convoys until machine guns and later combat aircraft could decimate convoys. Night time convoys for those without air superiority or at least parity became a survival measure.
In the Vietnam War we had complete air superiority and the enemies the VC and NVA were implacable and ingenious in their own ways. MPs traditionally have been responsible for convoy security. The sheer size of our forces and threats at base camps and limited number of MPs forced the transportation organizations to develop in-house solutions.
A number of transportation companies developed gun trucks fusing M-54 series trucks and some five-ton-trucks. One intriguing idea was to use an M-113 chassis mounted on the back of a M-54 truck King Cobra.
3/4 ton trucks and even jeeps were armored locally - forerunners of up-armored "Humvees"

There are a few good books on the subject of Gun Trucks in Vietnam.
Vietnam Gun Trucks (New Vanguard) [Gordon L. Rottman, Peter Bull] by Osprey publishing
Gun Trucks - A Visual History of the U.S. Army's Vietnam-Ear Wheeled Escort Platforms by David Doyle.
Images;
1. King Cobra M54 5-ton gun truck in Viet Nam
2. 1969 Daughter of Darkness M37 Dodge ¾ ton tactical truck in Vietnam.
3. Highland Animals Cornell, Payne, Denning R.
4. M-151 Gun Truck 'Little Angel', Vietnam.
Thanks for mentioning me, my friend COL Mikel J. Burroughs

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LTC Jason Mackay Thank you for the share.