The Rucksack the Army Gave the South Vietnamese but Not Its Own Grunts

The American rifleman went into the jungle with a small canvas bag hanging off the back of his belt. The South Vietnamese irregulars beside him carried a framed rucksack with three outside pockets that rode high and steady for days. Grunts traded cigarettes, whiskey and boots to get one, and the Army took most of the war to give its own men something like it. Chapters: 0:00 The pack across the road 1:45 What the Army issued: the butt pack 5:14 The Marines had it worse 5:58 The rucksack built for the South Vietnamese 8:12 How grunts got their hands on one 10:45 Why it worked: the physics of a load 13:37 The faults, and how grunts fixed them 15:52 The Army's own rucksack, late 17:27 Where those rucksacks are now 18:40 Back at the base camp Your turn: did you ever carry an ARVN rucksack in Vietnam, and what did you trade for it? Base, unit and year, one line is enough. Sources: - Shelby L. Stanton, U.S. Army Uniforms of the Vietnam War (Stackpole Books, 1989) - Gordon L. Rottman, US Army Infantryman in Vietnam 1965-73 (Osprey, 2005) - Francis J. Kelly, U.S. Army Special Forces 1961-1971, Vietnam Studies (Department of the Army, 1973) - Accounts from Army and Marine veterans of the Vietnam War #VietnamWar #VietnamVeterans #MilitaryHistory