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rynoki · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 11:01 am Post subject: South Vietnam Armour survivors

Hi all,
Do any old ARVN tanks (M24, M41 and M48) still exist outside of communist museums? I remember seeing lines of Hueys in the undergrowth years ago in a magazine, just curious if there are old ARVN tank graveyards.
Any sightings?

Pzkpfw-e · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jul 21, 2010 Posts: 1202

There are some in the jungles/paddy-fields.
[img]http://gillandtuan.com/Travel/Vi%E1%BB%87t-Nam/Mi7873n-Nam-Southern-Vi7879t/200207-Cu-Chi-guidetank-wreck/19940330_WbS6p-L-1.jpg[/img]
Củ Chi

JG300-Ascout

- rynoki

Hi all,
Do any old ARVN tanks (M24, M41 and M48) still exist outside of communist museums? I remember seeing lines of Hueys in the undergrowth years ago in a magazine, just curious if there are old ARVN tank graveyards.
Any sightings?

I'd bet that whatever wasn't used up became parts vehicles to keep those the runners running. It isn't typical of Vietnamese to discard anything that is even remotely useful. And there's always scrap.

As the government regards the ARVN as both embarrassing and criminal, I'd bet on quick sales and scrap. There is next to no such thing as an ARVN graveyard in the SRVN, even human ones. What few there are have merely escaped destruction where it was "convenient".

Dennis_Smith · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Mar 17, 2006 Posts: 192

These are at the museum/tank graveyard at Dien Bien Phu:

Doug_Kibbey

- Dennis_Smith

These are at the museum/tank graveyard at Dien Bien Phu:

More than likely in French, not ARVN, service at Dien Bien Phu.

IIRC, they came to be there having been delivered in pieces and assembled on site.

rynoki

Hi guys, thanks for the replies so far.
I was hoping some old armour may still be around. But I guess the last time I heard they still had large stocks of old ARVN equipment was back in the early 1990's.
I have seen on another forum that there are infact ARVN re-enactors in Vietnam nowadays too.

Doug_Kibbey

- rynoki

Hi guys, thanks for the replies so far.

I have seen on another forum that there are infact ARVN re-enactors in Vietnam nowadays too.

That would be very interesting. The last time I was there (2005) I carried printouts of some maps and photos for geographic reference. A couple of them of the Phu Bai airport at Hue, into which I flew and knew well. My hosts were very keen that any images I had in which the SVN flag was visible should not be seen, particularly by any "officials".

rynoki

Hi Doug, sorry for the delay, have a look at the page linked below. Modern Vietnamese mil pics ( and some old ) and one of re-enactors.

www.militaryphotos.net...is)/page75

Doug_Kibbey

- rynoki

Hi Doug, sorry for the delay, have a look at the page linked below. Modern Vietnamese mil pics ( and some old ) and one of re-enactors.

www.militaryphotos.net...is)/page75

"the unifrom to show off with other countries is a bit different than the one they use inside Vietnam."

Hoo-boy...don't I know it. I had an "encounter" with an SRVN captain in the vicinity of one of their bases. He was traveling in a blue stakeside truck and when he saw me take a picture of Hill 180, the truck slid to a brakes-locked stop and out he got. He was not polite at all. Shocked

If you squint at the picture, you can maybe make out a gate to the post. Jeez, what a tight-a$$. His uniform was not all that snappy, either.

bialy-r

Doug_Kibbey

- bialy-r

M41 Ho Chi Minh City

I believe the one pictured in HCMC was formerly a "zippo" (flame throwing) vehicle. Only a .50 barrel remains, from what I can see. I think the two white tanks behind it may have contained the fuel and propellant.

The one with the recoilless rifle and the one in Hue (which had mounted a RR) were likely ARVN vehicles (though the U.S. also operated vehicles so equipped). I've examined the one in Hue quite closely (it was a gasser, not an A1 diesel) and has the right side mount holes for an M40 RR.

www.flickr.com/photos/...978491147/

The Hue vehicle, below. M41 behind.

bialy-r

Coventry Mk I wreck - monument in the place of battel at Phan Thiet

Photo made by American soldiers in the sixties

odkrywca.pl/pojazdy-wo...tml#713177

Is the monument still there ?

TerryStibal

When I was there in 1970, there was a M8 HMC 75 mm self propelled artillery vehicle (a Scott) hull parked across Highway 19 from one of our firebases (I think it may have been LZ Action but it may have been the HHT further to the east, the name of which I have forgotten at this remove). It was stripped down to the bare metal, no weapons, road wheels or anything.

There were a couple of armored car hulks down slope in the Mang Yang Pass, site of a big ambush during the French war. We never bothered to descend into the draw where they were located, having other things to attend to at the time.

And, there's at least one M48A3 hull and turret, stuck in a bog to the south of the highway in a mountain valley. The TC got it so mired in that two M88s couldn't pull it free; they ended up stripping the parts and then blowing it in place.

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