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Being the Mortaman I am, and the fact that I'm reclassing to a new MOS due to numerous knee surgeries, I'm looking for a diecast Mortar Carrier, (M106 would be OK but I prefer M1064). that would look good sitting on my office desk. A reminder to the fun times I had in the military, (blowing things up). A diarama or just the diecast would be OK, prewferably in 1/24 scale or larger. I'm not really looking for an model to put together. I dont have the time or patience anymore. Anyone got any good ideas or contacts?

Hi Jeff, sorry, this is the closest I could find:

www.mortarsinminiature.com/ US_M106.htm

Best,
David

I think Corgi might have offered one. Certainly you won't find any as large as 1:24 scale.

YES! Corgi "unsung heroes". just google for a source..."Corgi" and "M106"
www.3000toys.com/catal...RGIUS51102

BTW, mortarman...I took these at FSB Birmingham in Thua Thien Prov...west of Hue about 15 clicks. That green streak you see coming from the tube is the track of an HE itself.

It was on this day that I learned that you could actually observe a round through it's entire flight if you focused and it didn't pass through any of the low clouds so common in Vietnam.

My Aerorifle troop had a Scout Section (including myself), an Infantry section, a Mortar Section, and some Recoiless Rifle teams.



...and here is the same view today:

Doug,
First off, what time zone are you in that you're up this late? Gotta be west coast or you work late.
Second, AWESOME pictures! My personal favorite mortar system is the 81mm, all of them. I hated that they got rid of the M125, 81mm mortar carrier. I drove one in basic at Ft Benning in Nov 1982. When did you go back to SEA for that picture and how in the h--l did you know where to go exactly back to?!
Third, in my 23 years as an 11C, I have never gotton to fire while catching rays on my torso. I've done, and been around some crazy happenings around live fires, but never have I done so half naked.
I'm going to have to get myself a scanner, so I can post alot of my pictures. All my mortar pics are on 110 or 35mm film, not digital.
I have two mortar crates like the ones in the pics, as well as a set of near mint aiming poles. Not to mention firing pins, elbow sights, wrenches, numerous training rds, etc... I also have just about every mortar manual put out since 1960 onwards.
Enough babble for now.

- SFC_Jeff_Button

Doug,
First off, what time zone are you in that you're up this late? Gotta be west coast or you work late.
Second, AWESOME pictures! My personal favorite mortar system is the 81mm, all of them. I hated that they got rid of the M125, 81mm mortar carrier. I drove one in basic at Ft Benning in Nov 1982. When did you go back to SEA for that picture and how in the h--l did you know where to go exactly back to?!
Third, in my 23 years as an 11C, I have never gotton to fire while catching rays on my torso. I've done, and been around some crazy happenings around live fires, but never have I done so half naked.
I'm going to have to get myself a scanner, so I can post alot of my pictures. All my mortar pics are on 110 or 35mm film, not digital.
I have two mortar crates like the ones in the pics, as well as a set of near mint aiming poles. Not to mention firing pins, elbow sights, wrenches, numerous training rds, etc... I also have just about every mortar manual put out since 1960 onwards.
Enough babble for now.

Jeff, SoCal, Dood...about three hours from ya'! What are YOU doing up so late? (at least we know you weren't doing all your posting on Rummy's time).

I went back to SEA in March of '05...some more then/now shots can be viewed here, courtesy of our most excellent brothers-in-crime, A Co. 101st Avn. Bn. and the generousity of their webmaster (notice the trend here...I don't build or maintain websites myself, I try to cajole others into doing it for me....it's my gift).

www.a101avn.org/doug_kibbeytrip.htm

As to how I know where to go back to with precision...Hey!...I was in Scout Section...and we didn't have GPS...we used the old fashioned way. Also, it helps that northern "I" Corps in VN is mountainous and has very distinctive terrain features that are easily located. I couldn't find Roy Lingle's and my hangouts down south on a bet...it's all flat down there apart from Black Virgin Mountain.

We did a fair amont of other things in semi-naked states also, like tanking sometimes. The very nature of the conflict and environment encouraged a certain latitude of action in uniforms and even personal weapons, in some units. You'll notice quite a few deviations from the regs here:

www.vhpamuseum.org/11t...hcav.shtml

Oh, and by all means get a scanner...they're cheap these days...well under $100...and scan/post those pics. In fact, consider that an order.

'and we didn't have GPS...we used the old fashioned way'

Was that by stumbling around until you could find a clearing to have the FAC locate your smoke?

(I'm probably going to have to pay for that one:-))

- bsmart

'and we didn't have GPS...we used the old fashioned way'

Was that by stumbling around until you could find a clearing to have the FAC locate your smoke?

(I'm probably going to have to pay for that one:-))

"Your attitude hass' 'ven noted....."

Actually, Bob, the 1:50,000 maps for some regions were quite accurate...six digit coordinates being the norm and it was possible to do better.

But....since you bring it up, we did have an incident in "G" Troop, 2/11th on a patrol where a platoon leader 1st Lt. from West Point managed to get sufficiently disoriented on a 25 click sweep that he had to have guys back at the Night Defensive Perimeter fire rocket flares in broad daylight and good weather to find his way back to the NDP.
That night, an M551 driver named "Sperry" regaled the entire troop (and likely horrified the ASA) with a two-minute unauthrized transmission in a flawless and sinister German accent berating the lieutenant with threats of transfer to the Russian front, etc. Laughter could be heard the entire breadth of Hau Nghia province, I'm sure. Roy might recall this episode.

OK, I know that you want an M106 or M1064 series, but there's s nice cast model of an M21 in about 1/30th scale from King and Country, a military miniatures collectibles company. Rather pricey ($99) but it comes with a mortar crew in winter dress (the MMC is part of their "Battle of the Bulge" series).

Jeff,
Not a die-cast, but one fine built model to appreciate. Over on the excellent AMOS website (Japanese armor model builders...VERY fine work) a fellow, Mr. "Nam" Kitano (who specializes in VN scenes) has a great M106 diorama:

amostokyo.web.infoseek...M106A1.htm

In fact, he's done a number of VN vehicles...all of them excellent.

Everyone who appreciates fine models should view their gallery...some of the work is nothing short of amazing...and what one guy does with human figures is beyond anything else in armor modeling.

They have a forum, also, mostly in Nihongo, of course, but they will respond to you in English when and as they can. I've found them to be a very helpful and polite "club"...they share their techniques and have a very good spirit about furthering the hobby.

The general entry to the website is here:
amostokyo.web.infoseek.co.jp/

Tumbleweed,
My new MOS will be 88N, Transportation Managment Coordinator. I will attend AIT (yeah, with a bunch of privates!) 25 March through 5 May at Ft Eustis, VA. After three knee surguries, my Infantry days were over. I went to an MMRB board this past August and was approved for reclass. I will spend my last 7 years of active duty in Transportaion. Not bad after serving 10 years in the Ohio National Guard and then 13 more years active, all in the Infantry. I will be going to Ft Hood as my next duty station after I return back here and clear the post. No "pin-point" assignment yet at Hood though.
I hadn't heard from you in a while or seen your posts, where have you been?