Question: An entry on the wearing of full combat gear and arms on the transport to 'Nam has been corrected, reason being that this is done today. This is correct, as rapid deployment in zones with little or nonexistent local military infrastructure exists requires every soldier to be operational when hitting ground. But was this the case at the time in Vietnam? Sure, this is early in the war, before a full scale upbuild but were incoming troops really transported this way, even in '65?
Airborne Ranger
11th Jan 2005
We Were Soldiers (2002)
19th Jul 2004
We Were Soldiers (2002)
Question: The early versions of the M16 had severe problems with jamming. There may have been several causes; instructions issued that the rifle was "self-cleaning", improper ammunition design, improper magazine design (therefore in a later stage 18 rounds instead of 20 were used in the mag). It is not necessarily a mistake, certainly not by the filmmaker, but there are several writers mentioning serious casualties amongst fighting troops specifically because of jamming M16 rifles. Why does this book/film not even include a hint of that problem which surely must have existed at that time and place?
Chosen answer: There is no definitive information on this topic, and although factually accurate, a technical problem with a weapon was probably not enough to build an entire sub-plot, and would not hold the interest of the moviegoer. There were enough casualties without having to take into consideration weapon malfunction.
Answer: The M16's used in this battle were second generation M16A1's easily distinguished by the forward bolt assist on the right hand side of the rifle. The original M16 had no bolt assist and the jamming was caused by a different propellant that made the weapon very dirty.
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Chosen answer: Yes and no. This has been done on and off since the 101st Airborned dropped on D-Day. Mainly it depends on the area being travelled through and the destination.
Grumpy Scot