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| Pic courtesy AWM |
Back in another life, gentle reader, when we returned from to Nui Dat from an operation in Vietnam, we used to have "yippee shoots".
This was what we called the exercise of firing off all the unexpended ammunition we had carried during the operation, because (we were told by those who apparently knew) that the oppressive humidity would have a very negative effect on the performance of said ammunition if we needed it in a contact.
I don't know how realistic this concern was. AI indicates that it would take years, not weeks for degradation to occur, and our longest operation (Finschhafen) lasted from March 12th until April 10th which is about a month.
Nevertheless, one of the first things we did once back at Nui Dat was to head for the range as a company, and fire off all the 7.62 rounds we had brought back with us at the end of the operation. From memory, we carried between 150 and 200 rounds each, so with about 25 of us per platoon shooting it down range, that was a very noisy exercise. I can't remember what happened to M26 grenades, M72 rocket launchers and M79 grenade launchers, but I'm pretty sure at least some of this ordnance was also expended.
No wonder I'm deaf.
We called this process having a "yippee shoot" which meant that there wasn't much discipline involved. The more gung ho amongst us enjoyed the experience. I regarded it as a necessary chore, amongst many other bizarre activities that were par for the course in that crazy conflict.
We were pretty careful with ammunition, unlike the Americans who seemed to take great delight in brassing up anything that moved, and making as much noise as possible. This characteristic applied to all their weapons, including napalm delivered by ground attack aircraft, which on one occasion landed closer to us than the enemy.
Now, in the year of Our Lord 2026, the Yanks are at it again. This follows a long tradition of aerial bombing as a cure for everything that ails their sense of dominance.
They did it in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we can recall how that worked out.
This time, however, it's accompanied by macho posturing from the likes of Trump and Hegseth, sounding a lot like Yanks I encountered in Vietnam all those years ago who demonstrated a level of arrogance and ignorance that was breathtaking.
The fact that my platoon was on the receiving end of a misdirected US fire mission from the Horseshoe in May 1970 simply brings it home. We were lucky and escaped that incident with no serious harm. One hundred and fifty Iranian schoolgirls weren't so lucky last week.
It seems that they haven't learned anything of consequence in fifty six years, and they still enjoy a yippee shoot.
Meanwhile, we pay a Trump tax every time we fill up at the bowser, and Iranians and Lebanese are dying daily.
