Of Grunts and Steel Pots...

The reason why I chose to make the regular Infantry grunt as the model for my impression is because the Army Infantry formed the bulk of the fighting men at the front in Vietnam. It was not the “Special Forces” or any other elite groups that bore the brunt of the war from early to the wanings years of the war. “Elite “ forces were formed only for specific missions, most of the time reconnaissance patrols . Some groups were for “assassination” or “ rescue” missions, hence not really representative of the Vietnam war…

Grunts in Vietnam  ( Source: Public Domain Photos)

So, whenever we hear of Vietnam, what instantly comes to mind is the old US Steel Pot ( M1 helmet) , Flak Jacket ( especially for Marines), the OD fatigues and of course, the much very well known of which we are all familiar with : the M16 rifle. These gears had become icons of the Vietnam war era.

In an impression or re-enactment, these gears are a must. These are the basic gears one must have for a truly correct impression of the era. Also, wear that helmet! I can’t fully stress this enough. I see a lot of Pinoys doing Vietnam impressions without paying much attention to the iconic M1 steel pot.

Vietnam era photos of the war will show that majority of the US troops fought with their helmets on. Lots of pictures will show Army or Marines in just their regulation T-shirts but with flak jackets ( some don’t even have them) but they will always be wearing their steel pots or “ brain buckets” !