Clearing vegetation during the Vietnam War - video

[Altair]

U.S. Army Engineers clearing vegetation during the Vietnam War. 2:50 video.

Previously:

LeTourneau G175 tree crusher - photo
LeTourneau tactical tree crusher - video
Vietnamese Cu Chi tunnels - large diagram and photos
Airplane fuel tanks turned into Vietnamese boats

[mklotz]

I thought they used the M121 to clear vegetation...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-121_(bomb)

A quote from the above article...

"Besides clearing the jungle and preventing the ambush of helicopters that were approaching the landing zone (the M121's blast diameter was 60 meters), the explosion also stunned the NVA or Viet Cong personnel within 500 meters and revealed or destroyed booby traps in the landing area."

[Floradawg]

War is such a waste of everything.

[WyoGreen]

I was in a land clearing team in Vietnam. That big chain you see is an anchor chain from a ship towed between two D7 dozers. The idea was to pull the trees down and windrow them into a pile. The 3rd dozer in the rear is the chase dozer, whose job was to knock down the trees that were too big for the chain to pull down. On one of the clearing operations we were on, I was the chase dozer operator. The chain got hung up on a big tree, and as I was backing up to get a better angle on it, I hit an un-exploded bomb. The bomb blew the bottom off my dozer, and I ended up with the top of the cab even with the ground. I couldn't hear anything, and an APC picked me up for a helicopter ride back to base camp. That was the end of my career as a "Jungle Eater" and I moved into a safer job.

Thanks for the video, it brought back a lot of memories, some good, some bad.

[Frank S]

War is such a waste of everything.

yes while war may be considered a waste of everything by many. If not for the many wars through out history many of the technologies we take for granted and possibly use everyday might not even exist.
The biggest waste of war though is allowing them to drag on and on and on. causing not only a high cost of human life and suffering but a huge drain on natural resources, as well as economic turmoil. When war appears to be inevitable coalitions need to be formed with an ironclad resolve to end it as quickly as possible leaving nothing left on the table. Politics and personal agendas have no place in wars Lady Bird Johnson's Rubber plantation should never have been a part of the protected just like the CIA backed opium production in Viet Nam. the same goes for the all too long lasting Afghanistan war scorch the Poppy fields from one end to the other then all of the big players will cry Uncle once they are gone

[Floradawg]

Good point.

[clydeman]

I had a good friend that ran one over in VN. He came home a changed man, VN was a waste of men and money