8 Mistakes the Enemy Made When Attacking American M42 Dusters in Vietnam

The M42 Duster was built to shoot down airplanes. In Vietnam there were almost none, so the Army pointed its twin 40mm guns, and the Quad-50s and searchlights that served with them, at the ground. Eight times the enemy misjudged them: at Con Thien in 1967, on Route 9 below Camp Carroll, at Hue, at Khe Sanh, with Task Force Robbie, at Fire Support Base Pike VI, in the Mekong Delta where the Viet Cong called them "fire dragons," and at Phu Nhon in 1971. The video also tells what the Dusters cost, with every enemy loss treated as an American count or a veteran's estimate. Sources: David Ewing Ott, Field Artillery, 1954-1973, Vietnam Studies (Department of the Army, 1975) Donn A. Starry, Mounted Combat in Vietnam, Vietnam Studies (Department of the Army, 1978) Hill of Angels: U.S. Marines and the Battle for Con Thien, 1967-1968 (USMC History Division) Medal of Honor citation of Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout Veteran accounts reprinted by the National Dusters, Quads and Searchlights Association: Bruce Geiger (Khe Sanh), Bob Lauver (Hue), Joseph Belardo (Route 9 and Camp Carroll), Richard H. Smiley (Task Force Robbie, first published on HistoryNet), Paul Kopsick (Phu Nhon and Ap Phu Quang), "Have Gun - Will Travel" (Octofoil, 9th Infantry Division), Fire Base Blue Wikipedia articles "M42 Duster," "Con Thien," "Battle of Huế," "M45 quad mount," "Mitchell W. Stout"