Vietnam weapon question for the book I’ve written and am now editing?

Question

There’s a part in my book where some American GI’s are about to attack a village containing NVA. In the book the first thing they do is attack the village with RPG’s. When they move in on the village they find people burned and seared together from the attack.

First, did they have RPG’s in Vietnam?
Second, would a grenade attack burn and sear people?

If not, could you give me some info on what I should use in place of this?

Thank you so much for the help.

Answer 1

If you have to ask a question like this, it is likely that all you know about war is from watching Rambo, and John Wayne.

Enlist and go to Iraq for some real insight. Or read Slaughterhouse Five, a novel by WWII vet Kurt Vonnegut. Platoon, a film by Viet Nam vet Oliver Stone is another good source.

Answer 2

RPG's (Rocket Propelled Grenades) were used mostly by the Viet Cong or NVA regulars.

A phosphorus grenade would cause third degree burns but I'm not sure if an RPG could fire that type of grenade.

It's highly unlikely that the standard Army platoon in Vietnam would attack a village with RPG's. They would have used weapons they had available...small arms fire, MG's (machine guns) and mortars. When it got hairy next step was artillery (if available) or air support.

Answer 3

Well first of all the RPG-7 wasnt in large scale use by the VC/NVA, the RPG-2 (Chicom B-40) was.

Second, the US Forces didnt use either of them, Maybe some ARVN units might have if sufficiant numbers were available, but most such Ordnance captured by US Forces was Destroyed.

Third, the Warhead for both was a HEAT round (High Explosive Anti Tank) Shaped Charge, Fragmentation and Thermobaric Warheads for them werent available until the late 1980's.

Answer 4

We used M-79 grenade launchers, bloopers as they were called. The grenade looks like a big, 40 mm, 45cal bullet.
As for burning and searing, well yes kind of at times, you would have to see it to understand what I mean by kind of. War is not a pretty sight.
If a Ville was full of NVA chances are they would just call arty, artillery, or an air strike and blow everything up, much safer that way.

USMC 66-69

Answer 5

NVA (North Vietnamese Army), used the RPG-2 and RPG-7, some of them were even hand made. I don't think it can burn and sear people, these are I believe the only two RPG's used in th Vietnam War, but only by NVA.

Answer 6

The NVA had RPGs not our guys. An RPG was designed as an anti-tank weapon but is too light to knock out modern tanks. While it had an incendiary effect on APCs and vehicles I can't see how it would have the effect you describe on a village.

Answer 7

It seem to me you are writing something bad about the soldiers in this book and pitting them in a war crime situation. As with other people that like to say It to was an Illegal war. Not all of the soldiers were bad then or now try writing the truth for once even though it is fiction at least don't come ask to get the answers from the very people you wish to defame and disgrace. So go ahead and use the RPG it was available in that time but mostly the VC issued them since it was a Soviet weapon.

Answer 8

There were two types of R.P.G. (the RPG 2 and RPG 7) used by the NVA and the VC, who used it from bunker busting to taking out tanks and the M.113 APC whose aluminum skin was found to burn and melt after RPG hits.

This was NOT a weapon available to US troops in large numbers.

The RPG-7 was the Soviet-produced follow-up in the RPG-series of anti-tank rocket launchers. The RPG designation is often referred to as 'Rocket Propelled Grenade' but the designation officially stands for 'Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomet' meaning Hand-held Anti-tank Grenade Launcher. The RPG-series itself can trace its roots back to the American Bazooka and German Panzerfaust anti-tank rocket launcher systems development during World War Two.

The system is an inexpensive-to-produce and easy-to-operate one-man single-shot anti-tank weapon system designed to disrupt armor at close ranges. The weapon is designed in a plethora of variants and is a favor of fast-moving guerilla outfits needing the 'shoot and scoot' ability that this system offers.

The RPG-7 itself is a further development of past variations (from the RPG-2, RPG-3 and RPG-4) of the original design. It can fire a variety of warheads including fragmentation, HEAT and high-explosive rounds. Sighting is traditional through static sights but optics can be fitted to the tube if needed.

Not surprisingly, the RPG is a favorite guerilla weapon in many of the former Soviet-supported satellite states including Iraq and Afghanistan. It is produced in no fewer than a dozen countries (with China producing their own as the Type 69) and can be found in nearly 40 countries worldwide.

Its effectiveness is not necessarily in the ability to stop armored vehicles but moreso in the shock and disruption value afforded to such a compact weapon system (the airborne variant designated as the RPG-7D is designed to be broken down into sections for the compact-minded paratrooper). The 'back-flash' of the rocket firing is also somewhat minimal, allowing the weapon to be fired from indoors as well as outdoors.

The system itself can be somewhat crude in the method of operation (utilizing the traditional sights), yet the role they have played in urban warfare throughout Iraq has been commonly documented.

The U.S. troops used the L.A.W. (Light Anti-tank Weapon) a 66mm rocket launcher with throw away tube.

Any military device from a hand-grenade to a rocket upon detonation, has with the resulting explosion has the potential to burn or sear human flesh.

Answer 9

Tube launched weapons were in use in Viet Nam, probably it was the 106mm recoiless rifle!..this was mounted on small vehicles, or set up on a tripod mount!..It was a rocket propelled shell!..also in use was the 40mm rifle grenade, launched from the spout of an m14 rifle!..The reason the victims of these weapons {and similar tube artillery and bombs} caused such horrendous injury was the use of White Phosphorus!..this burned with incredible intensity when ignited!..The effects of this weapon was horrible to see!..I was in the Australian Army, and was actually fired on by US 175mm {long toms} using this awful stuff!..It burned so intensly, that it turned everything it touched to powder!..Me?..I outran the shells leaving a long brown trail behind me!

Answer 10

Americans don't use RPG's. They are a sino soviet weapon. We would have used LAWs or Bazookas in Nam. RPG's don't sear things, they blow them up. RPG stands for rocket propelled grenade and if you've ever seen photos of the result of a grenade attack you don't think of burning. Flame throwers would burn things, white phosphorus and napalm burn things.

Answer 11

RPG's did exist during the Vietnam War but I doubt that it was used there. And a grenade cant burn and sear people, but phosphorus can and it was used.