Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Throughout the course of human history,

weapons utilized in warfare have not only been judged on their effectiveness in killing, but also the ability to instill fear and panic into enemy combatants and civilians. The usage of sound has been a highly efficient method of psychological warfare, ranging from thunderous war drums to playing haunting audio recordings on a loudspeaker.

My name is Liam Smith, and in today’s video, I’m going to take a look at some of the most terrifying sounds from the Vietnam War. Welcome to World War Military History. Heat. Heat. During the Vietnam War, the US military

conducted did a psychological tactic against the North Vietnamese to decrease enemy morale and encourage desertion. These chilling audio recordings played upon the Vietnamese beliefs that showed respect for the dead. They believed that if a person was improperly buried, they would walk the earth as a wandering soul.

To capitalize upon this, US engineers spent weeks recording a series of eerie sounds and distorted voices for the tapes. To add authenticity in the recordings, Vietnamese soldiers provided their voices. One such recording called ghost tape number 10 was played on loudspeakers installed upon helicopters, PCF boats, and infantry with loudspeakers near Vietkong positions at night.

The men would hear the disembodied, tormented cries of a man looking for his family, warning his fellow soldiers to go home. Along with this, they would hear the sound of a girl crying for her father. Wandering soul is a tape that has been put out by the psychological operations battalion and Benois is used by the operating divisions and separate brigades to broadcast a rally appeal to the Vietkong [Music] [Music] Stop.

Originally built in the 1950s to carry nuclear weapons, the B-52 2 Stratfor epitomized America’s military strength. It became a powerful weapon in the Vietnam War and its first mission took place on June the 18th, 1965 during Operation Arklight when it dropped conventional bombs on Vietkong forces. The aircraft’s most famous mission was on the 18th to the 29th of December 1972 during Operation Linebacker 2, an 11-day strategic bombing campaign dropping over 20,000 tons of ordinance on military and industrial areas in Hanoi and Hyong. An unmodified B-52 could only carry 27 500lb or 750lb bombs, but when it was upgraded with the big belly, it could

carry over 84 500 lb or 42 750lb bombs. What’s particularly frightening about this aircraft was that since it operated from heights of up to 50,000 ft, the North Vietnamese forces couldn’t see or hear the approaching bomber and its deadly cargo from the ground. Heat. Heat. During the Vietnam War, the mere sight

and sound of a Douglas C-47 must have been terrifying and impressive to say the least. First seeing operational service in 1964, it was originally designated as the FC47 fighter cargo before it was changed to AC47 attack cargo after complaints by fighter pilots persuaded the redesation.

The gunship was a modified Douglas C47 Sky Train. the highly successful military transport aircraft that was used by the Allies during World War II. In November of 1965, the gunship was given the core sign Spooky, a name which suited the aircraft due to it mainly operating at night, circling the battlefield for extended periods, dropping illumination flares, and pelting out rounds at an unprecedented rate.

It’s quite undeniable how much fear it instilled into Vietkong troops. Each gunship was equipped with three 7.62 mm miniguns. All three guns were trained out of the left side of the plane to concentrate firepower on a single target. Every fifth round fired from the minigun was a red tracer which was used to assist in aiming.

Each minigun could cycle through a staggering 6,000 rounds per minute. The gunship eventually came to be known as Puff the Magic Dragon due to the intense red tracer stream produced from the aircraft at night. The two most distinctive firearms used

in the Vietnam War were the American M16 and the Soviet AK-47. The M16 assault rifle was first fielded to the US Air Force in Vietnam in 1964 with the Army following suit. Eventually, over the coming years, it superseded the M14 rifle as the US military’s standard service rifle. Fed by a 20 round box magazine, the rifle fired a 5.

56 mm NATO round, was lighter, gas operated, and was able to fire up to 950 rounds per minute. The rifle could interchange between fully automatic and semi-automatic fire. It was also recognizable by its large triangular foresight, carry handle, and aluminium fiberglass components. US troops would often finish their training with M14s and then receive the M16 on the front line.

Due to the rapid deployment of the rifle early in the war, soldiers were not given proper training on how to use the weapon effectively. The original M16 model was plagued with a number of complications. Reports indicated that the rifle was prone to jamming due to poor ammunition and soldiers were not originally issued with cleaning kits.

In 1964, the US Army had changed the propellant for the rivals ammunition because it was easy to mass-produce. This led to a higher chamber pressure and increased muzzle velocity, but also caused more fouling in the weapon. Many of the issues that plagued the early M16s were resolved over the coming years with improved cleaning kits and a comic book style manual that provided clear instructions on maintaining the weapon.

The rifle was also upgraded to the M16A1 with improved components and ammunition. The AK-47 or automatic Galeshnikov 47 is perhaps the most iconic assault rifle of all time. It was fielded in huge numbers to the Vietnamese communist forces by the Soviet Union and China. In comparing this weapon to the M16, the AK-47 was not as accurate, but was seen overall as the more reliable weapon because of its robustness and ability to function in the harsh jungle conditions.

There were also some instances of US soldiers preferring to use the AK-47 over the M16 due to the issues that I mentioned earlier. But after the battle was over, the men told a grizzly tale of rifle after rifle jamming on them during the fight. This lineup of rifles, all M16s which had malfunction during the battle, was silent testimony to the same fact.

One of the men in the battle was PFC Stuart Dennis. Tell us what happened yesterday. When I got out to the uh battle uh forward area, there was a firefight with the VC. There were heavy concentrated fire from our side to the VC. There was 16 jamming a great deal. The men were putting up the best they could, but the 16 would keep jamming.

They’d throw it down and try and grab another one. And another man would come by and pick this one up because his his had also jammed. What was causing the jamming of the M16s? Do you know? It seems that the ex excessive firing through the 16 will cause it to jam after a certain period of time. I understand that one of the men that was killed in the battle was carrying the Russian-made rifle that the Vietkong use, the AK-47.

That’s affirmative. He’s carried it ever since I’ve known him. A great number of the men prefer the AK-47 to the M16. American ammunition doesn’t fit in the Russian rifle. How would he get ammunition? He can buy it off the arans or he can uh capture it off the dead VC. The manufacturers of the M16 claim that it’s the solders’s fault that they don’t keep it clean.

What do the men think of that? Well, cleanliness is a problem with the M16, but in the conditions around here, it’s impossible to keep it as clean as they might think it should be clean. So, I figure it’s a weapon and not the men. Comprised of wood and stamped iron, the AK-47 was an aircooled gas operated rifle firing a 7.

62 62 mm M43 round with a curved 30 box magazine and could cycle through 600 rounds per minute. Like the M16, the AK-47 was capable of switching between semi-automatic to automatic fire. The most recognizable variant of the AK-47 during the war was the AKM. In the heat of combat, the sound of a firefight between the US and Vietkong forces must have been absolutely terrifying.

What’s more frightening was a silence before an impending battle. Heat. Heat. No helicopter in history is more

recognizable as the Bell UH1 or Huey. A workhorse and icon during the Vietnam War, the Huey was used in a variety of combat roles such as close air support, acting as a gunship, the transportation of troops to the front line, and medical evacuations during In the heat of combat, the Huey transported over 2 million wounded soldiers and civilians throughout the course of the war.

The helicopter was armed with a variety of weapons ranging from the M60 machine gun to the 2.75 in rocket. The UH1 and its many variants flew over 7 and 12 million flight to hours. It was also the most mass- prodduced helicopter in American history with 16,000 being built between 1955 and 1976.

Over 7,000 Hueies would see action in Vietnam. The most distinctive feature of the Huey was the rhythmic thumping sound caused by the twobladed main rotor system. A North Vietnamese or Vietkong soldier hearing the sound of an approaching Huey followed by gunfire must have been a frightening ordeal 43. Uh this is 43. What’s your story? Uh, this is 43 interactive.

Your intentions this time. We’re still receiving automatic weapons fire from the beach there. Uh, this is 43. Do you have the smoke on the beach? That’s affirmative. Roger. That’s the uh target area there. Roger. Now this is Kilo. We’ll make a firing run. Uh Kilo, this is 43. Uh let me know when you commence your run and uh we’ll come in behind you [Applause] there.

Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Thank you so much as always for watching I really enjoy making these history videos. And don’t forget to give us a like and to subscribe for more content. Until then, stay tuned. I’ll see you next time.