Continued From Last Post
We welded the .50 mount on the turret because without a doubt, the .50 is the most dependable, multi-use weapon in the history of weapons. It can take down a concrete block wall without a problem. We would mix the ammo on the chain alternating from armor piercing to WP, to ball to tracer. Just ask anybody that served on a gun truck about thier love affair with the .50. Anyhow, I think you can see the row of ammo along the top of the V behind the turret. It was in easy reach for reload when you were firing the 50 while setting on the turret hatch, or standing inside the turret. We sat on the turret hatch most of the time on the road. It was easy to swing that 50 any direction from that position, with the downside being your exposure to fire.
The radio man in back had a .60 machine gun on each side with "butterfly" handles. The one over the 361 also used a mini-gun ready round box, and again, most of the time he sat on the deck so he could see. It was rare to ever have the hatches closed, even during monsoon, which would fill the V with water, but the bilge pump would get most of it out. During monsoon, you went to bed wet and went back out the next day wet, clothes dryers were not an option. We did try a "Honeywell" granade launcher and a mini-gun on the turret, but they were not up to the exposure and beating the road duty gave them, so it was back to the .50. There was a foul weather cover for the .50, but we rarly used it. The one time I can remember having the hatches closed was during a riot on camp (unhappy locals) and people were throwing rocks at us. Feel free to ask any questions and I hope I can answer. I'll go into some of our missions in the next post.
Jeff