Yellow headlights

[Uglyranger]

Here is the Ace of Spades (replica) gun truck. 8th Group, yellow nose with yellow headlights.

 

[Matt1970M35A]

Thats why I bot the Hellas off amazon for $72
And I just orded so 43k H.I.D. bulbs with High and Low Beam so Ill be yellow to.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Re: RE: Yellow Headlights

March 6th, 2008.

The 8th Transportation Group in Vietnam ran a lot of convoys, so their trucks were generally OD with a yellow top on the hod at the front from side to side- their gun trucks were painted black with the yellow snout (See"Eve of Destruction" at Fort Eustis,Va.), but apparently the unit colonel specified the yellow nose markings and yellow headlights so he could identify his trucks from a helicopter day or night. See Dave McConnell's deuce pictures from a couple of weeks ago, the paint job is striking, and all his truck needs is the yellow headlights to be 100% on (It's 99.5% there now). Also look up Vietnam War guntrucks in search.

Sincerely,

Kyle F. McGrogan

1963 Swiss Army Unimog S404.114 Mercedes Benz
1971 Kaiser Jeep M35A2 Wo/W "Saddam's Nightmare" Desert Storm and Vietnam Veteran Deuce.

Yellow head lights were not part of the Yellow Nose ordered by 8th GP commanders. Some say that it was an experiment on trying to get better visibility on dusty roads. But the truith of the matter was that it was cool and it was all they had. Told to me by a good friend who ran a motor pool in VN said that all of the parts supplies were comming from inventories in europe. They used what they had on the shelf.

As far as daves truck..........its not 99.5%, its 100%. Most of your cargo trucks had the white lights.

 

[roger-wilco-66]

I have a lot of old picture where one mistakingly thinks the trucks have yellow headlights, but if one looks closer, the lights are painted (or taped) over. See pictures below.

I also have a set of new and original yellow sealed beams made by Westinghouse, but unfortunatly they are 12 volt types - and forbidden for road use over here. Sigh....

 

[Dave_McConnell]

Kyle and Jeff, Thanks for the kind words about my truck. Ziggy, I am interested in a set of yellow lights. Let me know.

 

[ZiggyO]

Hello again,


Well the first batch of bulbs are ordered..... I should be hearing from them in a week or so to come pick the finished ones up---- When the first batch comes in, I am going to go down the list and PM everyone who indicated they wanted a set-- I am thinking USPS insured is the best/cheapest way to go--- on the other hand, I can bring them to Aberdeen for anyone who is going down and can stand to wait until then.................. I will keep everyone posted..................

Ziggy

 

[txdodge43man]

put me down for a set.

 

[saddamsnightmare]

March 9th, 2008.

Thanks RogerWilco and VT Deuce Driver for the additional photos and insights. I always suspected that the yellow headlight thing on other deuces must have has something to do with European Traffic or Driving regulations, because too many deuces have shown up with them on, and I can see how equipment and spares shipped in from Europe for reuse in Vietnam would share those tendencies....... In any case, I'll still flip anyone here for Dave McConnell's deuce with all the fixin's, Man, If I win the lottery look out (first I gotta play it...), cause the green stuff's gonna flow like water. It's not the size or price of the toy's.... it's the quality in them, and as someone here replied about bobbing an M135/211- they just don't have that daunting nature of any M35A2 or more particularly the armed cargo's like Dave's..... I bet even the moose stay the h--l off his land up there in Michigan knowing there's a bigger, meaner beast in the neighborhood.
Someday or the other, I'll get to see Mr. McConnell's deuce, but before then more then one of us Steel Soldiers are going to need a drip or drool guard.. Keep up the good work, and thank's again, Gentlemen for the intellectual enlightentment.

I remain, Greatly Indebted for the many kindnesses,

Sincerely,

Kyle F. McGrogan


N.B. I'd love to have a vietnam period restored deuce and trailer like Dave McConnell's, but the need for a yet bigger barn will likely get me into Divorce Court- one Deuce she'll ride in, two Deuces she'll raise the roof over, such is life.....
1983 Swiss Army Cargo Unimog, Mercedes Benz S404.114
1971 Kaiser Jeep M35A2 Wo/W "Saddam's Nightmare" Desert Storm and Vietnam Veteran Deuce Truck.

OH, Dave McConnell- It was 25* F here this AM, will be in the upper fifties later, and generally the 60's or 70's later in the week. We had 3-4" of snow Thursday afternoon and night, it was worth the price to watch these Texans try to drive in snow- they act like there's nothing on the road and then they slide through the line fences.... I had my towing strap handy but didn't choose to get in the mud to get them.... Texas mud is like Virginia/Georgia Red Clay---- I don'tgo there less I absolutely have to.....
But CHEER UP- Winter will be over soon and all you guys in the north can go topless in your deuces......

 

[saddamsnightmare]

March 8th, 2008.

Ziggy O:

When you get ready to order your second batch of yellow headlights, let me know what the set price total worked out delivered on the first order, and I'll likely throw in an order for a two (2) headlight set, to stash against future lottery wins!
(N.B. Mine seem to use the douglas connectors, but I'll have to pull a headlight to be sure).
Regards,

Kyle F. McGrogan

1971 Kaiser Jeep M35A2 Wo/W "Saddam's Nightmare" Vietnam and Desert Storm Veteran Deuce
1963 Swiss Army Cargo UNIMOG S404.114 Mercedes Benz

 

[roger-wilco-66]

Kyle,

> I always suspected that the yellow headlight thing on other deuces must have
> has something to do with European Traffic or Driving regulations, because too
> many deuces have shown up with them on, and I can see how equipment and
> spares shipped in from Europe for reuse in Vietnam would share those
> tendencies.......

During the fifties until the early eighties, only the french-built civilian and military cars ware equipped with yellow headlights, so any connection between yellow headlights must have something to do with the french. Never saw them on any other european car. In Germany we had aftermarket add-on foglights which were yellow, but no main lights. In the nineties the french yellow lights / lenses / reflektors were banned from the streets in the course of harmonizing european vehicle standards and they are not allowed anymore. The only thing allowed are bulbs which have a slight yellow tone.
I always suspected that maybe there were programs to sell more US-vehicles to the french military and those bulbs or reflectors were produced to adapt them to french standards. I suspect that there were much larger numbers produced than ever needed and the over-stock was used in Vietnam. Maybe the US thought that the french would continue to buy more US hardware as they did after the war, but that didn' happen.

 

[ZiggyO]

Hello again,

The first batch of bulbs are in... (picked them up friday)..... Everyone who indicated here that they wanted a set should check their PM's.... So far, 21 sets have been called.... leaving 4 more sets for this batch..... I think I am going to go ahead and have another batch of 50 bulbs done in the next month or so..... I will keep everyone posted......


thanks

Ziggy

 

[ems4ty]

PM Sent. Got a couple of other items pending too.

Thanks,

 

[vtdeucedriver]

what was the final price????

 

[saddamsnightmare]

March 27th, 2008.

Gentlemen:
I did notice in Richard Kilbrenners(?) OP#13 "Circle The Wagons" a history of the Army Convoy operations in Vietnam and Iraq, that on page 43/44 there is mention of the Colonel that dictated the yellow nose and headlight(s) for use in the 8th Transportation Groups trucks, apparently in that same area the QMD painted white stripes on the truck noses to differentiate them from the 8th's trucks. I will say that if you can copy this item whole, it makes excellent reading, and some of what was done makes very good sense even today (but, as always, the Army has to relearn the old lessons at great expence when it forgets the original lessons and the conditions that spawned them). The above was of interest to me because I had heard it was so from older vets from the Vietnam War in that area.... A resource we would do well to cultivate while we still have them, even allowing for discrepancies in their memories...

Regards,

Kyle F. McGrogan

1971 Kaiser Jeep M35A2 Wo/W "Saddam's Nightmare" Desert Storm and Viertnam Veteran Deuce.
""??"" Johnson MFG Co. M105A2 Trailer, Cargo, MERDC or NATO 4 color woodland scheme
1963 Swiss Army Cargo Unimog, S404.114 Mercedes Benz, NATO Green.

 

[tamangel]

Circle the Wagons: The History of US Army Convoy Security...

Circle the Wagons: History of US Army Convoy Security
by Richard E. Killblane

Great photos thruout...

PDF Version: (pic's)
http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/killblane.pdf

html version: (no pic's)
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cach...+"Circle+The+Wagons"&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us

*****************
Page 42
"While still in temporary command of the 8th Group in September 1967,Lieutenant Colonel Burke noticed a number of gun trucks with names stenciled on the side of them. Sergeant Philip C. Brown, from the 666th, simply named his truck Gun Truck, and another one from Burke’s 124th Battalion was named Burke’s Law, which was a TV show at that time. Burke decided to let the crews continue to stencil names on their trucks. As it turned out, Specialist 4 Larry Hicks, from the 563d Medium Truck Company at Pleiku, named his gun truck after his platoon sergeant who was also named Burke. Naming gun trucks improved morale and the trucks soon took on an identity all their own. From then on, when the vet-erans described an ambush, they would refer to the gun trucks as if they were living things. Allowing soldiers to name their gun trucks led to the one other thing that significantly contributed to the elitism of the gun-truck crews, their paint jobs.

In time, every gun truck had a name and a paint job. Some of the early crews claimed that gun trucks painted the same color of the task vehicles fooled the enemy as to which ones were gun trucks. Colonel Garland Ludy, who commanded the 8th Group from September 1968 to September 1969, only permitted trucks to be painted olive drab so that they could blend in with the jungle. He made his drivers and crews take all personal markings off, but let them keep the names of the trucks stenciled on the gun boxes. By the summer of 1969, a few crews painted artistic names in spite of his policy, and as soon as Ludy gave up command of the 8th Group, the paint brushes came out. Crews replaced the stenciled names with more elabo-rate and decorative ones; they felt a special pride in their gun trucks and wanted them to stand out. Many crew members started adding varnish orblack paint to darken the olive drab and painted the trim on the trucks withbright colors like red, white, or orange. The gun trucks kept getting darkerand darker until the crews eventually painted them black. By the end of1969, most gun trucks were painted black, while the armor was artisticallydecorated with names reminiscent of the nose art on bombers during WorldWar II. Since the enemy was always on the lookout for weak targets, thesenewly painted vehicles made it clear gun trucks were part of the convoy.Whether or not this worked as a deterrent, the new paint scheme added tothe élan among the crews.

The last artwork detail was added to the trucks in late 1969. Battalion and group commanders either rode along in the convoys or flew overhead in helicopters to observe convoy discipline and monitor radio traffic. But the vast amount of traffic, both civilian and military, made it difficult for commanders to recognize their trucks on the road. At first, 8th Group had the lead and trail vehicles mount panel markers on their vehicles. Ludy’s replacement, Colonel Alexander Langston, ordered a yellow stripe bepainted on the hood or nose of each 8th Group truck so that his boss, theQui Nhon Support Commander, could tell the difference in the convoysfrom the air. The Quartermaster units painted the noses of their trucks, white. "

************
Mike

 

[Angus1]

Got my package today. Thanks Ziggy.

 

[FreightTrain]

Wow,those look exactly like the real ones I got(GL find!).

 

[Dave_McConnell]

Hey Kyle, I am very behind and just catching up on various topics and saw your note about snow. Our friends recently moved to Texas and were telling us about the rare event. Once again, thanks for the kind words about my truck.

Ziggy please contact me again so I can send money for lights.

 

[images54]

so did you get the case of headlights back yet? And do you have any for sale at this ti,e?

 

[images54]

Anybody have a pic or two of these yellow headlights installed on a deuce?