ROK Marines in the Vietnam War and Chinese Grenades

ROK Marines in the Vietnam War and Chinese Grenades

(Includes actual photos of Vietnam veterans and AI-generated illustrations)

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Blue Dragon Unit members in the early days of deployment... Since the M16 hadn't been supplied yet, most were armed with M1 Garands and M2 Carbines. The state-of-the-art M16 that every Korean soldier dreamed of was fully supplied starting in April 1967, after the Battle of Tra Binh Dong.

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A Blue Dragon medic treating a South Vietnamese child wounded during a battle with the Viet Cong in a village.

Blue Dragon radio operators who just received new radios. In jungle warfare, the radio op was the literal lifeline for the company, so the company commander would carry at least two, sometimes three, radio operators. The top priority targets for Viet Cong snipers were usually the company commander, platoon leader, medic, and the radio operator.

** From "Squall," a memoir by Staff Sergeant Kwon Dong-il, 3rd Company, 1st Battalion, Blue Dragon Unit (2nd Marine Brigade).

According to captured Viet Cong, the tunnel our company discovered housed a large force, a hospital with medical equipment, and a massive medicine warehouse. The Marines who volunteered for the tunnel search team were Petty Officer Lee Hee-chul and Staff Sergeant Choi Won-woong from the 2nd Platoon. Tunnel searching is a suicide mission where you can lose your life without anyone knowing. However, it was also an opportunity to achieve great results with quick judgment and proper response.

But I couldn't help but worry about my fellow soldiers heading into a dangerous tunnel where no friendly support could reach. While I was anxiously waiting, the two finished their prep and reported to the company commander. We were standing around the tunnel entrance with the commander and other members, discussing the search. At 그 moment, a Viet Cong popped out of the tunnel, threw something, and bolted into the jungle. "Grenade!" the commander yelled, and at that instant, it landed with a 'thud' right in front of me. Without thinking, I dove on top of the grenade.

But even after a while, the grenade didn't explode. It was a dud. I slowly stood up and looked down at it. It happened so fast that I moved instinctively, but seeing that dud stick grenade sent a chill down my spine and I broke into a cold sweat. I actually dove on a grenade...

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Around where the grenade landed were the commander, myself, the heavy weapons platoon leader, the radio op, and several other company members. "What were you thinking?!" the commander looked at me with shocked eyes. "I didn't think, it was just a reflex. Anyone else would have done the same, and the moment I saw it, I didn't even know what I was doing. Even if I hadn't covered it and it exploded, you, me, or someone else would have died or been fatally wounded anyway. Since I was dead either way, I figured I had nothing to lose."

The radio operator just stared at me with his mouth hanging open while holding his radio. Once again, I had survived the threshold of death.

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** From "Vietnam War, This Is How We Fought (The Battle of Phuoc Loc)" by Lieutenant Kim Se-chang, Artillery Observer, 3rd Battalion, Blue Dragon Unit.

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Around 05:45 AM in the drizzling dawn, I was reporting the enemy's retreat route and position while calling for fire on the target area. Telling myself to pull it together, I stayed low and approached the commander to find my artillery observers. Then I checked the company HQ position we set up earlier. When I checked my personal foxhole, there were six stick grenades scattered inside the wet hole. They must have rained down like hail when I moved forward to Platoon Leader Jeon Chang-woo's side.

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I thought to myself, if I had stayed frozen in my foxhole out of fear, I might have died from a concussion after getting hit by those duds. I almost became the ROK Marine officer killed by being hit with unexploded grenades.

In the jungles of Vietnam, Chinese grenades were famous for their high failure rate. The Chinese 'stick grenades' used primarily by the Viet Cong and the NVA were a source of terror for ROK and US forces, but at the same time, a symbol of divine luck. In the humid jungle climate, moisture would seep through the poorly finished wooden handles, often soaking the internal fuse.

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These grenades were commonly nicknamed 'Chicom' (Chinese Communist) and were modeled directly after the German 'Stielhandgranate' (stick grenade). They were used extensively throughout the Vietnam War because they were simple to build, cheap, and easy to use. They had a simple structure with a cast-iron cylindrical body attached to a wooden handle. Operation was simple: unscrew the cap at the bottom, pull the string to ignite the friction fuse, and it would explode in 4-5 seconds.

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Though the kill radius was relatively small at about 2 meters, they became lethal weapons in the hands of the Viet Cong. Thanks to the stick design, they could be thrown much further than spherical grenades. However, no matter how high the dud rate was, they were supplied in such massive quantities that it's an undeniable fact they claimed the lives of countless Allied soldiers.

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