Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith
For most of the 90's I worked with Vietnam Vet, a gunner in the Centurion. As was the case then (and now?) many vets were reticent to talk about their service. My recollection of the few comments he made was:
They worked on a range of 60 miles with full fuel.
When under fire from tunnels in hillsides they would pump in round after round of canister as it was most effective.
The Cent. was not a suitable tank for the terrain/conditions.
(The most effective weapon he saw was a Bofors A/A used for ground defence.)
Suffered terribly from Tinnitus and later developed PTSD.
I thought I was doing the right thing and organised a ride in a Cent, he flatly refused (politely, he was a great bloke) to be involved...
I guess our love of the machinery can blind us to the human side on occasion, I still feel
guilty that I could not see his suffering.
Rich.
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Humbling. But if we are doing what we do for the right reasons (and I think most of us are) it is to pay tribute to vets like this and what they went through. If nothing else it's to help tell their story to generations that would otherwise have no idea.