Thompson in Vietnam

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Ruggz1515

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Hello THR, I was wondering if anyone had any information on the use of the .45 Cal Thompson SMG in Vietnam! It's effectiveness in CQB, stopping power, reliability etc.

I knew Thompsons were used in Vietnam, but was just curious if any Vietnam Veterans here used them, or saw any being carried and/or used!

Also, if anybody else has any relatives,

friends, etc they know that used/carried a Thompson in any Theater of Conflict, that information would be great too!

Thank you very much!

- Ruggz1515
 
I am almost certain to be wrong but I am doubtful that any regular units were issued with Thompsons. A-Teams certainly used them and somewhere I have a photo of my BIL, a Marine Lt, some time around the siege at Khe Sanh, with a group of Army special operators and Montagnards in which two Thompsons are visible. Whether they belonged to US personnel or were distributed to indigenous troops is not clear. I will try to find the photo.

I have also heard tell that mechanized infantry units were seen in country with Thompsons, but whether that was through provision or unauthorized acquisition is unclear. I have a cousin who was in the air cav and a photo from about 1967 with his unit commander wearing a much faded blue union cavalry hat with a feather, what appear to be pre-WWII breeches, lace up brown boots, and what appears to be a holstered 1873 single action. I'm reasonably sure none of that was issue.
 
I did have and "carry" a "submachine gun M1A1: for several months in S. Viet Nam Third Corps area back in 1966. Most of these were not issued to US troops but to ARVN and ROK Units. Mine was a battlefield "pick-up." It had the operating handle on the side, a 20 round magazine and fired from the open bolt. It also had a major "cool-factor" at least at first. After actually lugging it on long patrols, it became less "cool" and more of a pain. It was heavy, and every corner and sharp protrusion dug into you. Even worse, you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with the danged thing! Ammo was no problem but there was no way to rapidly fill the stick magazines in the field. On top of this, the first round was often a miss-fire/failure to fire which is how I became its subsequent owner. I credit this malfunction to the pressure on the first of 20 rounds in a newly filled magazine resisting being stripped off and chambered. Not enough energy to drive the bolt-mounted firing pin with enough force to pop the primer. Load 15 rounds and it was sure fire, but that reduced the coolness. I eventually traded it to an Australian chap for a case of their "C-rations" and a 24-pack of warm Ba-muey-ba.
 
Curator said:
I did have and "carry" a "submachine gun M1A1: for several months in S. Viet Nam Third Corps area back in 1966. Most of these were not issued to US troops but to ARVN and ROK Units. Mine was a battlefield "pick-up." It had the operating handle on the side, a 20 round magazine and fired from the open bolt. It also had a major "cool-factor" at least at first. After actually lugging it on long patrols, it became less "cool" and more of a pain. It was heavy, and every corner and sharp protrusion dug into you. Even worse, you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with the danged thing! Ammo was no problem but there was no way to rapidly fill the stick magazines in the field. On top of this, the first round was often a miss-fire/failure to fire which is how I became its subsequent owner. I credit this malfunction to the pressure on the first of 20 rounds in a newly filled magazine resisting being stripped off and chambered. Not enough energy to drive the bolt-mounted firing pin with enough force to pop the primer. Load 15 rounds and it was sure fire, but that reduced the coolness. I eventually traded it to an Australian chap for a case of their "C-rations" and a 24-pack of warm Ba-muey-ba.
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Sounds like a good trade Even warm, formaldehyde ridden beer beats a sharp poke in the ribs...
 
While doing photo searches on the subject there were a TON of Thompsons in country. Special Forces, LRRP teams, Ruff Puffs, chopper pilots, truck drivers--seems like if you had a few bucks you could get your hands on one.
 
None issued in regular units as others have commented. My Battery Commander had a commercial Thompson w/100 Rd drum he picked up somewhere. MPS caught him with it and they confiscated it.

M3 grease guns were pretty common as it was the issued weapon to track drivers. Most of those guys carried M16s though.
 
My cousin used a Thompson in Vietnam. I remember him talking about it, but I don't know how he acquired it. I will have to ask him.
 
On the other hand... you could always spot the Agency types in my area (Phu Bai and points north, 1971) since they carried Uzis... What use an Uzi was in a combat zone is beyond me.... great for close quarters work but not so great if you came under fire from a distance... Those guys might just have well worn a "spook" sign.
 
“Curator said:
I did have and “carry” a submachine gun, M1A1, for several months in S. Viet Nam, Third Corps’ area, back in 1966.

Most of these were not issued to US troops but to ARVN and ROK Units. Mine was a battlefield “pick-up”. It had the operating handle on the side, a 20 round magazine and fired from the open bolt. It also had a major “cool-factor,” at least at first. After actually lugging it on long patrols, it became less “cool,” and more of a pain. It was heavy, and every corner and sharp protrusion dug into you.

Even worse, you couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with the danged thing! Ammo was no problem but there was no way to rapidly fill the stick magazines in the field. On top of this, the first round was often a misfire/failure to fire which is how I became its subsequent owner.

I credit this malfunction to the pressure on the first of 20 rounds in a newly filled magazine resisting being stripped off and chambered. Not enough energy to drive the bolt-mounted firing pin with enough force to pop the primer. Load 15 rounds and it was sure fire, but that reduced the coolness.

I eventually traded it to an Australian chap for a case of their “C-rations” and a 24-pack of warm Ba Muoi Ba (33) beer.
Click to expand...

:) Thank you for that! If I've had one discussion (Ahh, 'argument') on why it’s NOT a good idea to +1 load a magazine, then, I've had a hundred!

None of my uncles — all of whom served in the Marine Corps, and were heavily experienced combat veterans — ever fully loaded a semi-auto magazine. They taught me how to shoot, too; and I was never allowed to fully load a semiautomatic magazine.

Naturally, later on in life, I experimented with doing this; and, that I'm able to recall, over the years I've had a good half dozen failures to feed whenever I tried doing this. It’s true; it doesn’t happen often; but, it can and does occur — Especially with my Glock pistols.

When it comes to combat (or potentially combat) firearms what I really care about is 100% weapon reliability. The gun has to go ‘Bang!’ when I need it to! A couple of extra shots? Nope! To me extra shots really don’t matter all that much; but, hitting the target, on the other hand, does!
 
My dad carried a Thompson as an advisor, circa 1956, but they were ordered to carry without magazines until needed. As the NVA geared up, advisors were issued greaseguns but were still supposed to carry "empty" but all were loaded up once out of the compound.
 
I asked my father about this. He was S4 for the Military Assistance Command, so I figured he might be familiar with them. He was.

Basically, he said the same thing Curator has already posted; the Thompson had been withdrawn from U.S. service for all but special operations so they were rare amongst U.S. forces, but many had been given to the South Vietnamese and the South Koreans so their troops often had them and if you wanted one they were not hard to acquire.

He also said there were a lot of reports of North Vietnamese troops (NVA and VC) using them, too. He said the ones the North were using came from China who were given Thompsons during World War II as well as having captured a fair number during the Korean Conflict.

His assessment of the Thompson was much the same as Curator's; heavy, clumsy and not particularly accurate. In addition to his service pistol, he kept an M2 Carbine in a scabbard on his jeep. He preferred the M2 to any of the submachine guns or the service rifles.
 
some officers in the field managed to get them (somehow) and keep them in the jeeps they were driven around in. I tried but had to settle for a like new Grease gun for the same roll. They were great for keeping boarders away from your jeep when you did not have a convoy going with you. The grease gun was better hopping in and out of choppers, especially if you were issued a 1911a1 and no rifle. I thought a Swedish K would be better, but because of ammo supply situation found it was not. Only recon NCOs and above and special ops guys got XM177s , which I could not get :(
 
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My neighbor was in the brown water navy 68-69 and he used and preferred a Thompson. He said it was ideal for close work and he didn't have to carry it over hill and dale just place to place on a small craft.
 
Shawn.54 said:
My neighbor was in the brown water navy 68-69 and he used and preferred a Thompson. He said it was ideal for close work and he didn't have to carry it over hill and dale just place to place on a small craft.
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These were standard issue for Navy shipboard security use. My ship had several, but I preferred the M1/M2 carbines.
 
You know I had totally forgotten, my Uncle in the sub service told me about shooting trash for fun with a Tommy gun someplace in the South China Sea during the war. Guess his boat still had WW2 weapons.

I've said it before but I have met two different vets that carried a BAR, both were special forces types. One claimed he liked it on point for busting bunkers as M-16's and AK's wouldn't penetrate the logs the VC used to make fighting positions, but a BAR would.

The weapon was 'crew served' (a two man team) in the ARVN, Ruff Puffs and Montagnards.. a single GI packing a BAR probably looked like superman.
 
Merle1 said:
These were standard issue for Navy shipboard security use. My ship had several, but I preferred the M1/M2 carbines.
Click to expand...
IIRC, they had Thompsons and M1s in 7.62 NATO the one time I moved on an LST (901 Litchfield County ).
 
Weren't the Thompson's famed for reliability and effectiveness close range? And from what I've read, a lot of combat in Vietnam was close right?
 
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