September 6th, 2022
8minute read
Lamar Bradford had a curious gift.
He was raised on the streets in Baltimore.
Lamar played a little high school baseball, but gave that up when he dropped out of the 11thgrade.
Service members from several different partner nations shoot the M79 grenade launchers during Exercise Tradewinds in Jamaica. Photo: Cpl. Justin T. Updegraff, U.S.M.C.
On his 18thbirthday, Lamars wealthy Uncle Sam sent him a very official letter.
There was absolutely nothing special about being a young draftee in 1968.
Six months after he got his draft notice, Lamar touched down in Pleiku.
A member of the 354th Security Police Squadron, armed with M79 grenade launcher, participates in Exercise THUNDERHOG V in 1983. Photo: MSGT Frank Garzelnick, U.S.A.F.
He knew exactly nobody in the entire godforsaken country of Vietnam.
The vagaries of fate and the inscrutable machinations of the Army admin system landed him in the 4thInfantry Division.
His battalion went by the curious moniker the Red Warriors.
The M79 grenade launcher was standard issue at the infantry squad level during the Vietnam war. Image: NARA
The previous M79 grenadier had lost a foot to a punji pit doped with human excrement.
He pointed out a scraggly tree about 200 meters away and directed PVT Bradford to blow it up.
That was the first time he had manifested the gift.
In March 1967, SSG Alvin J. Rouly, 5th U.S. Special Forces, taught a Vietnamese trainee how to use an M79 grenade launcher. About one month later, SSG Rouley would earn the Silver Star for gallantry in combat. Photo: NARA
Three months later, now-PFC Bradford moved quietly through the tall grass alongside LT Dunlap.
A lot of the officers Bradford had met in Vietnam were crap.
He would die for his troops.
The M79 gained recognition as the “Vietnam grenade launcher” recognized by many people who’ve never spent time in military service.
His men knew this, and they loved him for it.
The NVA sprang their ambush from high ground.
LT Dunlaps platoon was trapped in a scrubby defile at the base of a rock-covered hillside.
The M79 saw widespread service in Vietnam as did the Chicom Type 56 AK-47, the M1911A1 pistol, and theXM-177E2 carbine.
The two pig gunners reflexively opened up with their M60s.
Amidst the cacophony and chaos, American troops began to fall.
LT Dunlap pulled PFC Bradford down beside him and shouted above the din.
Soldiers of the Royal Thai Army Volunteer Regiment (Queen’s Cobras) conduct a search and sweep mission in Phuoc Tho.
Brad, Im working the company mortars, but thats gonna take a minute.
The ambush position is about 250 meters up this hill to the right.
All the enemy fire seems to be coming from that one spot, so it seems unsupported.
The Thumper grenade launcher proved to be a valuable weapon in Vietnam and other battlefields throughout the Cold War and beyond.
See what you’ve got the option to do about that.
Without another word, Dunlap found a shallow spot and got back on the radio.
Bradford slithered sideways until he could peer through the tall elephant grass.
The uber-simple M79 grenade launcher was introduced in 1960 and remains in active service around the globe even today.
Satisfied that he had the lay of the land, he carefully raised his M79.
He had not used his sights in two months.
The first round coughed out with a dull thunk.
Before it impacted, Bradford had another on the way.
The incoming fire from the enemy fighting position stopped immediately, and LT Dunlap canceled his emergency fire mission.
LT Dunlap dispatched a squad to scrub the NVA ambush site.
Despite being more than sixty years old, the M79 design remains more accurate than its competition.
They gave the flag to PFC Bradford.
Back home, Lamar Bradford was just another street kid.
In this curiously deadly place, however, PFC Lamar Bradford was a rock star.
The Cold War grenade launcher is simple to load. To break open the single-shot M79, you push this pivoting lever to the right.
Niblick itself spawned from Project SALVO.
Both undertakings strived to produce revolutionary advances in infantry weapons in the years immediately following World War II.
The S-3 was a shockingly simple weapon.
The M79 is a break-action grenade launcher with incredible versatility that allows for a wide array of ammunition.
The first M79s were issued to U.S. Army troops in 1961 and were quite well-received.
The M79 served as the platoon leaders artillery.
To operate the weapon the grenadier pushes the swivel latch to the right.
The M79, also known as the Thumper Gun or Bloop Tube, was familiar to anyone serving during the Vietnam War.
Gravity will bring up the action.
The internal hammer cocks automatically when the barrel is opened.
The recoil is difficult to quantify.
The M433 HEDP (High Explosive Dual-Purpose) 40x46mm grenade is the most common grenade launcher round in use today.
It is more of a shove than a kick.
The payloads are invariably weighty, so Physics dictates that the launcher has a little spunk.
However, its weird.
The M79 was later largely supplanted by the under-barrel M203 grenade launcher.
The experience isnt much like a big-bore rifle or shotgun.
There are two different sighting systems on the M79.
An experienced grenadier can also set the buttstock on the ground and use the sling to estimate elevation.
The weapons max effective range is listed as 400 meters.
The trigger guard folds to the side to accommodate gloves if needed.
The M79 is a very simple weapon that fires a wide array of complex ammunition.
Current-issue rounds do not arm themselves until they have traveled about 30 meters beyond the tube.
Early Vietnam-era 40mm grenades armed at between 14 and 27 meters.
As a result, this old warhorse remains in widespread use around the world.
These customized M79s had their tubes trimmed back and their buttstocks formed into stubby pistol grips.
The SEALs purportedly refer to these unique M79s as their Pirate Guns.
The M79 is that rare example of a classic military weapon that just wont die.
The M79 exemplifies the adage that often the simplest solution is indeed the best solution.
