Hi all,

Am just wondering, with all different reviews, was the goat ever being used in Vietnam ?

Thanks
Alex

No. The closest it came to combat was in Grenada.
Grant

keeping in mind that I never saw one in Vietnam, it seems that there are two photos of one in Vietnam. Both were purported to be in the Da Nang area, and I've been in Da Nang a lot of times without ever seeing one. One other photo looks a lot like the Hi Van Pass area, but I suppose a lot of tropical areas look like this as well. My guess is that if they were ever there, it would have been in the 1974 time frame, and would have been with the Marines in the Da Nang-Chu Lai area. Most everybody depended on the M54 truck to move things; unless it was by air.
gary

I guess the closest it came near Vietnam was Thailand

Some XM561 test rigs were sent there for trials in 1962 and 1965.

http://www.vought.org/special/html/sgamaa.html

H.P.

In the book,Vietnam Order of Battle, by Shelby Stanton they have a picture of one in the section on equipment used. Don't understand the markings tho.

I've seen several references of the use of the goat in vietnam. There's stories about how the gama goats would have to leave before the convoys so that as often as they broke down they'd end up arriving about the same time.

Of course I'd trust the guys I here more than I would the Google! I do know the Goer was originally going to be used in Vietnam but only a couple were sent for testing, the rest went to Europe.

I've seen all sorts of pictures of the Mule in Vietnam but don't recall pics of Gama Goats in Vietnam nor can I locate any today. Maybe these guys are right that it wasn't used there despite some of the references.

I traveled the roads a lot in I-Corps, and never saw a Goat anywhere. Never even heard of the animal. Just looking at the design concept will tell you it was never going to get the job done when it was all said and done. In that period the M35 truck had it's own set of issues, and the longer it was in country the lesser the desire to use one. On the otherhand the M54 was highly sought after. Held up well (well other than changing the inside dual in the rear). About the only thing that ever went wrong with them was brake shoes and tires. I would think that if the Goat actually were in country, it would have been kept at the larger air bases due to it's reliability issues alone. In I-Corp, one doesn't want to be on the side of the road broken down.

I well remember when the 82nd Airborne rolled into Chu Lai at the tail end of Tet in 68. It was a constant stream of C141's every twenty minutes. Never saw so much junk! They even brought washers and dryers! They had a bunch of Mules, and were told not to take them out on Highway One! Of course they did, and did their own mine sweep the hard way. Lessons are often learned the hard way! You did see mules in use on larger fire bases, but were a very rare sight on the far forward bases that maybe had a hundred kids on it.
gary