I have completed painting seven US Marines and am waiting on another 3-5 more to come in the mail to complete my Marine squad, in the meantime I painted up a Kit Carson Scout, Kit Carson What?? I hear you ask, well during the Vietnam War the US Marines came up with the clever idea of recruiting, communist defectors as intelligence scouts for American infantry units, it is believed that the Chieu Hoi (open arms) program was responsible for the removal of over 100,000 enemy combatants from the battlefield.
In the Early years Kit Carson Scouts were responsible for identifying Viet Cong guerrillas and cadre from among the civilian population, in addition to this the Kit Carson scout proved to be good at identifying booby traps, caves and tunnels and caches of enemy weapons, later on the Kit Carson Scouts were used directly as recruiters themselves.
Since there are no available Kit Carson Scouts in 28mm, I was forced to do a head swap and create one, I took the body of a Baker Company mini and the head of a West Wind mini and there you have it, bad guy turned good guy, dressed in faded green fatigues, boonie hat, Sunglasses, blue neck scarf and a M16 assault rifle.
Next up, its either going to be the rest of the marines (assuming they turn up sooner rather than later) or an ARVN fire team (half a squad), any preferences fellas?
Last Night I watched a fantastic Documentary about the Battle of Long Tan, not a well known battle, but one of Australia's toughest encounters with the VC (Vietcong) and NVA (North Vietnamese Regulars) in the Vietnam war, this documentary is told from the views of both commanders from both sides of the conflict, a sombre but well written and professionally made documentary, I could not help but get teary at some of the tragedies of this battle and the insane loss of human life, a powerful documentary ! if you have the time and are interested, you can watch it online at the following web page, Red Dune Films, as a bonus the documentary is narrated by a well known Australian actor Sam Worthington known for films such as Avatar, clash of the Titans and Terminator Salvation.
Battle Summary
Late afternoon August 18, 1966 South Vietnam – for three and a half hours, in the pouring rain, amid the mud and shattered trees of a rubber plantation called Long Tan, Major Harry Smith and his dispersed company of 108 young and mostly inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers are fighting for their lives, holding off an overwhelming enemy force of 2,500 battle hardened VietCong and North Vietnamese soldiers. With their ammunition running out, their casualties mounting and the enemy massing for a final assault each man begins to search for his own answer – and the strength to triumph over an uncertain future with honor, decency and courage.
The ensuing Battle of Long Tan becomes one of the most savage and decisive engagements in ANZAC history, earning both the United States and South Vietnamese Presidential Unit Citations for gallantry along with many individual awards. But sadly not before 18 Australians and more than 500 Vietnamese are killed.
