Originally Posted By DrSutton:
Very likely E Stock Late M16A1 made it in as the ARVN were still getting fresh equipment and funding until 1974 when congress decided to lose the war purposely to burn down any legacy Nixon had. Probably not many saw use by American troops. The older XM16E1's were never withdrawn from line units once in country, they just had buffers and and barrels changed out when the better parts became available
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You touched on a point not often talked about, the ARVN were defunded, I recall an article in Time or Newsweek about the drop in support for the South Vietnamese, one data point was towards the end they were only getting 200 rounds of ammo per soldier per month!
They did it again with Afghanistan- even with the same narrative that Kabul would not fall, they said in 1975 Saigon would not fall but stay free.
Update on the photos, found the book and they are from 70-71 so no E stocks, just a lot of non regulation uniforms and peace sign necklaces.