The Green Berets

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This John Wayne film has the distinction of being one of the few movies made about the Vietnam War while the war was actually going on. It also has the somewhat more dubious honour of being the only (somewhat) pro-Vietnam War film of the era.

It should be noted that, other than the "captured weapons display", there is no explicit section discussing "enemy" weapons due to the fact that this movie was actually filmed at Fort Benning Georgia in the U.S. and a great many of the VC were actually U.S. army personnel hired as extras. In addition, at the time, Eastern bloc weapons were not as readily available to U.S. movie makers as they are today so, undoubtedly, the producers had to make do with what they had.

Captured Weapons Display

At the beginning of the film, when a group of civilians and reporters are being briefed about the capabilities of the U.S. Army Special Forces a number of captured weapons are seen on a display board behind the two U.S. Army sergeants, they include:

MAT-49

This French designed submachine gun was used widely throughout(then)French Indo-China with a great deal of them being left behind after the defeat at Dien Bien Phu. The weapon displayed here could be a locally manufactured copy which chambered the 7.62,, Tokarev round.

Thompson

Also seen on the board is what appears to be a stockless M1928A1 Thompson submachine gun. However this could have been a locally manufactured copy since the VC were, by all accounts, quite adept at manufacturing small arms to serve their needs (at least in the early days of the war).

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SKS Carbine

This popular (though somewhat erratic) Russian semi-automatic rifle is also on display although it could very well be a Chinese Type 56 which is a virtual clone of it's Russian parent.

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PPSh-41 / PPSh-43 Submachine Gun

This ubiquitous Russian submachine gun is also seen on the captured weapons display but, like the SKS above it could very well be a Chinese clone.

Unknown Revolver

Though it is never clearly seen a revolver is displayed on the weapons board. Keeping in the theme of abandoned French weaponry it could very well have been St. Etienne Model 1892 revolver in 8mm.

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Unknown Semi-Auto Pistol

Another weapon on the board is a small (relative to the other weapons) semi-automatic pistol.

Unknown Double Barrel Shotgun

The Airborne Colonel who shoots skeet with John Wayne(and who was the real commander of the Airborne School at Fort Benning Georgia where the film was shot) uses an unknown over-under double barrel shotgun.

Remington Model 1100

Wayne uses this semi-auto shotgun while shooting skeet. It could very well be a Remington 870 but Wayne never pumps the action to clear the spent shell which is seen being ejected from the weapon.

M16 rifle series

In real life the U.S. Army Special Forces were one of the first units to actively field the M-16 in combat. In the movie Wayne's troops carry early model M-16A1 rifles noted by the presence of a forward bolt assist with the early model three prong flash suppressor.

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Later in the movie Wayne is seen dramatically smashing the M-16 of one of his men against a tree after he is killed fighting 3 VC on his own. Thing is, if you look carefully, the "weapon" is actually a Mattel M-16 Marauder, a toy gun manufactured in the 1960's.