On Wed, 19 Jan 2000, Rui Costa wrote:
At 23:10 17-01-2000 -0700, Edward Becerra wrote:
At 06:16 PM 1/17/2000 -0800, Vincent Seifert wrote:
I haven't read this piece of fanfiction, but I feel I've got to comment
on this. I'm assuming it takes place in 'Nam because of the Mekong
Delta reference.
Wrong. Laos. Sorry.
Ngyuen chuckled, and motioned for his men to load the
disassembled rocket pipes into the jeep. "A better choice than
that guy made. He'll be lucky if he gets out of the Mekong
alive."
{This may be an anachronism; webpage says 1959, this seems to be
mid-60s, and shoulder-fired SAMs weren't available, let alone common,
until the late 70s, if memory serves. SAMs of the time were about the
size of telephone poles, and deployed and operated by many men and
trucks. Unguided rockets would be jeep-portable, but would have a very
low hit probability against an aircraft. Then again, this IS the
Ranmaverse, where unrealistic things happen every day... :) }
Unguided rockets were already shoulder-mounted. The Russian RPG-7, the
American LAW... and let's not bring up the German Panzershreck and
American Bazooka.
About SAMs, the Americans did not use them because they had air superiority.
The Vietnamese also did not obtain SAMs before 1970, I believe. 1969 tops.
And they remained in the North. The VC and NVA usually used RPG-2/7 against
choppers, not guided missiles. And other planes were usually too high for
shoulder
mounted SAMs, anyway.
I really know little about rockets. ^_^ Two points here:
A) The pipes were from a large, non-shoulder-mounted launcher capable of
being disassembled and transported in a large jeep or small truck. Were
those around then? The Russians used a similar form of rocket artillery in
WW2, but these were designed for ground defense, not anti-air. I'm
uncertain on the point, which leads us to:
B) It's a comedy-drama, not a historical war thriller. Deal. ^_^
Uhh.. little incorrect here. Both the US and the USSR had
*Snip*
A few relevant quotes, and that'll be all I have to say
about this.
12 Oct 61 The REDEYE weapon system made its first public appearance when an
Army lieutenant successfully fired the missile during a special weapons
demonstration at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Among those witnessing the
demonstration were President John F. Kennedy, Defense Secretary Robert S.
McNamara, and Army Secretary Elvis J. Stahr, Jr.
Stupid question: If the fic takes place in 59, how come a sam only seen in
61 be
available? And ABROAD, at that.
This chapter takes place in '64. (I'm not sure how the 59 on the website
got there) And again, it's not that particular SAM.
Sep 65 Delivery of the Block I REDEYE systems began. Completed in May 66,
most of the weapons delivered were expended in engineering and service tests.
Worse still. If they were still testing them in 66, they certainly wouldn't
use them in
Nam.
Etc.
So it can be argued either way, I suppose.
Sorry, no portable SAMs. The NVA rarely, if ever, used pSAMs. They
relied on SA-2 (the telephone poles...). Not that it increased the chances
of scoring a hit though... 1000 SA-2 fired to down 3 B-52... And 2 of them
were downed by Russian 'advisors'...
*shrug* It's not the NVA, it's not a shoulder-portable, and I don't feel a
burning need to change it.
PPPS: This discussion is probably best to go off-list, because it's
bordering on
technical details. Also, I've checked one of the previous replies and I got
the impression
that it actually took place in Laos. If it's true, then the idea that it
takes place in 59 is
even more far-fetched. The US were NOT bombing Laos at that time, for
example.
'64, although confusion there is understandable due to the web page
mistake. Laos doesn't get bombed during the fic. Read before criticism
next time.
Oh,
and looking at a world map would do a world of good here. I got the
distinct impression
that the author wasn't informed on local topology (that's the word,
isn't it?).
That's okay. I get the impression that you weren't informed on a lot of
things yourself. ^_^ I did consult several maps. Aside from the Mecong
river flowing the wrong way - which is carelessness on my part, and thanks
to Miller-san for the tipoff - the geography is accurate.
As a side note, while criticism from readers is very helpful and greatly
appriciated - Miller-san and Seifert-san for example, pointed out some
fixes that will improve things - please don't bother writing if you
haven't read the thing you're commenting on. Arguing from a position of
ignorance isn't very persuasive. (I get that already from freshmen turning
in their book reports on things they obviously didn't bother reading. It
makes me want to do bad things with a hatchet, but the U-Q frowns on staff
massacring students. And people wonder why I write the things I do...
^_^_^)
- Susan Doenime
Brisbane, U of Q
"I hit the streets / They watched me in the monitor..."