Music by The Who. The M16 rifle: iconic and controversial. Was it better than the AK-47? Was it better than the M14? The debate continues.

The initial M-16 used in Vietnam was prone to jam.

A Vietnam veteran told a Time Magazine reporter in 1967, “We left with 72 men in our platoon and came back with 19. Believe it or not, you know what killed most of us? Our own rifle. Practically every one of our dead was found with his M16 torn down next to him where he had been trying to fix it.”

This was much less of a problem with the improved M16A1 from 1967.

Rest in peace to all those who died in Vietnam on both sides.

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