TOGETHER THEN. TOGETHER STILL.

 

Four men operated an M48A3, but a good tank crew became one working machine. This Battle Threads design places a Vietnam-era tank and its crew between words that still ring true decades later. The tour ended. The crew bond did not.

 

THE HISTORY

 

The M48A3 Patton was the principal American gun tank used in Vietnam. Its crew consisted of a commander, gunner, loader and driver. Inside a vehicle with tight space and limited visibility, each man depended on the other three.

 

The M48A3 carried a 90 mm main gun and diesel engine. Tankers used it to support infantry, secure roads and convoys, defend bases and force paths through vegetation. The commander also had an externally mounted .50 caliber M2 machine gun in the enclosed M1 cupola, a detail collectors use to distinguish the M48A3 from other versions.

 

Vietnam was often called the wrong terrain for tanks. Armored crews proved otherwise. At Ben Het in March 1969, M48A3s of the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor fought North Vietnamese PT-76s in one of the war’s rare tank-versus-tank engagements. Most days were less famous and no less demanding: road marches, ambushes, maintenance, heat, mud and long hours keeping the vehicle and one another going.

 

WHO IT’S FOR

 

We made this for Vietnam armored veterans, former tank crews, armor families, military vehicle collectors and the friends who still answer a call from someone they served beside more than fifty years ago. Wear it to a reunion, veterans gathering, the local post or anywhere “Together Still” means more than it says.

 

Every Battle Threads shirt carries the VDG Militaria logo on the right sleeve. Available in Black, White, Sand, Sport Grey and Heather Military Green.

 

THE SHIRT

 

Printed on a Gildan 5000 Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee made from 100% cotton, with a 5.3 oz mid-weight knit, classic fit, crew neck and tear-away label. Machine wash cold, inside out, with like colors. Tumble dry low. Do not iron directly over the artwork.