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Old 06-25-2020, 08:51 AM   #3
Sanders
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For 3 years, Uncle Sam actually PAID me to carry and shoot one of those. And I didn't even get charged for all the ammo!

Hell, I would have paid them!

Up and down mountains, through swamps, bogs, deep snow, and desert sands I packed that beast. Never once did I ever whine, bitch, moan or otherwise complain. Once, out at Ft. Irwin, a skinny little black TOW gunner had to carry the gun off his ITV through the desert with us. He couldn't hang, so I wound up carrying both mine and his as the 6 of us left alive from our company took "The Whale" by climbing up some crevices and canyons that were deemed "impassable". We then took out a platoon of Marines from 29 Palms, thus securing the objective we were originally sent to secure with an entire company, but it was just us "Dirty Half-Dozen".

I was issued a total of 3 different guns. The first two were worn out. One was so worn out that I could almost squeeze the receiver together with my fingers. The last gun I got issued, after I wrapped a brand new 3-digit serial # M249 around a tree, was a brand new Maremont. Oh, that was a beauty. It was that gun that I used to make the Bundeswehr and their MG42s look like a bunch of chumps playing at Army.

It was that gun that I used to outshoot a Cobra gunship on a brigade online firing range. I was on the far right, and no targets came up in my lane. The Cobra was hovering about 50 ft. off the ground and was close enough I could see the crew. He expended all his 20mm on his target, which was at 1,500 meters and he never hit it. So, I raised my sight all the way up and then added some Kentucky windage and elevation. Tracer burnout was 900 meters, so that was no help. I let a 100 round belt fly and down went his big BTR target. I got a thumbs up from the pilot and gunner. The Colonel showed up in his Jeep and wanted to know who the fuck shot down that target. I raised my hand, figuring I was going to get my ass reamed for going against the program, but got a "good shooting, Soldier", instead.

Anyone who ever said the M60 was a piece of shit, doesn't know what they are talking about. Take care of her, and she'll treat you right. Ignore and abuse her, and she might just say screw you when you need her the most.
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"The truly dangerous man dresses inconspicuously and is soft- spoken. He walks away from most confrontations. The only time you learn that the truly dangerous man is mad at you is a split second before you die, for he never fights. He only kills. The truly dangerous man knows that fighting is what children do and killing is what men do." - Charley Reese 1986
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