You are dead on target as this was idiotic. Never did I ride in any vehicle on a road in Vietnam, much less in Cambodia. Why not fly supplies and REMF troops in choppers and fixed wing like 130’s and 123’s. I would never put any US soldier on any MSR.
In Viet Nam there were large convoy operations. I was a passenger on more than one of these. However, these were large convoys guarded by up gunned M-114s and generally several M-60 tanks and ‘gun trucks’ with automatic cannon. Ambushes were regular battles. Life Magazine bought pictorial coverage of one such event in 1966. Everything I saw in Iraq was overwhemingly sxmall convoys and often no real coverage. Thes invite hit and run attacks and mines which produced most casualties. Between Viet Nam and Iraq I would pick Viet Nam any day. I am not being contemptuous of Americans who were in Iraq, all I can say is many seemed like young strong men who enlisted to ‘fight terrorism’ and didn’t have a clue what was going on in Iraq or what they were supposed to be accomplishing. Along with this, the enemy hit and run Arab type of combat left many of them with pretty severe PTSD and they were very shaken up and disoriented young men. US military leadership appeared to have no real tactical ideas as to how to defeat the enemy. Readers comments appreciated.