Collectors of American uniforms of the Vietnam War period formed the American Infantry Preservation Society 20 years ago, The AIPS living history society is based in the south of the UK. Since the mid 1980's the group has grown so much that we can now field all of the equipment and weapons carried by a front line infantry platoon including PRC 25 radios. The A.I.P.S have also done extensive research into all aspects of the daily life of the ‘grunt’, from what he ate, to the combat techniques that he was trained in. All the clothing and equipment that is owned and used by the members of the society is 100% authentic and no substitute is allowed. Many members have been to Vietnam and they continue to visit this amazing country with its fantastic scenery and history, it also helps members to appreciate and understand what the people on both sides of the war went through, and what life is now like for the people living there today.

We are the only group in the UK that represents the ‘classic’ grunt in any great numbers, and as part of this commitment to the memory of the average infantryman; the unit we chose to represent is:

‘C’ Company, 5^th Battalion, 
60^th Infantry Regiment (mech),

 9th Infantry Division

This unit was part of the 3^rd Brigade of 
the 9^th Infantry Division and served in Vietnam from 
20 December 1966 
until 
12 October 1970.

The 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry  arrived in Vietnam  fully mechanized with the 9th Infantry Division, but was reorganized as a Divisional Infantry  in September 1968 when it gave up its mechanized assets to the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry of the 1st Infantry Division.

Authorized Strength 907 men

Locations

Bear Cat Dec 66 - Jan 67 (Mechanized)
Binh Phuoc Feb 67 - June 68
Tan An/My Tho July 68
My Tho/Can Guioc Aug 68 - Sept 68
Binh Phuoc Oct 68 (Divisional  Inf)
Rach Kien Nov 68 - Dec 69
Binh Phuoc Jan 70 - April 70
Cambodia May 70 - June 70
Binh Phuoc July70 - October 70

The aim of the society is to serve as a living memorial to the day to day events in the lives of American infantrymen who fought in the Vietnam war.
We do not wish to glorify the Vietnam conflict or war in general, but to try and recreate what they went through whilst fighting in a foreign country thousands of miles from home, constantly moving and never knowing their destination, eating their rations in a jungle clearing whilst the enemy could be mere feet away, dreaming of the freedom bird that would take them back to the real world.

The society partakes in 4/6 weekends a year, 3/4 of these weekends are of a relaxed nature. After a hard day of re-enacting in the evenings members can socialize with other members around the fire, however the other two weekends are of a 24-hour nature. This involves all members having to carry everything they would need for the whole weekend without returning to the cars in the evenings for supplies. On 24 hour weekends we usually have night patrols which involves the use of authentic night equipment and tactics, the idea of the 24 hour weekends is so you can get a feel for what it was like trying to fight and sleep with only the equipment you had to hand in a strange country you don’t know. Nevertheless, both types of weekend involve sleeping out in period conditions under a poncho or in shell scrapes, whatever the weather. We do not allow women to take part in weekend activities because women did not operate in the front line and the group strives to be 100% in every thing that it does.

We also have a Viet Cong unit, which comprises of a smaller but more mobile force whose objectives are to ambush and snipe at the American Forces. The VC unit fields only genuine clothing and equipment, which is also of a high standard including authentic weapons. Like the US forces the VC try to recreate the combat techniques and characteristics of the war as close as possible.