Fifty years after its official end, the Vietnam War remains one of the most ... 223 Remington caliber M16 rifle, AKA the “Mattel.” I first read this slang term for the weapon in the novel ...

The standard U.S. infantry rifle in Vietnam is the M16. There have been stories of men getting killed because their M16s jammed in battle. My ad­vice is to ignore these tales. I have carried at ...