(Based on archival footage and oral histories from the Military Veterans Museum & Education Center, Oshkosh)
1967, Central Highlands, Vietnam
Monsoon clouds hung low over Route 19 as a convoy of M131 fuel tankers snaked toward Pleiku. In the cab of a lead truck, 19-year-old Roger Blink gripped the wheel, eyes scanning the treeline. His unit, the 359th Transportation Company, hauled jet fuel for the 1st Cavalry Division’s helicopters – the lifeline of airmobile warfare immortalized in We Were Soldiers. Every run was a gauntlet: Viet Cong ambushes turned fuel trucks into fireballs. After losing three trucks in a single week, the drivers made a vow: They would build a guardian.
Chapter 1: Birth of a Beast
Midnight Requisition
"Brutus" began not as an issued vehicle, but as an act of desperation. Using a standard M54A2 5-ton cargo truck 15, crews embarked on "midnight requisitioning":
Armor: ½-inch steel plates "borrowed" from a naval base, destined for riverine patrol boats 15.
Armament: An XM134 minigun salvaged from a downed Huey helicopter; twin .50-cal M2HB machine guns traded for cases of beer with artillery units.
Ingenuity: When the Army denied .50-cals (standard issue was M60 7.62mm), officers turned a blind eye. "We weren’t issued courage. We built it from scrap metal," a veteran later recalled 13.
The truck’s name, painted in jagged crimson letters, embodied its mission: Brutalize the ambushers.
Chapter 2: Anatomy of a Phantom
Design & Evolution
Unlike factory-made weapons, "Brutus" evolved through blood and trial:
[img]https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11e863_c1340a3ea91d4ff2bde64166891f0956~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_391,h_212,al_c,lg_1,q_80,enc_avif,quality_auto/Brutus_JPG.jpg[/img]
(1967):
Twin .50-cals mounted high on the cargo bed – lethal at range but blind to attackers at point-blank.
Minigun at the rear for 360° coverage.
Cab doors shielded by naval steel 15.
Critical Flaw: NVA fighters soon learned to crawl beneath the guns’ firing arcs. After a near-overrun in 1968, crews lowered the .50-cals to aim downward, turning "dead zones" into kill boxes.
Weight & Mobility: At 26,400 lbs 13, its Continental multifuel engine labored under armor – yet it still hit 52 mph on open stretches.
"The minigun sounded like Satan ripping sheet metal. When it fired, the jungle went quiet."
— Roger Blink, driver of "Brutus" (1967–1968)
[img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RQcmaPiJYfA/hqdefault.jpg[/img]
Combat Legacy
"Brutus" earned mythic status during the 1968 Tet Offensive:
The Bounty: NVA commanders placed a $110,000 bounty on the truck – paid three times to units claiming its destruction.
The Resurrection: After each "kill," "Brutus" returned within 72 hours. The secret? The armored fighting compartment was bolted to the chassis with just three pins. When the truck was crippled, crews swapped the compartment onto a fresh M54, repainted the nose black, and sent it back out. To the NVA, it became "The Ghost" – an unkillable specter 15.
Medal of Honor: On March 23, 1971, SP4 Larry Dahl sacrificed himself during an ambush in "The Box" – hurling his body onto a grenade tossed into the gun compartment. His action saved the crew and earned the nation’s highest honor.
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The Rebirth at Oshkosh
2017, Military Veterans Museum & Education Center, Wisconsin
Decades after the war, Roger Blink approached museum president Dave Kirsten with a mission: Honor the 13 fallen of the 359th. Using period photos and veteran testimonies, they recreated "Brutus":
The Chassis: An original M54A2 truck sourced from private collectors.
Authentic Details:
Minigun replicated from XM134 blueprints.
Armor plates cut to match 1967 schematics.
"Black nose" paint matching wartime photos.
Dedication: On the truck’s plaque: "For the men who rode thunder."
Today, it dominates the museum’s motor pool alongside "Brutus Jr." – a gun jeep replica – drawing veterans’ fingers to bullet scars on the steel 8.
[img]https://nevadanewsgroup.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2021/11/09/brutus-on-parade_t670.jpg?b3f6a5d7692ccc373d56e40cf708e3fa67d9af9d[/img]
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