Vehicle features: total cost of 20641$.
The Legend of "Eve of Destruction": Vietnam's Last Surviving Gun Truck
(Based on historical records and museum archives)
September 1967, Route 19 "Ambush Alley"
The monsoon rain hammered the convoy as it crawled through the serpentine pass. Somewhere in the treeline, Viet Cong fighters tightened their grip on rocket launchers. For the drivers of the 8th Transportation Group, this stretch near Mang Giang Pass was hell on earth—dubbed "Ambush Alley" after 30 trucks were annihilated weeks earlier. In the chaos, a sandbag-armored M35 gun truck spewed .50 cal fury, buying precious seconds for retreat. But as its sandbags sagged under rainwater, the troops knew they needed something stronger. Something like the beast that would later roar into history as "Eve of Destruction".
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The Need for Evolution
After the September 1967 ambush devastated the 8th Transportation Group, desperate crews scrapped sandbag-armored M35s ("Deuce-and-a-Half") for heavier platforms. The M54 5-ton truck became the answer: its rugged frame could bear armor plating stripped from scrap yards and disabled tanks. "Eve" emerged from this ingenuity—an M54A1C model modified in late 1967 at Qui Nhon depot. Unlike early gun trucks, she featured:
Double-Walled Armor: Steel plates bolted into a "gun box" with air gaps to deflect RPGs.
Monstrous Firepower: Twin M60 machine guns, a .50 cal Browning.
Crew of Five: Driver, NCO commander, two gunners, and an M79 grenadier.
Her name, painted in jagged letters across the armor, echoed the era’s turmoil—inspired by Barry McGuire’s 1965 protest anthem "Eve of Destruction"
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Final Mission: Survival
As U.S. withdrawals accelerated in 1971, "Eve" became a relic. The military scrapped most gun trucks, but her crew lobbied fiercely for preservation. In late 1971, she boarded a ship to Fort Eustis, Virginia—the only Vietnam gun truck returned intact 210.
Museum Resurrection
For decades, she weathered outdoors at the U.S. Army Transportation Museum, paint peeling under Atlantic storms. Veterans noted her missing bumper medallion: "To Charles with love" 2.
In the 2000s, restorers stripped layers of corrosion, revealing battle scars: pockmarks from 7.62mm rounds, weld lines where armor plates were replaced mid-war 210.
Today, "Eve" anchors the museum’s Vietnam exhibit—a symbol of soldierly improvisation. Her display contrasts with the V-100 armored cars she outlasted (rejected for being "death traps")
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