M-52A Flak Jacket - Vietnam

The M-1952 Flak vest, or "Armor, Body, Fragmentation, Protective, Vest Type, M-52" was a flak vest designed for the United States Marine Corps during the Korean war. Following the joint US Army and Marine Corps designed M51 Flak Jacket, the M-52 used aluminum plates instead of Doron.The Marine Corps first used the M-1952 during the Korean War. It reached frontline troops in late 1952, and only in relatively small quantities. They continued to use it throughout the 1958 Lebanon Crisis and during the early stages of the Vietnam War. The U.S. Navy and Army aircrews used them quite heavily in Vietnam, including use within their Mobile Riverine Force. The M-1952, being collarless, gave greater range of head movement which was vitally important for helicopter crew and gunners, though the absence of a collar did leave the upper torso and neck exposed to small arms fire and flak debris which resulted in the later development of the M-1955 update, the more common example of Flak jacket seen on US troops in Vietnam.