Airsoft Action - January 2021

armoury
CYMA
009 “NAM AR” SERIES
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
“NAM AR”
SERIES
AS A KEEN COLLECTOR OF VIETNAM WAR ERA GEAR AND LIVING HISTORY ENTHUSIAST AS WELL AS
AIRSOFT PLAYER BILL IS CONSTANTLY LOOKING OUT FOR NEW PERIOD AEGS AND GBBS THAT ARE
IDEAL FOR THAT CONFLICT, AND HE’S BEEN WAITING TO GET HANDS-ON THE NEW MODELS FROM
CYMA THAT FIT RIGHT IN!
Like most of you reading this, I grew up after the
Vietnam War had ended. Although I am a child
of 1964, I have no personal recollections of the
“American War” from the time but certainly, as I grew
older I learnt more, largely due to having an American
former-USAF Major as my “modern history” teacher
(he also taught us about the intricacies of American
Football, bless him!) but also thanks to the plethora
of coverage both in movies and even in comic
books (who remembers the cartoon strip “Fighting
Mann”???).
That has led me, throughout my adult life, to
learning more and more about this particular conflict,
building up both an extensive library of books written
by those who served there (both sides, not just the
USA), along with an ever-expanding collection of
equipment and uniforms, some real and some repro.
Although I haven’t been active for a while, I have
been involved with Vietnam War Living History Groups
(namely www.modernforces.com), whilst my time
living in the USA turned me into the “mule” of one
group, leading to me scouring every militaria and
“Army/Navy” within miles to source original kit to
bring it back to them in the UK!
I was also an active member of the original
international Vietnam Airsoft (VNAS) group and
played a small part in creating VNAS-UK (in fact I
still have the banner!), attending “Namsoft” games
around the UK and even running a few myself.
You may remember me as “Wild Bill” from those
groups and games but if you weren’t there man, you
wouldn’t know! After a harsh introduction into the
fact that “Namsoft” was every bit as detail-stringent
as living history (thanks Ken Cho if you’re reading this
for setting me on the right track!), my appreciation
Living History image -
Eyepro Not Required
68
JANUARY 2021