And Now a Vroom

Snarling engines. Dark goggles. Billowing dust. Hell's Angels in California? No, Viet Nam, where the U.S. military, never tiring in its search for methods to find an elusive enemy, has just added the motorcycle to the hunter's inventory that has, at one time or other, included such exotica as people-sniffing bedbugs, infra-red photography and side-looking radar.

Virtually every day for the past month, one reconnaissance platoon from the U.S. 25th Division has been taking to the countryside near the Cambodian border in a configuration highly unusual for the U.S. Army: four scouts tooling 175cc Hondas, followed by three machine-gun-mounting vehicles to provide cover. The scouts' job is to spot Communist troop concentrations and supply caches, using their wheels to cover more ground than foot-slogging infantrymen can. Says one of the riders, SP4 James G. Tomusho, of Lorain, Ohio: "It sure beats walking in the sun on a hot day."

They call themselves "Nam's Angels,"* but aside from one swastika that appeared on a crash helmet (it was ordered rubbed off), there is little of the Hell's Angel type in the four young soldiers. Their helmets are camouflaged, they carry .45s, and instead of leather gear, they wear flak jackets and fatigues. "Back in the world," as they refer to the U.S., they all grew up around engines, and Viet Nam has never seemed so like home.

They are not satisfied, however, with their Hondas, which are underpowered for the workout they get on a patrol through the boondocks. "If we had a Harley motor in a frame like this," says Tomusho, "we'd really have something." The foursome would prefer tough scramblers, "with big drive sprockets, knobby wheels--and more vroom." Maintenance is also a problem because of the dust, and spare parts have to be bought in local Vietnamese shops; the U.S. Army does not stock them--yet.

Intelligence collected by the motorcycle scouts has led to several U.S. operations: recently they discovered a cache containing 27 rockets. Since the Communists have yet to shoot at them (though startled government soldiers did once by mistake), the cyclists' biggest complaint to date is entirely unmilitary. The job, they say, is too hard on the seats of their pants.

* "Nam" or "The Nam" is widely used by U.S. troops to refer to Viet Nam.

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