Grenades -- anybody military or ex-military?

Check online, but the last I heard the grenades being used in Vietnam had about a 3-5 meter kill radius. By that time the US was no longer using the classic "pineapple" grenade from WW2 and Korea, but had switched to the more "baseball" type design.

A classic grass and bamboo hut would likely be completely consumed by the concussive force of the grenade's explosion. If there are any windows though, the windows blow out, but the walls mostly survive. The explosive force takes the route of least resistance. This would hold true for a wood shack or hut as well.

The interior walls would be seriously damaged, but depending on the type of grenade used - HE (high explosive) or frag (fragmentation), the condition of anyone inside the shack or hut could be anything from virtually unharmed (it's been known to happen) to badly mangled and dead. Spattered all over the interior walls is a highly unlikely occurrence.

I was a small-arms instructor, not in ordinance, but it's true the older "pineapple" fragmentary grenade of WWII was replaced in Vietnam with the M-61.

http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=433

It was the same elongated oval shape as the "pineapple," only with smooth sides. Fragmentation came from a notched coiled spring inside the smooth walls.

The more rounded "baseball" grenade of today evolved later.

The M-61 also had a shorter fuse than the WWII grenade (only 3-5 seconds, as I recall), and it was not advisable to "cook it off" (hold it after releasing the spoon). Instead, it was safer to throw and let the spoon release during the arc.

The only two thatch hooches I saw cleared by grenades shook mightily with the explosions but did not start fires.

Whiskey-Papa (white phosphorus) grenades of the era were shaped more like elongated soup cans. They set hooches immediately ablaze and burned hotly.

Chase, thanks for that update. I'd forgotten about the M61.

Anything with grass or thatch walls is going to let a lot of concussive force through those walls which is part of the reason such things don't blow apart. Overpressure is the main reason why concussion kills. An overpressure of only 2psi (lbs/sq in) is all it takes to shatter glass window panes and the inner ear and brain just doesn't like anything much over that. If it doesn't scramble your brain and burst your eardrums you will still be shocked, confused, stunned, and without your hearing for hours, possibly for days, and maybe permanently. Concussion can also do nasty things to your eyes or so I understand.

Niiicola said:

So it would be safe to say that if he threw a white phosphorous grenade into the hut, it would burst into flames, right? Many thanks!

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You're welcome. Greg has a broader knowledge of nasty stuff to throw (great signature phrase, Greg).

Here's another URL which should be entitled "All You Want to Know about Grenades but Were Too Sane to Ask."

http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/infantry/grenade/hand.html

Scroll down to the M-15 WP canister grenade for your scene. Check out the "warning" section for useful info.

In my very limited experience, the WP/Smoke canister was used to signal and mark locations; however, its stick-to-anything, intense heat was certainly employed more than once to consume something in white hot flames.

And just a touch of side-trivia. Soldiers often called a WP grenade a "Willie Pete" grenade.

When I was in Vietnam (1969-1970) most grenade work was done via grenade-launcher, which could fire a grenade five times as far as a person could throw one, with far greater accuracy. I don't know anybody who actually threw, by hand, a willie-peter grenade, for obvious reasons. That crap is damn scary and dangerous.

caw

Niiicola said:

I'm thinking there probably aren't a ton of Vietnam vets reading YA fantasy,

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There's a kind of . . . ahhh . . . juxataposition . . . between Vietnam vets and Young Adults. I'd really kinda like to be a Young Adult again. Kinda.

The best Vietnam movie is without any question Apocalypse Now. Second place would go to Full Metal Jacket. The absolute LAST major movie you should watch with an expectation to get a feel for the reality of the Vietnam war is the hugely-honored The Deer Hunter, which for all kinds of reasons is my nominee for the worst movie ever to receive a Best Picture Academy Award. It is a spherical atrocity, an atrocity no matter how you look at it.

caw

blacbird said:

. . . most grenade work was done via grenade-launcher . . .

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This could be a reason:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=wDpuNrA55-A&NR=1

Instructor: "Now go back to your tent and change your shorts."