North Vietnamese Army 122mm Katyusha Rocket Fuse Pouch

This is a very hard to find pouch. It carried the optical sight for the 122mm Katyusha Rocket.

This Rocket was developed in WWII and was then mounted on a truck with multiple tubes. During the Vietnam War the Soviets sent man portable single rocket launchers to Hanoi. This pack system was used to carry a single Rocket from Hanoi to the South; hence, its well used condition.

There is a famous story about an NVA porter team who carried a rocket for six month on their backs down the Ho Chi Minh Trail in pouches like these. They went through mountains, jungles, swamps, were bombed and staffed, subjected to malaria, dysentery, dengue fever, malnutrition, rotting feet and all manner of hell each day along the way. Upon arriving at the Front, they dutifully turned over their rocket to the Battery commander and saluted. The gunner quickly loaded, aimed and fired it off toward the ARVN base. It was gone is a second. Whoosh!

As soon as it was fired, the battery commander, a young cocky Lieutenant, quickly saluted the lead porter and said: “Thank You! Now, go get me another one!”