US flamethrowers in action in Vietnam Da Nang, South Vietnam : A US Marine tank crew turns its flame thrower on the underbush where Viet Cong snipers are suspected of hiding here, in this July 14 picture. The snipers killed one Marine and wounded another. Officials said in Saigon that a force of 250 Viet Cong Guerillas ambushed a government force and its American advisors during a road clearing operation near a deserted railway station at Ban Bang 10 miles west of Phouc Vinh - where US paratroopers saved a town from falling into Communist hands last week. The fate of the US - Vietnamese force is not yet known. 15 July 1965