Not a SAW

Your nit was correct except for the summary. Animal Mother carried an M-16 machine gun. As you can see there were no SAWs in the movie and accurately so. The SAW didn't come into use until the mid-eighties.

M-60 not SAW

Your nitpick is correct except for the summary. Their were no SAWs yet in 1968. Animal Mother was carrying an M-60 Machine Gun.

To the 2 people who commented previously

You're both incorrect in stating that Animal Mother doesn't use a SAW, because SAW is simply an acronym for Squad Automatic Weapon. Although more commonly synonymous with the M249, SAW could mean any "Squad Automatic Weapon" (Animal Mother's M60 could certainly be described as a Squad Automatic Weapon.)

My Toan sign

I'm sorry, but I thought the nit was actually on the obliteration of the "My Toan" sign which then shows up intact, not his misuse of the weapon used.

47943 is very incorrect about a 60 being a SAW

A SAW is an M249, period. It's the M249 SAW. There's on such thing as the M-60 SAW. The SAW is a Squad Automatic Weapon. An M60 is not a Squad Automatic Weapon. The M249 is made for use by a squad. That's how it got it's name. The M-60 is not for the squad, but for a larger sized unit (like a platoon). The M249 was made as a replacement the Browning Automatic Rifle, which brings up another important point and flaw in the logic of calling a 60 a SAW. The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) is a rifle, made by Browning, which is automatic. The M-2 is a rifle, made by Browning, which is automatic. An M-2 is not a BAR. An M-2 is a .50 cal. A BAR is a .30 cal. The military is very unambiguous in it's naming of weapons and equipment. Any time something new comes out, it gets a new name, which refers to it alone. This unambiguity is for a purpose. If someone needs ammo for the SAW, you can only mean one kind of ammo: box-fed 5.56MM. You don't have to explain that it's for the M-249 SAW because there is only one SAW, the M-249. There's not a "Russian-Made SAW" or a "Chinese Army SAW", only the M249 SAW. Although these countries doubtlessly have similar weapons, they are not SAWs. You can use the same reasoning for other weapons and equipment, like the HMMWV (aka Humvee or Hummer), which replaced the Jeep. The Jeep got it's name from being a general purpose vehicle, or "GP", which evolved into "Jeep". The HMMWV (High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) is not called "Jeep" or "a jeep", although it, too, is a general-purpose vehicle, and the older Jeeps are not called HMMWVs, although they could be considered high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles. A Jeep is not a Hummber. An M-2 is not a BAR, and a 60 is not a SAW...

What?!?!?!

To the author of 62973, SAW DOES stand for Squad Automatic Weapon and refers to the automatic(not selective fire) weapon issued to a squad in a supporting role! It does NOT refer to the M249AR specifically!!!!! In fact the DOD has issued a designation change for the M249 from the M249SAW to the M249AR(Automatic Rifle). This was due to the fact that currently squads carry the M249 and the M240 which are both automatic Weapons. \r The SAW was supposed to replace the M60 as the automatic support weapon for squads. It was believed that with the M249's 5.56mm chambering, and the fact that it accepts M-16 type magazines, the squad would only have to carry one type of ammunition thus saving space, weight, and most importantly for the DOD $$$$. However it became clear after fielding that the M249 was not sufficient(although a great weapon that I have carried) in a supporting role due to the lack of power contained in the 5.56mm round. Thus the M60 was retained and soon replaced by the M240.\r The "SAW" moniker still attached itself to the M249 in the minds of squad members and is even now still used frequently to describe the M249AR(despite severe tounge lashings from CATM instructors when we utter the term). That's all anyone means when they say M249SAW... It's a common term not a description of that particular weapon!\r So you see there can be Russian SAWs, Japanese SAWs, Mexican SAWs, and SAWs for any country that fields an automatic weapon to it's squads in a supporting role. \r BTW the term SAW predates 1983 when the M249 was fielded. I routinely come across references made by WW2 and Korean War vets referring to thier Squad Automatic Weapon. So how can it describe the M249 specifically?