I know napalm usage was quite common in wartime between WW2 and Vietnam, and I’m also very aware of just how damaging the substance was to the people affected. Internal damage, skin essentially melting, burning underwater (cue Phil Swift), etc. My question is, how were soldiers able to, for lack of a better word, safely use napalm without harming themselves as well as their targets?
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Napalm is basically sticky gasoline. How do you use gasoline now without harming yourself? If not ignited, napalm is moderately safe to handle, just like gasoline.
When used by soldiers in weapons, the backpacks are pressurized with a flame at the tip of the “rifle”. The napalm shoots out of the nozzle, gets ignited, then flies 50, 75, 100ft to the target, making it catch on fire. If napalm is spilled and not ignited and burning, you just smelled like gas, like you do now if you spill some gas at the gas station.
Like most chemicals, long term exposure (months/years) is problematic, but day to day, it was moderately safe to handle.
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