The M2, used by 20 countries, was designed to move artillery, transport machine gun squads, and conduct enemy reconnaissance. The M2 also possessed multiple mounts for machine guns.
Half-tracks like this were unpopular with soldiers in WWII and Korea. With typical GI humor, they dubbed them “Purple Heart Boxes” because the topless M2 left them exposed to exploding artillery shells and it’s thin armor was vulnerable to machine gun fire.