As a crew chief/door gunner on a Huey in South Vietnam in '70/'71, there were many times I took note of what we were doing and knew I'd never be doing this again once I went back home.
As a crew chief/door gunner on a Huey in South Vietnam in ’70/’71, there were many times I took note of what we were doing and knew I’d never be doing this again once I went back home.
Troop insertions typically involved five or six Hueys, each with six infantry on board (three on each side with their legs hanging out in the air), lined up to slow down briefly one at a time in a hilltop LZ as our troops all jumped off so we could get that big loud target out of there.
We were typically accompanied by two Huey gunships which would escort each of us in and fire a few rockets to keep any potential enemy’s heads down while we dropped our troops and left.
I was surprised on one insertion, heading for the hill and the LZ over the jungle and just about a half a mile out, when two fast movers (jets) came screaming by one at a time and unloaded ordinance into that hill. We were doing about 80 knots on final and these guys must have been doing about 500. The one on our right came by us first, unloaded, and was peeling off, up and to the right before the top of the hill seemed to literally lift up as the explosions rocked it. Perfectly timed came the second one on our left and did the same thing, peeling up and to the left before the hill seemed to lift up a second time. By comparison, we tip-toed in, let off our troops, and mosied on out of there. No welcoming committee in sight.
Out of all the CAs (combat assaults) I participated in, we were only supported by the Air Force once, but I thought, damn, we should invite these guys to the party more often.
