VIDEO HERE (14:32 minutes)
-Alemaster
Friday, October 17, 2025
The Dark Life of Vietnam Door Gunners
If you look at old footage of Vietnam, you’ll see the doors of the Huey wide open and a soldier tightly holding a machine gun. They looked calm and collected, but you can see in their eyes that these men had been through the horrors of war. Today, you’re going to see just how dangerous their job in Vietnam really was, and why they still had to do it no matter what.
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A good friend of mine was a door gunner in Vietnam. We flew hang gliders together. He passed about 3 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThose were different times and a different kinda people fighting that war
ReplyDeleteJD
Damn we were young.
ReplyDelete2700, what a shame.
ReplyDeleteA pretty good documentary but please understand that the left side of the helicopter was no less dangerous than the right side. When one sees the term "door gunner" think both crew chief and door gunner as far as gunning duties. "Some of the bravest men I flew with were 19 year old boys." regards, Alemaster
ReplyDeleteIn the fall of ‘66 all of us senior boys were recipients of recruitment talks by army recruiters. One I remember was a talk about not having to go to college to be a pilot. Volunteer to fly helicopters in the army and become warrant officers. status, money and wings could be ours, volunteer for helicopter pilot training. Sounded real enticing, until a short while later the headlines of the Detroit News read “ 29 helicopters shot down in Vietnam today”. Then I understood the push. I never would have made it as a pilot, I’m easily disoriented and dont handle stress well. Air Force metal working definitely suited me better.
ReplyDeleteMy slightly older cousin was a door gunner. He was a good guy, but wound pretty tight most of his life. At this point, the spring has snapped.
ReplyDeleteI went to the (opened just this spring) National Medal of Honor museum this summer. They have an available VR experience of being in a Huey during Vietnam. I chose doorgunner. First time doing VR, it was a trip. The museum was well worth it. Located in Arlington Tx, near Six Flags and Cowboys Stadium.
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