In 1962, I was assigned to the first helicopter unit in Viet Nam as a door gunner and soon after that as a aircraft crew chief/door gunner. We were first in Viet Nam unit.
Actually we weren't the first helicopter company in Vietnam. There was a Marine helicopter unit there before the Army arrived even though we were the first Army Helicopter Company.
My Grandfather was one of the first 30 some odd pilots to fly the H21 in Vietnam. He was shot down 3 times, surviving them all and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross.
See one of these at the Helicopter Museum ar Weston Super Mare. It is undergoing conservation work, but can be viewed by visitors. It was in service with the French Army in Northern Africa, and has visible bullet holes in the front of the cockpit. A few actual bullets have been recovered from the structure.
My father was an Army aircraft mechanic in Korea in the late 50's . He said that he has seen several of those flying bananas crash upon landing , those things were not very stable .
Hueys first used in VN to support the old Piasecki H-21 in "Heliborne Assaults" later termed Air Assault and Airmobile operations. Research the Battle of Ap Bad in January of 1963 to learn why the Army decided the "Shawnee" and the "Choctaw" were rendered obsolete.
i wondered about the Choctaw. Isn't this the UH-34 that the Marines used in Vietnam ? I can't tell if its payload was much different to the Huey, so i wondered why the Army went for the Huey and the Marines the UH34, though I know Marines had both.
With all this gear We still lost. Even without the politicians it would have been same result. When killing ants go to the ant pile. Should have went straight to Hanoi day one.
Yea but than it would just be the Korean war all over again the Chinese would get more involved than it would be just another all out war which I dont think anyone wanted if anything we should have just sent advisors and equipment to Vietnam and got more involved in Africa
The politicians at the the time knew and wanted to avoid another Korea style intervention by the Chinese. They also later more publicly established diplomatic relationship with China when Nixon visited Beijing in 1972 to break down the red tide momentum at the time. Vietnam strategic position became unimportant then, until now again, which also coincided with the Vietnamization program at that time. The Soviet Union and China was apparently hostile to each other in 1978 and later when China attacked Vietnam due to Vietnam alignment with the former and not the other after it won the Vietnam war.
@@adamhenry5791 the narrator is using his ultra-formal diction, even at 4:35 "the armed helicopters are the PRO-tectors of the H-21s.." as the Vietnam war rolled on within a couple years the pronunciation settled into Viet-nuh-meece
In 1962, I was assigned to the first helicopter unit in Viet Nam as a door gunner and soon after that as a aircraft crew chief/door gunner. We were first in Viet Nam unit.
Were you at the battle of Ap Bok?
Thanks for your service to our great nation.
Yes. My Unit the 57th Transportation Co together with the Soc-trang tigers.
Thank you sir..
Actually we weren't the first helicopter company in Vietnam. There was a Marine helicopter unit there before the Army arrived even though we were the first Army Helicopter Company.
My Grandfather was one of the first 30 some odd pilots to fly the H21 in Vietnam. He was shot down 3 times, surviving them all and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross.
A very interesting film about the CH-21 and the UH-1A and UH-1B gunships. Obviously this was filmed before the infamous Ap Bac battle.
See one of these at the Helicopter Museum ar Weston Super Mare. It is undergoing conservation work, but can be viewed by visitors. It was in service with the French Army in Northern Africa, and has visible bullet holes in the front of the cockpit. A few actual bullets have been recovered from the structure.
My father was an Army aircraft mechanic in Korea in the late 50's . He said that he has seen several of those flying bananas crash upon landing , those things were not very stable .
Thanks.. we used to operate Hueys.. cheers from NZ 👍🇳🇿
nickname 'Flyin' Banana"?
Mister Sorge: Yes. The Piascecki (Vertol) H-21 'Shawnee,' was nicknamed the 'Flying Banana.'
Why did the huey crew have to put their bullet proof vests in the floor when landing?
Hueys first used in VN to support the old Piasecki H-21 in "Heliborne Assaults" later termed Air Assault and Airmobile operations. Research the Battle of Ap Bad in January of 1963 to learn why the Army decided the "Shawnee" and the "Choctaw" were rendered obsolete.
i wondered about the Choctaw. Isn't this the UH-34 that the Marines used in Vietnam ? I can't tell if its payload was much different to the Huey, so i wondered why the Army went for the Huey and the Marines the UH34, though I know Marines had both.
vueno .
With all this gear We still lost. Even without the politicians it would have been same result. When killing ants go to the ant pile. Should have went straight to Hanoi day one.
Yea but than it would just be the Korean war all over again the Chinese would get more involved than it would be just another all out war which I dont think anyone wanted if anything we should have just sent advisors and equipment to Vietnam and got more involved in Africa
The politicians at the the time knew and wanted to avoid another Korea style intervention by the Chinese. They also later more publicly established diplomatic relationship with China when Nixon visited Beijing in 1972 to break down the red tide momentum at the time. Vietnam strategic position became unimportant then, until now again, which also coincided with the Vietnamization program at that time.
The Soviet Union and China was apparently hostile to each other in 1978 and later when China attacked Vietnam due to Vietnam alignment with the former and not the other after it won the Vietnam war.
The US did not loose it just refused to win
What is it they say about hindsight?
Trái chuối bay,
Copied from the german FA223 "Drache" which had its first flight in 1941
He keeps over pronouncing words like "Viet-NA-mese"
It’s also the “transatlantic” accent that the “old timey” reporters used as common practice back in the early to mid 20th century.
@@adamhenry5791 the narrator is using his ultra-formal diction, even at 4:35 "the armed helicopters are the PRO-tectors of the H-21s.."
as the Vietnam war rolled on within a couple years the pronunciation settled into Viet-nuh-meece
👏👏👏🙏🏻🙏🏻🎖🎖🎖🐈
Another lost war. 🤷♂️