I have to give a Big Thanks to the Men and Women In Blue.
You saved our butts so many times.
And to the helicopter pilots - The baddest of the bad.
Images from Vietnam
I have to say it felt like heaven opened up when you guys came screaming over and dropped your load. It was like, eat this, now we can breathe.
As grunts, we could fall behind a dike in the rice paddy, duck behind nipa palm, a wall, or whatever to get out of site.
You Jet pilots had the speed, but some times that wasn't enough.
But you guys who flew the Hueys had no place to go. You may have had a lot of fire power but you had no place to hide. To pick up us grunts, to medivac, to drop supplies, you constantly put yourselves in immediate danger. None of us will never forget you.
Air strike on an area we were about to move into. The Fly Boys would keep the VC busy while we moved on in. We would take advantage of whatever cover was available. The trouble with cover is booby traps.
Once in close, all we had to depend on were our M79 grenade launchers and LAW's. They were good for their purpose but it was hard to penetrate the thick stands of nipa palm. You had to hit dead on.
This is the Huey pilots view and his control panel. They had a lot to keep up with. It's not like just jumping into the old sedan and going for a ride.
They sure appreciate green smoke.
The Loach. They sound like bumble bee's coming in. They have a mini-gun in their nose and when they open it up it will literally stop the forward motion and back them up.
Click the Huey for the Air Cav.
One MIA. I didn't know him,
But I won't forget him.
Click to remember him
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Those guys are too fast for my camera, they're gone by the time I push the button. All I ever get is a picture of the dirt flying in the air.
Hueys coming into an LZ. Normally they don't take a chance on sitting the chopper on the ground.