Helicopter Gunships PDF Download

The author presents this book based on his personal experiences in the Vietnam War. His intent is to portray his perspective as an 18-year-old Stinger Gunship Crew Chief/Door Gunner. He wants the reader to experience what it is like to kill dozens of enemy combatants and collateral, non-combatants. How to live with the frequent near-death experiences and the constant high probability of being killed. Endure the frequent loss of fellow soldiers in combat. Witness a young soldier losing all sense of humanity as he transforms into a warrior that thrives on killing. The real life incidents portray a platoon of Huey UH-1C gunships, called the "Stingers" and its elite, motivated crews.As a component of U.S. Army assault helicopter companies, the "guns" protected the Huey "slicks" as they inserted or extracted infantry troops from landing and extraction zones. The gunships regularly conducted "search and kill" missions. They were often scrambled to provide lifesaving protection for infantry units threatened by enemy forces. Gunship crews were among the most lethal pilots, crew chiefs and door gunners in Army aviation. Some gunship crew chiefs had over 400 hundred personal kills.An intense warrior mentality was crucial to mission success and survival. Killing was a way of life in the guns.One of the most decorated and experienced aviation combat units in the Vietnam War was the Stingers' parent, the 116th Assault Helicopter Company, known as the "Hornets".Follow the operational strategy as Army Command reassigns the Hornets from III Corps, near Saigon to Chu Lai in I Corps under the command of the 23rd Infantry Division, known as "Americal".Experience the rapid increase of lethal enemy encounters. Americal imposed severe constraints on the Stingers in the aftermath of the My Lai massacre. The Stingers and slick platoons of the 116th fight on. The young combat veteran becomes "short" with just a few months left in his tour of duty. Americal reassigns the 116th to Quang Tri, one of the most dangerous places in Vietnam. War news headlines are articulated in real-time to frame the author's story.