Here comes the U.S. Army! A flight of Bell UH-1 Hueys hammer through a misty, monsoon soaked Vietnam valley in the central highlands, heading for a landing area. These utility helicopters became the first “gunships” when a trooper stood in the open door, armed with a machine gun. Later the HueyCobra appeared – slim, speedy, agile, and dangerous, with heavy armament including a forward firing 20-mm machine gun. Bill Phillips says no veteran of the fighting there will ever forget the unique sound of a flight approaching. A faint, distant muttering would fade in and out as bends I the valleys muffled the sound. It would grow quickly to a sudden thunder, rumbling between hills, echoing the length of every glade that the helicopters darted through on their way to or from the target of the day. “Of course every Vietcong for miles around heard the Hueys, just as our troops did. They could prepare a welcome for them with small arms fire. Or they could clear out,” Bill reminisces. Image Size 13 3/8 x 40 |
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