For Notarious and the rest of Y'all,
I did a couple of tours in RVN, first one mostly in UH1-B gunships in III Corp., second one in an experimental unit firing TOW Missiles in combat, (Callsign Hawas Claw) again from 2 old UH1-B's. The second tour we were always attached to a Cavalry unit, usually the clostest one to where NVA armor was found after the April '72 invasion. We got to know the Cav really well, and I will always have the upmost respect for all of them, as well as my former Air Assault brothers.
Was very lucky on both tours, but did have a wide range of experience, including 3 months in slicks on the first tour.
When I saw Apocolypse Now for the first time, I completely lost it in the theater! I know there was a bit of license, but God it was bloody exciting when they rolled in on the village!! The hut with a .51 Cal. really was used, as I once had it described by a guy with .51 Cal burns on both shoulders!! Almost cut both his shoulder straps in half, just didn't happen to have the third bullet between his eyes!! His name is Harry Holzman.
Of course the Psyops speakers were used all over the place, so yes, they really did play around with them. When I was not flying the TOW ships, and had a day off, I frequently flew as door gunner in loaches (OH6's), so when the mamasan threw the grenade into the medivac ship-- I jumped up and screamed "Grenade!!!" then the next shot was over the shoulder of the loach door gunner when the 2 females ran like hell. I started yelling "Killem, killem"! It was just so realistic I couldn't help myself! So yes, that happened too. I could understand every word of garble on the radios in the movie, and that just wired me as well. Anyway, that was the only time I lost it, and am quite normal now, but hell, I still like to get a big cigar, my cav hat, a good friend (fellow vets) or two and a bottle of port and put on that movie once in a while and just trip back down a somewhat tiwsted version of memory lane.
Hope that this story along with the excellent stories above have helped you understand things a little clearer!!??
A very old, and not so bold pilot (anymore!)
