7 Things Door Gunners Did in Vietnam That the Manual Never Covered

Tay Ninh Province, 1969. Six Hueys sit in a dusty field with their rotors turning, and on the right side of the third aircraft a twenty-year-old door gunner leans out over the skid. His M60 isn't on its mount. It's hanging from a bungee cord tied to the ceiling of the cabin. The Army wrote a manual for the door gunner. It covered the weapon, the mount, the field of fire and the radio calls. It never covered what these men actually did — the monkey strap, sitting on the armor plate, talking to grunts with smoke, carrying everything that would fit, carrying the wounded and the dead, and never knowing how it ended. If you flew, or rode in the back, tell us where and when. CHAPTERS 0:00 Tay Ninh, 1969 2:25 #7 They threw away the mount 4:49 #6 The monkey strap 6:49 #5 They sat on the armor 9:03 #4 They talked to the grunts with smoke 11:05 #3 They carried everything that would fit 13:42 #2 They carried the wounded, and the dead 15:44 #1 They never knew how it ended #vietnamwar #doorgunner #huey