Abstract:
NO PIECE OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT symbolized the Vietnam War more prolifically than the UH-1 “Huey” helicopter. Armed with nothing more than a pair of swivel-mounted M60s, the Huey carried troops and supplies into every conceivable location. The pilots who flew them then bravely evacuated the dead and wounded from the most ill-conceived locations. The South Vietnamese army had major combat responsibilities in the Mekong Delta, which were sorely neglected, allowing the Viet Cong to range with near virtual impunity within and around such notorious locations as the Plain of Reeds, the Seven Mountains region, Mo Cay, Vinh Quoi, Nam Can, and the U Minh: “Forest of Darkness,” where the sky soldiers in this story savagely battled the VC and kept their date with destiny.