Deconstructing History: Huey Helicopters in Vietnam - HISTORY

The UH-1 "Huey" helicopter became a symbol of U.S. combat forces in Vietnam.

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The UH-1 "Huey" helicopter became a symbol of U.S. combat forces in Vietnam.

In a Mail Call video, R. Lee Ermey answers a question from Don of Gresham, Oregon who wants to know the difference between a slick, a dust-off, and a gunship. Ermey says that what Don is talking about is one of his favorite helicopters, the Huey. Although they began as medical helicopters, at the height of the war Hueys had three different functions: they were slicks, dust-offs, or gunships. Slick was the name for the transport version of the Huey, dust-off was the official call sign for medical choppers, and gunships are pretty self-explanatory. Modern versions of the Huey are still being used today!

US plane spraying Vietnam landscape with tainted herbicide/defoliant Agent Orange during the war. (Credit: Dick Swanson/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

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In a Mail Call video, R. Lee Ermey answers a question from Rusty of Laurel Hill, Florida, who wants to know what the first helicopter used in combat was. Ermey explains that Russian emigrant Igor Sikorsky was the inventor of this helicopter, called the R-4. The year of 1943 was when Sikorskys R-4 became the worlds first helicopter to go into mass production; it was also the first helicopter in U.S. Military service and the first to operate from a ships deck. After a few modifications, the helicopter became the YR-4B and on April 25th, 1944 it became the first helicopter to ever fly in combat. Pilot LT. Carter Harmon used the YB-R4 to rescue 4 men who had crash landed in extremely rough terrain.

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