Word: gunship
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Friends fell away. Some were killed in action; others, like Major General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, the fearless, ruthless, but highly effective National Police chief, were wounded in street fighting in Saigon. Two weeks ago, a malfunctioning rocket fired from a U.S. helicopter gunship smashed into a forward command post and in one shattering blow wiped out virtually the whole top level of Saigon's city administration, including four of Ky's most powerful backers. But by far the greatest damage was caused by President Thieu's gradual consolidation of power: without consultation, he fired Premier Nguyen...
Elsewhere, the action was equally violent but less prolonged. In an unsuccessful attempt to capture Tarn Ky, the capital of Quang Tin province, 40 miles southeast of Danang, the Viet Cong lost 210 men to withering fire from South Vietnamese troopers and the "Miniguns" of a U.S. C-47 gunship called "Spooky." Near the DMZ, a battalion of North Vietnamese regulars ambushed a tank-escorted Marine convoy on its way to the "Rockpile" strongpoint that overlooks infiltration routes from North Viet Nam. Two Marine companies barreled up the road 'from either direction, catching the North Vietnamese in between. Result...
...faculty at Wolters and Rucker consists increasingly of gung-ho Viet Nam veterans who imbue their students with the sense of mission that marks their units in the war zone. "The heli copter has done a great job," one gunship pilot tells his students. "If the chopper hadn't been in Viet Nam, that place would have been long gone by now." The close-cropped heads of warrant officer candidates nod enthusiastically. Says Major General John Tolson, commander of the Army Aviation Center: "They don't seem to find what they want in college. They just want...