FIRE FROM ABOVE THE FIXED-WING GUNSHIP IN THE VIETNAM WAR

摘要

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. IT WAS A long night for the men aboard 'Spooky 71', a hard-working crew crammed into a metal- and fuel-smelling cocoon of a fuselage in a cluttered, shaky world of blinking lights, deafening noise and intolerable heat. An old aircraft in a war that seemed never to have been visited by modern technology, 'Spooky 71' was an AC-47B (serial number 43-49770) of the 3rd Special Operations Squadron. It was a 'Gooney Bird' with guns. To soldiers on the ground it was better known as 'Puff the Magic Dragon'.