Members of a rotary wing element risk their helicopters and their lives to maneuver to troops in contact in Vietnam. This is the audio that was recovered from that mission by one of the pilots who flew it.

Vietnam was the first time rotary wing platforms were heavily used to support ground operations. While they saw limited use throughout Korea, mostly as a logistics tool to aid in resupply forward lines, Vietnam is where they truly made a name for themselves. It is not uncommon to read or hear about helicopter pilots in Vietnam disregarding orders to not land at a specific landing zone because it is too hot. What is rare however, is hearing the audio transmissions of those same helicopter pilots in the pursuit of saving troops on the ground.

While this video is only audio, it gives us great insight into the operation that happened that day. Keep in mind while you are listening to this that an absolute raging gun-fight is happening on the ground. That same gunfight is overlapping into the sky, as enemy fighters attempt to shoot down the supporting aircraft.