The Vietnam War was one of the United States’ most protracted military campaigns, which pitted the U.S. military against a myriad of opponents across the Asian nation and in surrounding countries. The conflict received widespread condemnation throughout the nation, influencing everything from public policy to feature films. Indeed, some of the best war movies ever made cover the Vietnam War, including “Platoon,” “The Deer Hunter,” and “Apocalypse Now.”
The latter film has one of the most famous helicopter scenes ever put to celluloid, which is called the “Ride of the Valkyries” for the music track soldiers blast as they begin their raid. They do so aboard the famed UH-1 Iroquois, better known as the “Huey” among servicemembers. In the scene, the choppers all have their doors open, which isn’t unusual. In fact, it was pretty much the norm throughout the UH-1’s use in the conflict, and the reason why makes a lot of sense when you stop to think about it.
Open doors enabled faster on- and offloading of personnel, and it was necessary for the door gunner, as their weapon not only took up space, but also pointed out the sides of the aircraft. There were times when the doors needed to be closed, which was primarily based on altitude, but given the operational roles the UH-1 was used for throughout the Vietnam War, keeping the doors open became the standard operating procedure for most missions; as a result, seeing a picture of a Huey with its doors open is evocative of the Vietnam War.
The UH-1 Huey rarely closed its doors when in flight
While the U.S. Army no longer flies the Huey, its use in Vietnam quickly changed operations as the service’s primary workhorse helicopter. The aircraft wasn’t designed to have door gunners, as its designation proves: UH-1 labels the Huey as a utility helicopter. Despite this, the missions it flew ultimately required gunners for protection when a Huey would come in to land or take off.
The door gunner would lay down suppressing fire or shoot at specific threats to keep the chopper, its crew, and any personnel jumping off or on safe. Because it wasn’t designed with door gunners in mind, the doors themselves became a hindrance. Doors weren’t often removed from Hueys, but the seats were almost never kept inside. This was to allow for faster offloading of troops, so the seats were taken out and the doors were kept open.
Pictures from the conflict often show personnel with their legs dangling out like in the image above, and while the helicopter took them to and from the fight, they didn’t want to be anywhere near a Huey when it was near the ground. That’s because the chopper was an ideal target, endangering everyone aboard. A Huey would occasionally fly with its doors closed at higher altitudes, as even in the jungles of Vietnam, the air is cold thousands of feet in the air, but for most of its use during the Vietnam War, the incredibly iconic UH-1 “Huey” operated with their doors open.