A close friend of mine was a UH-1 door gunner in the RVN. He says the lifespan of that slot was about 10 minutes. Could he be mistaken?

SSG William Jones — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 15:37:35 -0400

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Aug 5 at 2016 3:42 PM

LTC Stephen C. — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 15:42:29 -0400

SGT Private RallyPoint Member can give you a real life experienced answer! He was a door gunner in Vietnam! However, he's still here, so the 10 minute theory certainly didn't apply to him, thank goodness!

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Aug 5 at 2016 4:00 PM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:00:46 -0400

An old school counselor of mine was a door gunner. He's still kicking and able tell about it.

Response by Cpl Vic Eizenga made Aug 5 at 2016 4:50 PM

Cpl Vic Eizenga — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:50:05 -0400

I do not know about them as a grunt Officers, radio and heavy weapons it was less then 3 min after we landed in a hot zone as we were told.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2016 5:55 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 17:55:51 -0400

SSG William Jones As a Radio Operator, we heard the same kind of story about our lifespan measured in minutes. I am not sure where the stories started, but they were not true for most of us.

Response by MCPO Roger Collins made Aug 6 at 2016 1:52 PM

MCPO Roger Collins — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 13:52:20 -0400

I thought the machine gunner (on the ground) and flamethrower operators had the shortest life span.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Aug 6 at 2016 11:03 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 23:03:54 -0400

They would sit on their helmets to protect the family jewels from ground fire as well. Reminded me of a B-17 ball turret gunner who purposely put on 40 pounds of weight after he came back to the states so nobody could fit him back into one of those things. Sure it was part of his PTSD mental piece at the time.

Response by CPL Bruce Wood made Oct 5 at 2017 11:01 AM

CPL Bruce Wood — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 11:01:21 -0400

No, he's about right overall. The gunners on choppers were easy targets for the enemy due being completely exposed to enemy fire. They had no protection except for their helmets and flak jackets and their weapons. Not exactly the best position to be in. Door gunners had a high casualty rate during the Vietnam War. These guys had balls that's for sure.

Response by SGT Jim Arnold made Oct 5 at 2017 11:08 AM

SGT Jim Arnold — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 11:08:12 -0400

so, would that also go for a 2lt dropped in a hot LZ ?

Response by Sgt Anthony Barney made Oct 8 at 2017 11:31 AM

Sgt Anthony Barney — Sun, 08 Oct 2017 11:31:38 -0400

I met a gunner in 29 PALMS 1986 gunnrt mcginn

Response by SPC Rudy Hawkins made Oct 8 at 2017 11:41 AM

SPC Rudy Hawkins — Sun, 08 Oct 2017 11:41:00 -0400

Wow...I bet people got promoted quick, at that rate !!!

Response by Sgt Tobby Baca Sr. made Oct 10 at 2017 8:18 PM

Sgt Tobby Baca Sr. — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 20:18:17 -0400

As a machine gunners in Vietnam if we lived past the first 5 seconds of an ambush we had a good chance of making it out alive.

Response by Matt Wn made Oct 12 at 2017 1:30 PM

Matt Wn — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 13:30:23 -0400

The way I understand this is that someone figured out how many door gunners were KIA vs how many survived. The clock starts with combat, transits not included, and stops either when the enemy stops shooting or the aircraft retreats out of range.
Many helos at that time only had door guns as armament so NVA and VC would target them first sometimes opening festivities by firing from cover enmasse at the DG.
For many gunners the clock started and stopped instantly.
I have always suspected that whoever figured out the "average" was probably from one unit, one tour and whatever number they came up with for their unit has been lost as the legend has grown.

Response by PO3 Don Hersperger made Oct 15 at 2017 8:30 PM

PO3 Don Hersperger — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 20:30:36 -0400

I have heard the same thing. A high school friend of mine was an Army door gunner and he said the Marine gunners were good but short lived.

Response by SFC William Phillips made Oct 16 at 2017 7:39 PM

SFC William Phillips — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 19:39:50 -0400

My brother is a Marine door gunner in Vietnam. Got shot down twice. In Vietnam died of Agent Orange when he was 70.

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Oct 16 at 2017 7:42 PM

SGM Mikel Dawson — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 19:42:32 -0400

Got a VN Vet friend of mine who was also a door gunner, he is still alive.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 17 at 2017 1:17 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 13:17:45 -0400

Within my limited experience this number would appear to be uncharacteristically brief. We lost about 1/3 of totally unarmed DUSTOFF crews - meaning their lifespan averaged 2/3 of a tour. They frequently flew into the middle of a firefight. Why would door gunners have an even shorter lifetime? In any case, we saw a lot of helicopter crew members - including door gunners - many survived to return to their units or return home. Warmest Regards, Sandy

Response by Cpl Bill Fleischauer made Oct 17 at 2017 3:11 PM

Cpl Bill Fleischauer — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 15:11:55 -0400

Perhaps he confused his gun 'performance' with that of his weapon ;)

Response by TSgt Edgar Brown made Oct 22 at 2017 5:46 PM

TSgt Edgar Brown — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 17:46:14 -0400

Quite true, a ground machine gunner is only 15 minutes. They are the first to be elimanted.

Response by Sgt Brian Kellogg made Nov 17 at 2017 12:35 PM

Sgt Brian Kellogg — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 12:35:05 -0500

No, but it IS subjective..... I made it back.

Response by SMSgt Lawrence McCarter made Nov 17 at 2017 1:18 PM

SMSgt Lawrence McCarter — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 13:18:20 -0500

I guess there weren't a lot of volunteers for door gunners in choppers. Case in point while I was assigned to the 366th Security Police Squadron, USAF at Da Nang Air Base, Vie Nam in 1968 our shift was standing formation with 200 men. The Army came and asked for volunteers to be door gunners in chopper, they mentioned we were well familiar with the M60 and that is what they used. Well its true, were did use the M60 all the time When they couldn't get volunteers from the Army so go to the Air Force that should tell You something. They didn't get even one volunteer, one voice popped up ad said, "no one Here is that stupid !" I figured at least on the ground I could get behind something, there is nothing to hide behind in a chopper, it has no armor and if a round comes up where You are that's not good. We all followed the first rule of Military service "Never volunteer for anything" besides My Mother didn't raise a fool. (well for the most part anyway)

Response by SP5 Peter Keane made Nov 17 at 2017 1:36 PM

SP5 Peter Keane — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 13:36:32 -0500

Well if he told you, it probably wasn't true.

Response by SPC David Willis made Nov 17 at 2017 1:37 PM

SPC David Willis — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 13:37:32 -0500

Ive heard this as well with LTs having a life span of a few hours. Im sure its not literal, but Im sure it was a very dangerous position with everyone on the ground shooting at you.

Response by SP5 Lori Pong made Nov 17 at 2017 1:49 PM

SP5 Lori Pong — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 13:49:30 -0500

Probably not, a Perishing Missile Crewman had a life expectancy of less than a minute in time of war.

Response by MAJ Don Bigger made Nov 17 at 2017 6:11 PM

MAJ Don Bigger — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 18:11:40 -0500

My brother was a door gunner in VN. Now retired and living in Texas. He said it was more hyperbole than anything else.

We used to say the same thing in Artillery about forward observers—that they had a lifespan of about 10 minutes.

Response by SMSgt Lawrence McCarter made Jun 10 at 2019 1:07 PM

SMSgt Lawrence McCarter — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 13:07:44 -0400

I remember one night in 1968 where I was stationed with the 366th Security Police Squadron, Tiger Flight, USAF, there were 200 of us standing formation ready for posting on the night shift. People from the Army were there asking for volunteers to be door gunners on choppers. They said they knew all of us were very familiar with the M60 which we were and that is what they used for the door guns. I thought to Myself at least on the ground I can hide behind something, nothing to hide behind in a chopper. You certainly know if the Army was so desperate to go to another service for crew on their choppers this wasn't a good thing. They didn't even get one volunteer, one voice popped up within the formation , "No one here is that stupid !"