Vietnam chopper movie music professional#

Scraping up money for flying lessons, he soloed at age 16 but lacked the money for enough flying hours to get a license. Johnson went to a state park’s open house at age 14, rode a few minutes in a light airplane, and left the field determined to be a pilot. He was born in Arkansas in 1949, but his mother soon moved the family to Chicago. was the first of the four to touch down in Vietnam, spending his first tour as an enlisted man rather than a helicopter pilot. The fourth suffered years of post-traumatic stress from his Vietnam service-combat that won him a Silver Star for heroism during the disastrous invasion of Laos called Lam Son 719-and eventually died alone in Washington state.Įldridge Johnson Jr. Air Force and National Guard, and finished their flying careers as pilots for major airlines. Helicopters fly over the hotly contested A Shau Valley in 1968.Īfter their Army years, three of the men in the photo flew fixed-wing aircraft in the U.S. Army or were drafted, spent their 365-day tours as combat infantrymen or in support units. Most African-Americans sent to Vietnam, whether they volunteered for the U.S. Although eligible Blacks were drafted at a rate twice that of whites, only a small percentage gained entrance to the officer ranks. All were battle-seasoned helicopter pilots, all were in the same “Condors” unit of the 101st Airborne Division-C Troop, Second Squadron of the Seventeenth Cavalry-and all were Black.įrom archived news reports and documentaries, America’s forces in Vietnam may appear to have been thoroughly integrated in a way that troops in the Korean conflict and World War II were not, but the Vietnam War’s integration happened mostly in the lowest ranks. One of those standouts is a snapshot taken at the Hue Phu Bai base in early 1971, showing four smiling men in fatigues, named Clyde Romero, James Casher, Eldridge Johnson Jr., and Bob Farris.

Vietnam chopper movie music professional#

The Vietnam War entered American living rooms in television footage and newspaper photographs, but some of the most remarkable images were captured by the troops rather than professional shooters.