Browse Exhibits (1 total)

Heroes and Hueys: American Choppers of the Vietnam War

UH-1E_of_HAL-3_escorting_PBRs_in_Vietnam_c1968.jpg

While the helicopter saw limited use by the US Armed Forces in both the Second World War and the Korean Conflict, numerous contributing factors in the 1950s and ‘60s, including advances in technology, new and emerging conceptions of air warfare, and the geographic conditions of Vietnam itself helped to further define the battlefield role of the helicopter, allowing this new technology to flourish in the unconventional conditions of the Vietnam War; in the wake of failure by older conceptions of airborne warfare, changing perceptions of battle lines, and as-yet-unseen levels of air superiority, the helicopter emerged victorious as both an invaluable military asset, and as a symbol of the war itself, a lasting cultural icon of Vietnam to the jungle-bound G.I. and the stateside Joe alike.

, , , , ,