SHORT: The Door Gunner

 

                         I recently joined Vetstream TV in order to watch “The Door Gunner” which is a short documentary on door gunners in Vietnam.  It appears to have been made around 1965, but was actually  made in 1972.  I make this observation because it makes no reference to the nasty nature of the war at that time.   The short lasts 27 minutes (or more if you have buffering problem like me).  Prior to his documentary, I associated door gunners with the character in “Full Metal Jacket”.  Most of you have seen the famous scene where Tim Colceri blasts away indiscriminately as the Huey passes over rice paddies.  He explains that anyone who runs is a VC and anyone who doesn’t is a well-disciplined VC.  When asked how he can shoot women and children, his famous response is “Easy -  you just don’t lead them as much!”  (Tim Colceri got the role as a sop for losing the role of the drill sergeant to R. Lee Ermey.)  The public’s perception of door gunners as being trigger happy has been established by several movies.

                        The documentary is the opposite of “Full Metal Jacket”.  It is narrated by an actual door gunner in Vietnam.  In the flat tone of a high school biology teacher, he takes the audience from training to combat.  He starts in Hawaii where he volunteers to leave the cushy life to become a door gunner.  Why?  Because he wants to see action.  And for a good cause, because the U.S. is fighting to allow the South Vietnamese people to choose their form of government.  Or so he was told.  He has to pass a medical exam which includes checking out his heart.  Apparently, heart attacks are possible on this job.  He also needs good hearing and eyesight.  He passes so it’s off to training with the “mechanical beast” -  the Huey.  His third arm will be the M-60.  He goes through survival training.  (The movie does not mention that the odds of his mechanical beast being shot down were high.)  Julie Andrews pays a visit to boost morale.  “The hills are alive with the sound of machine guns.”  Then it’s off to the Nam.  He goes on his first mission, which is uneventful.  He outlines the jobs of a Huey -  medevac (which is a popular time for VC to shoot them up), bringing supplies, supporting convoys, and fire support for troops in a bind.

                        “The Door Gunner” is the type of movie that if you are a baby boomer, you can hear the clacking of the movie projector when you watch it.  It is a film that would have been used in an ROTC classroom back in the 1960’s (and yes they had ROTC in high schools back then).  And the deadpan narration will take you back to falling asleep to the monotone narration of almost all documentaries from then.  He does crack some jokes, but you wouldn’t know it from the tone of his voice.  However, the film does work well as an explanation of what a door gunner was and the various aspects of the job.  I can imagine guys (sorry gals, no openings for females) deciding what could be better than being a sniper riding in a helicopter?!  While fighting for democracy, of course.

GRADE =  C