Vietnam War Bibliography: Xin Loi, Viet Nam - Al Sever - Memoir Army helicopter crew member
Presidio Press Book, 2002, 322 pages, glossary of military terms, ISBN 0-7394-60005
Editorial comment:
No one in Vietnam had to tell door gunner and gunship crew chief Al Sever that the odds didn’t look good. He volunteered for the job well aware that hanging out of slow-moving choppers over hot LZs blazing with enemy fire was not conducive to a long life. But that wasn’t going to stop Specialist Sever.
Cadawalader Review:
From Da Nang to Cu Chi and the Mekong Delta, Sever spent thirty-one months in Vietnam, fighting in eleven of the war’s sixteen campaigns. Every morning when his gunship lifted off, often to the clacking and muzzle flashes of AK-47s hidden in the dawn fog, Sever knew he might not return. This raw, gritty, gut-wrenching firsthand account of American boys fighting and dying in Vietnam captures all the hell, horror, and heroism of that tragic war.In June 1966 author Al Sever graduated from high school and joined the Army. Enlisting in the military provides the individual with an important advantage over draftees; they usually get a slot in a technician school. His real motivation was to fly in a helicopter gun ship so he could experience combat as a door gunner. There was no "school" for door gunners so Sever was trained as a helicopter repair technician and shipped off to Viet Nam. After several months repairing shot up helicopters and making a nuisance of himself requesting transfers to a gun ship crew he finally achieved his goal. The vivid descriptions of his aerial combat experiences certainty add credence to the old saying "be careful what you ask for you might just get it". Like the vast majority of us "armchair warriors' I have never stepped inside a helicopter. The author's descriptive accounts of his duties and experiences as a door gunner are graphic and compelling. At some point all soldiers must reflecting upon the uncertainty combat subjects one too. The author ruminates about the ambiguous position he found himself in. It was difficult enough for the foot soldiers to tell the innocent villagers from the VC so how the hell could he make the distinction from a moving aerial perch. The old saw "kill them all and let God sort them out" or "Xin Loi" is the only answer to this anguishing conundrum. After his tour in Viet Nam Sever was returned to the United States and was discharged from the Army. He had experienced numerous aerial firefights and saw the grisly aftermath of combat. So it is somewhat amazing that after a year as a civilian he re-enlisted with the stipulation that he return to Viet-Nam and be assigned to helicopter combat squadron. Considering the attrition of gun ship crews he was extremely fortunate to have survived thirty-one months of combat duty. The helicopter played a critical role the Army's combat strategy in Viet Nam. This book helps us understand how that strategy was employed and the valiant men who carried it out. The term "Xin Loi" according to the author is the only Vietnamese phrase a lot of soldiers knew. It was the standard reply to any of the multitude of the unfathomable circumstances soldiers faced in Viet Nam. It could mean "sorry about that", "why me?" or "F#&* this place" and many others.
Vietnam War Bibliography: Xin Loi, Viet Nam - Al Sever - Memoir Army helicopter crew member
Presidio Press Book, 2002, 322 pages, glossary of military terms, ISBN 0-7394-60005
Editorial comment:
No one in Vietnam had to tell door gunner and gunship crew chief Al Sever that the odds didn’t look good. He volunteered for the job well aware that hanging out of slow-moving choppers over hot LZs blazing with enemy fire was not conducive to a long life. But that wasn’t going to stop Specialist Sever.
Cadawalader Review:
From Da Nang to Cu Chi and the Mekong Delta, Sever spent thirty-one months in Vietnam, fighting in eleven of the war’s sixteen campaigns. Every morning when his gunship lifted off, often to the clacking and muzzle flashes of AK-47s hidden in the dawn fog, Sever knew he might not return. This raw, gritty, gut-wrenching firsthand account of American boys fighting and dying in Vietnam captures all the hell, horror, and heroism of that tragic war.In June 1966 author Al Sever graduated from high school and joined the Army. Enlisting in the military provides the individual with an important advantage over draftees; they usually get a slot in a technician school. His real motivation was to fly in a helicopter gun ship so he could experience combat as a door gunner. There was no "school" for door gunners so Sever was trained as a helicopter repair technician and shipped off to Viet Nam. After several months repairing shot up helicopters and making a nuisance of himself requesting transfers to a gun ship crew he finally achieved his goal. The vivid descriptions of his aerial combat experiences certainty add credence to the old saying "be careful what you ask for you might just get it". Like the vast majority of us "armchair warriors' I have never stepped inside a helicopter. The author's descriptive accounts of his duties and experiences as a door gunner are graphic and compelling. At some point all soldiers must reflecting upon the uncertainty combat subjects one too. The author ruminates about the ambiguous position he found himself in. It was difficult enough for the foot soldiers to tell the innocent villagers from the VC so how the hell could he make the distinction from a moving aerial perch. The old saw "kill them all and let God sort them out" or "Xin Loi" is the only answer to this anguishing conundrum. After his tour in Viet Nam Sever was returned to the United States and was discharged from the Army. He had experienced numerous aerial firefights and saw the grisly aftermath of combat. So it is somewhat amazing that after a year as a civilian he re-enlisted with the stipulation that he return to Viet-Nam and be assigned to helicopter combat squadron. Considering the attrition of gun ship crews he was extremely fortunate to have survived thirty-one months of combat duty. The helicopter played a critical role the Army's combat strategy in Viet Nam. This book helps us understand how that strategy was employed and the valiant men who carried it out. The term "Xin Loi" according to the author is the only Vietnamese phrase a lot of soldiers knew. It was the standard reply to any of the multitude of the unfathomable circumstances soldiers faced in Viet Nam. It could mean "sorry about that", "why me?" or "F#&* this place" and many others.