Open Wound by Richert Robert

Author:Richert, Robert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

Bad-Ass Weapons

The Minigun

Fortunately for us grunts, the US military's arsenal of potent weapons vastly outmatched those of the VC and NVA. In addition to the array of small arms we infantry soldiers carried in the field, we sometimes called in artillery and airstrikes. The response was usually rapid, sometimes within a few minutes. I witnessed at close range the destructive power of some of these armaments.

The Cobra attack helicopter is equipped with two M134 Miniguns. This machine gun on steroids features six Gatling-style rotating barrels, and fires up to 4,000 rounds per minute. Its devastating firepower appeared at its most visually spectacular during the night. Every fifth round in the ammo belt is a tracer—a specialized bullet designed to leave a bright red-orange trail in flight, like the exhaust of a rocket. This enables the operator to see the direction of fire under conditions of darkness.

A comparison is in order here: The M60 machine gun we soldiers carried in the field is an ominous weapon, and it fires in rapid succession. However, the Minigun is orders of magnitude more potent. Tracer bullets discharged from the M60 appear as a series of dashes, and one can readily hear the rat-tat-tat sound as each round in the belt fires. In contrast, the Minigun fires so rapidly the trail of tracer light appears uninterrupted, almost like a laser beam, and its sound is a continuous loud, grinding drone.

One night a platoon in our company took fire from near a village. My platoon posted at their right flank awaiting instructions. Our captain called in a Cobra gunship, and it arrived within ten minutes. Hovering at about 200 feet altitude, the helicopter began firing its Minigun almost straight down at the enemy position located about 400 feet away from us. The tracer rounds rained down a curtain of red death. The light tinted the rising smoke pink, and the sounds of the chopper's engines and two Miniguns caused my skin to feel prickly. I turned to my machine gunner Ben and said, "This is scary as hell!"

Ben quickly replied, "Just be glad we aren't on the receiving end of that thing!"

"Yeah," I nodded, "We'd be coleslaw."

After ten minutes, the one-sided battle ended. Thanks to a prompt response by the Cobra and its overwhelming firepower, our company took no fatalities. Five VC were killed.

As our platoon moved out after dawn, Ken asked, "I wonder if we are going up there to check things out?"

I replied with a half grin, "I hope not. I'm not fond of coleslaw."

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