Gun Camera Film of Forrest Fenn

[Ματθιας]

Forrest Fenn (August 22, 1930 – September 7, 2020) was a pilot in the United States Air Force, obtaining the rank of Major. He was awarded the Silver Star for his service in the Vietnam War where he flew 328 combat missions in 365 days.

He later ran an art gallery in Santa Fe, NM, and hid his famous "Fenn Treasure".

In this YouTube video, Fenn talks about his gun Vietnam gun camera footage. He flew an F-100.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS3woNW_5ks[/ame]

 

[Rudi]

Amazing! They were never going to surrender. Never, that's why they won. Breaks my heart.

 

[Harrison]

Some of those bring back memories. From a grunts view of CAS.

 

[Greyman50]

We " walked away" in Vietnam almost like the " Stan". Politics pure plain and simple.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

WOW , What gun photos. Many Thanks.

 

[Sistema1927]

My heart aches a bit for some of those bombs falling on hamlets.

 

[Retired W4]

Defines the C in CAS.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Great aerial footage. As a grunt on the ground we had a completely different point of view.

Fenn speaks about rockets, "inaccurate", "shotgunning the field". More than once I was in, or very close to those fields. Not fun. Rockets were frequently used in the close air support role, and lots of us on the ground caught chunks.

Fenn comments on the B52 arc light strikes, multiple heavy bombers each dropping over a hundred 750-lb bombs. On the ground the blast shock waves were felt miles away. Headaches could persist for days afterward. Fenn also mentions "BDA", bomb damage assessment, evaluating the damage caused by the strike. We were sometimes tasked with "ABA surveys", after battle action surveys, going in on the ground to evaluate the damage. Frequently impossible to hike into the target areas, literally walls of debris pushed out from the impact areas.

Long time ago and a long way from home. I'm glad the jet jockeys were on our side, even after some very close calls.

 

[Imissedagain]

My first chore was wiring up the B52G gunnery simulator,
at Castle in '67.
When I asked about the film to project an image on
the Sim, as to what kept the actual cameras from not
fogging up when flying, the MSgt replied, that's why the
Sim rarely was used, until now.
Arc Light crews spent time at Castle before heading out.

A SAM almost kissed a 52 goodnight in late '68.
I was tasked with duplicating what the Gunner
saw on his scope.
Then programing the B52H sim.

Nothing like going up for a ride in that big War Bird.
Spent time in the right seat.
No hammerheads allowed, said the IP.

Sadly the Aero Clubs P51s were out of action,
but having fun, doing stupid tricks in a Piper,
another near death adventure.