Activities of United States Air Forces Cessna O-1E Bird dog Forward Air Controller (FAC) aircraft of the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron at Danang airbase in Vietnam. View of firing on target area from the cockpit of airplane. Aerial view of airplane in flight. Smoke rocket being fired into the jungle. Smoke rising from bomb explosions.
Film starts showing two CH-46A helicopter in flight low over rice paddies during the Vietnam War. View is from another helicopter flying above. An M60 machine gun is seen sticking out of the overflying helicopter. White smoke is rising from some small fires on the ground. Several CH-46 choppers are seen on the ground with rotors turning. Glimpse of M60 machine gun protruding from the overflying camera helicopter. Small fire burning behind the parked choppers. Change of scene shows 4 U.S. jet aircraft in formation. One dives down and drops napalm on a target marked by white smoke. The bomb explodes in a fireball billowing dense smoke. Another jet drops a bomb in wooded area.
Opening slate reads: "Operation Rio Grande" and shows partial date of "11-2....." (The complete date is November 20-27, 1967, when this Search and Destroy mission was launched by the U.S. Marines 5th and 7th Brigades with South Vietnamese forces support during the Vietnam War.) A U.S. Marine jet aircraft dives low and drops a bomb on a Viet Cong position. View from overflying CH-46A helicopter of others maneuvering low over rice paddies, where smoke rises from some small fires, possibly from helicopter M60 machine gun fire. Helicopters parked with rotors turning on a large open field. Helicopters maneuvering low above the ground, and then climbing and departing the area.
Vietnamese people receive rice in Song Mao village from United States CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) organization during Vietnam War. Vietnamese people gathering for rice distribution. Villagers receive rice and they are being finger printed.
View of deserted bunkers at Khe Sanh, Vietnam. United States Marine Corp sleeps leaning against drums with a camouflaged net in the foreground. View of trench dug by the Marines and M-16 Rifle in camouflaged net. Barbed wire around Khe Sanh Combat Base, Vietnam. Wide view of landscape and terrain of the area. (Vietnam War period).
Qui Nhon harbor in Vietnam. A military compound called Camp Goldberg, named for U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Joseph A Goldberg, the pilot of a helicopter shot down by the Viet Cong on July 15, 1962. Within the compound, are seen the Lane and Guthrie maintenance hangars, dedicated to the memories of Sp/5 James Everett Lane, the gunner, and Sp/5 Harold Lee Guthrie, the Crew Chief, both of whom lost their lives with CWO Goldberg. (Reportedly, these were the first U.S. Army Aviation personnel killed in action, in Vietnam. ) (Vietnam War period).