CH-54A Tarhe in action over Nam
Posted by HysteronProteron1@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 85 comments
Big Mother delivering a 10,000 lb M-121 ‘Daisy Cutter’ bomb during operation ‘Combat Trap’ over Vietnam in 1971.
Craftofthewild@reddit
Poor Vietnamese and Laotians
Stoweboard3r@reddit
I certainly don’t agree with it back in the 60s, 70s, from an overall standpoint but, I don’t think you full understand the Vietnam war. The South Vietnamese fought WITH the U.S.
Spaceinpigs@reddit
I wasn’t alive during the Vietnam war but I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say the SV were fighting with the US. More that they were just going along with it. I don’t think the US understood Vietnam
Craftofthewild@reddit
You’re correct. They were basically conscripted by a series of corrupt puppet leaders that the US and the CIA had installed and in some cases executed. They had no choice, just like the US soldiers who got sent there. I took a college level course on Vietnam from an Ex green beret that was there for two tours, and feel comfortable I am correct in the statement
asmrhead@reddit
LMAO
Craftofthewild@reddit
What are you laughing about lol. It was History of the Vietnam War, taught by a veteran, and satisfied my US history elective. Our Vietnam war was a tragedy and we killed 1-2 million innocent people
Spaceinpigs@reddit
Yeah. When helicopters are dropping off ARVN troops and the door gunners have to A) order the ARVN troops out at gunpoint and B) keep the door guns pointed at them so they don’t shoot you as you lift off, can you really claim they’re working with you?
The South Vietnamese government was corrupt and in it for its own benefit. The people wanted nothing to do with the war and were caught between their corrupt leaders, the US, and the North Vietnamese. Their choice was “which one treats us least bad.” What the NVA did to suspected sympathizers was pretty gruesome but they didn’t napalm entire villages like the US did.
Craftofthewild@reddit
100 percent
Craftofthewild@reddit
I wasn’t talking about the South Vietnamese lol
AlbinOnReddit@reddit
..and all these trees and ecosystem around it. Designated ecocide.
Ok_Mathematician6075@reddit
And yes, before anyone asks, that dangling ball underneath is not a wrecking ball, though I understand the confusion.
CH-67@reddit
Sorta is a wrecking ball
DiverDownChunder@reddit
You will never unsee this:
https://youtu.be/AD9wrUw7VWw
Redmtnmule@reddit
That was just cruel, no one wants to see the hedgehog.
DiverDownChunder@reddit
But we have all seen the Hedgehog prior to this. I reveal in the DVs the fact you know lets me know you know...
/I know that you know that last statement makes zero sense... Judging a guy thats posted Ron Jeremy singing Wrecking Ball.
Have I taken crazy pills?
ZappBrannigansLaw@reddit
Thats how we know it was a boy helicopter.
Tom0714nw@reddit
"Was" ?
ZappBrannigansLaw@reddit
I assume it's a man helicopter now
HeadMelon@reddit
Phoenix quietly delivering men’s ED products to your home in a brown envelope.
Double_Resort_9223@reddit
Great plan, Kissinger
DiverDownChunder@reddit
Thats a "Fuck you in particular" weapon.
Notchersfireroad@reddit
Daisy Cutter making a landing spot.
5043090@reddit
That’s what I thought but thanks for posting!
One-Pea-6947@reddit
How did choppers avoid ground fire and SAMs in nam?
real_pasta@reddit
Why put a parachute on the bomb? To slow it down long enough for the helicopter to get safely far enough away?
Elean0rZ@reddit
Don't take this as gospel but as I understand it:
These exist to create clearings in the jungle to allow helicopters to land, not to blow up enemy infrastructure per se. They're heavy af (~15,000 lbs), and, although they could be deployed from a Tarhe as seen here, they could also be deployed from a C-130. The bombs were too heavy to be pushed out of a herc by normal means, so they used the same method as other kinds of "airdrops"--a parachute that pulled the bomb and the pallet it was mounted on right out the back of the plane.
Separately, they actively didn't want a crater at the blast site, meaning that the bomb had to detonate at a very precise height above the ground, and with its charge in a very specific orientation. On both counts, the parachute was highly beneficial.
So when deployed from a fixed-wing the parachute served an additional purpose, but it was necessary to the bomb's proper functioning regardless.
basinbasinbasin@reddit
It's funny how this sub is basically just the contemporary version of the history channel I grew up on as a kid in the 80s and 90s. Keep up the good work.
BiggestBallOfTwine@reddit
BRING BACK THAT VERSION OF THE HISTORY CHANNEL! “Best I can do is more conspiracy shows, aliens, and pawn stars”
Old-GliderGuider@reddit
You are correct. The nickname for these bombs is “ Daisy Cutter”. I watched one blow up in the central Highlands of Vietnam in late 1972. We flew past the spot about an hour later & saw the effect. It looked like someone was playing the game of “pickup sticks”. Those 100’ high trees were all flat on the ground & stripped of foliage. Impressive. When it exploded it reminded me of the film of a nuclear explosion—large roiling cloud climbing in the sky.
Tight_Hedgehog_6045@reddit
I absolutely love it when people with real lived experience comment. Thank you very muchly.
Spin737@reddit
That comment is why we’re here.
Tight_Hedgehog_6045@reddit
Indeed. It's when the oldies can chip in with some proper anecdotes, though. I love that. It's history that isn't recorded anywhere else. You can't see or read the comments in a documentary, for example. It's one of the very few reasons I stay on Reddit.
ReturnOfTheSaint14@reddit
I read a story about the usage of Daisy Cutter in the Gulf War,i'd probably skip some pieces or alter some stuff because my memory is kinda hazy right now.
Essentially the Coalition knew the Iraqis set up a massive minefield near the Kuwaiti shoreline,and since they wanted to know the location the US started doing psyops by setting a radio broadcast. They then dropped pamphlets saying "we will drop the biggest conventional bomb here at sundown,defect since you'll have the time"
Basically no Iraqi defected so at sundown they loaded a Daisy Cutter onto a MC-130 Combat Talon and dropped it on the supposed location of the minefield. The explosion was so loud and the mushroom so big a nearby SAS detachment screamed over the radio "Holy shit! The Americans just used a tactical nuke!"
The morning after,the US dropped other pamphlets saying "we will drop another bomb this sundown if you don't defect,and we know where you are now". Some hours later,most of the Iraqis in the zone defected and they even brought the plans of the minefield,so that the US now knew the safe passages to use when the amphibious assault began.
HysteronProteron1@reddit (OP)
M-121s were modified/converted Tallboy (Tritanol filled) bombs from the 50s—10,000 lbs. BLU-82/As used GSX, weighed 15000+ lbs and had more advanced fuzing, etc. Commando Vault involved the development/production of the BLU-82 and Combat Trap was the actual use of both munitions in combat. C-130s dropped BLU-82/Bs on all sorts of targets….
Elean0rZ@reddit
Thanks. I've edited the original comment to clarify this. (Was just giving an armchair answer, so hopefully it passes the increased scrutiny it's unexpectedly now receiving.)
HysteronProteron1@reddit (OP)
Good job. You’ve pretty much covered everything without straying into classified territory.
itsaheem@reddit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_upy14pesi4
travhimself@reddit
Awesome details. Thanks!
Correct_Inspection25@reddit
Also used to slow it down enough to not damage the structure of the bomb/fuse/etc. Daisy cutters are different than bunker busters.
Ok_Mathematician6075@reddit
The CH-54 Tarhe, nicknamed the "Sky Crane," was one of the most distinctive and capable heavy-lift helicopters of the Vietnam era. That underslung load in the image really shows off what made it special: the ability to carry virtually anything externally, from artillery pieces to disabled aircraft to entire field hospitals.
It saved a lot of lives and equipment during the war, often flying into hostile territory to recover downed helicopters that would otherwise have been lost. There's something quietly powerful about a machine designed not to fight, but to retrieve, to bring things and people back.
zander9669@reddit
Let me guess, you're american? Only an american would claim they are peaceful on a video of them dropping a bomb lmfao
Ok_Mathematician6075@reddit
F*ck off
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Bopping_Shasket@reddit
Waste of space slop. You've made yourself look a fool.
should_be_writing@reddit
Bro what? This video literally shows it dropping a bomb to destroy and kill.
Ok_Mathematician6075@reddit
Fine. Bomb and destroy shit.
should_be_writing@reddit
Youre the one claiming how beautiful it is. It’s a weapon of war stop glorifying it.
Ok_Mathematician6075@reddit
I'm just letting you bomb this
Dapper_Brain_9269@reddit
Quietly powerful? You've never been around a helicopter, have you, ChatGPT?
Ok_Mathematician6075@reddit
Hahahahahha Claude. Get the LLM right.
Ok_Mathematician6075@reddit
Rude, who negated me, read on folks.
Dapper_Brain_9269@reddit
Your brain is just karma-farming mush by this point, pal.
Dapper_Brain_9269@reddit
Why not not use an LLM?
Ok_Mathematician6075@reddit
Because if you are using a consumer variation it trains on your prompts, duh.
Ok_Mathematician6075@reddit
Nope but small and big planes if that makes me sound a little cooler. Hahaha...
alsaad@reddit
Jesus, just think about environmental damage in that war.
We always think people, and rightly so,but flora and fauna? They were the first to go.
Corn_Kernel@reddit
Well, and agent orange affected the people, too. There are still folks walking around in Vietnam who were horribly affected by it; I met one affected man in Hanoi who made a living selling newspapers and the locals let me know how he became disabled. One of the first times I'd felt personally, truly sorry for what my country had done. Whole country will make you feel that way, though. It was amazing how little animosity they had towards Americans. God help you if you were French, though.
halcyon_aporia@reddit
We weee on a small canoe trip in Southern Vietnam in 2019. The jungle was/is absolutely beautiful, while being incredibly dense. The river we were in would open up into these great ponds that were good spots to rest and gave us better views of the surroundings.
I asked our guide, what kind of geological formations would create these perfectly circular ponds because it was a little uncanny. He replied that every pond we had seen, and there were dozens of them, were bomb craters left over from the war.
It’s very sad what such a beautiful place and beautiful people went through. It’s very sad how many American boys died there for nothing.
CRSCandMedThrowaway@reddit
Need one of those for snake control in my back yard.
GrapefruitLogical426@reddit
Daisy cutter isn’t 🤷 To make a landing zone
general_blightmaw@reddit
Jesus Christ
DeedsF1@reddit
Right?!
BirdLooter@reddit
right!
Sabatorius@reddit
You’re bloody well right.
FluffyDeer9323@reddit
You’ve got a bloody right to say.
on3day@reddit
Right..
Dolmetscher1987@reddit
r/YourJokeButWorse
AJFrabbiele@reddit
Most of that was moisture condensing from the pressure wave, but also still a big bomb.
Horatio-Leafblower@reddit
Ah. Cluster bombing! America the great.
usec47@reddit
And they still didn't win it?
sputnikmonolith@reddit
One poor monkey.
Comprehensive_Bid@reddit
Instant LZ
YouTube video short: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/poCyK0ExTns
Cake-Over@reddit
Those helicopters are still flying putting out wildfires
TheRealLiviux@reddit
What Americans need to cut some daisies, you can bet the first choice is some kind of bomb.
pow3llmorgan@reddit
I believe they affectionately called this bomb "The Daisy cutter"
HysteronProteron1@reddit (OP)
It’s a nickname that stuck… The daisy cutter is actually the long fuse that protrudes from the bomb… Fuses like that are used for above ground or soft ground detonations—there are many variations of them used for different purposes.
Foreign-Pear-2323@reddit
Good Ole daisy cutter there
PcGoDz_v2@reddit
Ohhh. Niceee.
Vast_Engineering_626@reddit
This is just tragic
mattblack77@reddit
I don’t think those are Christmas presents
gizcard@reddit
Let's drop 1000 of these on Moscow
aviation-ModTeam@reddit
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Elean0rZ@reddit
Don't take this as gospel but as I understand it:
These exist to create clearings in the jungle to allow helicopters to land. They're heavy af (~15,000 lbs), and, although they could be deployed from a Tarhe as seen here, they could also be deployed from a C-130. The bombs were too heavy to be pushed out of a herc by normal means, so they used the same method as other kinds of "airdrops"--a parachute that pulled the bomb and the pallet it was mounted on right out the back of the plane.
Separately, they actively didn't want a crater at the blast site, meaning that the bomb had to detonate at a very precise height above the ground, and with its charge in a very specific orientation. On both counts, the parachute was highly beneficial.
So when deployed from a fixed-wing the parachute served an additional purpose, but it was necessary to the bomb's proper functioning regardless.
youcanteatcatskevn@reddit
How. Rude.