"Guns A Go-Go"

http://www.coincommunity.org/galler...hp?pos=-9535

A recent win on ebay. The 228th Aviation Battalion was attached to 1st Cav and they transported troops in CH-47's. But the battalion also had the 53rd Aviation detachment known as "Guns a Go-Go." These were four modified CH-47's nicknamed "Birth Control," "Cost of Living," "Stump Jumper," and "Easy Money." They were heavily armored as the CH-47's were capable of carrying a lot of weight. And they were armed with 20mm guns, 40mm grenade launchers and 2.75 rockets. They escorted the other CH-47's. Those who dispensed ground fire on the CH-47's in the early days got a bit of shock when a CH-47 now called a ACH-47 started flinging some rockets back at them.

All four ships were eventually lost. One during Tet, one that had a ground collision, one that was targeted with mortars while on the ground for servicing and the last one shot up its own forward rotor with a 20mm. Apparently a retaining pin that kept the 20mm from elevating too high sheared off or fell out and the gunner ended up hacking apart the rotor and they went in.

At least one pilot got lucky in all this. He had rotated back to the U.S two days before Tet. It was his former ship that got shot down during the Tet offensive.