VN182 The ‘Door Gunner’

Another important member of many HUEY flight crews were the “Door Gunners’, and most ‘HUEYS’ had two door gunners. They would fly approximately four to five missions weekly with much of their work being above the Central Highlands of South Vietnam.
Most gunners operated the M60 machine gun although several other weapons were utilized and operated on HUEYS.
As expected door gunners would frequently be the target of enemy fire and suffered a high number of casualties.
Our figure is either walking to his helicopter or perhaps returning from a mission. In one hand he holds his M60, in the other a can of 7.62 ammunition.
On the helicopter itself the official amount of 7.62 ammunition carried was 1,000 rounds of disintegrating, metallic split-link amounting to 500 rounds per gun. Often individual gunners would carry an extra 100-200 additional rounds.
Maybe our figure here is carrying some of those extra rounds in his ammo box.