Actual Helicopter Kills (not for the Squeamish)

[Silent_One]

Saw this over on Bluesnews the other day. Its like watching a train wreck. Shocking.
http://www.btinternet.com/~scuzi/224Helicopter_Kills.mpeg

 

[shanehudson]

Ugh. Every time I hear someone say "don't play violent video games, they desensitize you to violence" I should watch something like this to renew my conviction that I indeed react differently to the "pretend" and the real. I don't think I can make myself watch that again... The horrific face of war, to be sure.

 

[PaulS]

I found it incredibly tame, to be honest. Do we even know if this is real?

 

[shanehudson]

I found it incredibly tame, to be honest. Do we even know if this is real?

No, it wasn't gory. However the inescapable realization that those people were dying at that very moment (and the wounded one while crawling, especially) strike an emotional chord with me. I definitely do NOT "have what it takes" to be a soldier.

 

[DemoCoder]

I think you would feel differently if you thought that those guys were about to point an RPG at you and that they are responsible for killing your buddies. At that point, they would no long register as human beings. We don't really have the perspective of those guys because we have risked nothing and lost no one.

That said, why was the guy at the tractor ripping up some kind of fabric even after his buddy got mowed down? Was he frantically trying to unwrap an RPG that was wrapped in a blanket or something? Or was he trying to make a white flag?

 

[shanehudson]

I think you would feel differently if you thought that those guys were about to point an RPG at you and that they are responsible for killing your buddies. At that point, they would no long register as human beings. We don't really have the perspective of those guys because we have risked nothing and lost no one.

Oh I don't know... the gunner didn't sound hot-blooded at the time, more like they were doing their job.

 

[Humus]

Ugh. Every time I hear someone say "don't play violent video games, they desensitize you to violence" I should watch something like this to renew my conviction that I indeed react differently to the "pretend" and the real. I don't think I can make myself watch that again... The horrific face of war, to be sure.

Fully argee here. I don't react at all to game violence. I very much enjoy playing FPS games. I have a little more trouble watching movie violence, though it's usually fine unless it's very graphic. But watching real world violence affects me way more than any of those and makes me feel all bad inside, even in this case where you don't see any blood or faces, just silhuettes.

 

[Humus]

That said, why was the guy at the tractor ripping up some kind of fabric even after his buddy got mowed down? Was he frantically trying to unwrap an RPG that was wrapped in a blanket or something? Or was he trying to make a white flag?

I reacted at this too. It stroke me as very unnatural. In a situation like that I think panic would be a more natural reaction.

 

[Ty]

That said, why was the guy at the tractor ripping up some kind of fabric even after his buddy got mowed down? Was he frantically trying to unwrap an RPG that was wrapped in a blanket or something? Or was he trying to make a white flag?

(Former) ranger here in my office work surmises waving a flag. They (the guys shot) didn't even know that the Apache(?) was there. No way in hell to retaliate.

 

[Silent_One]

I think you would feel differently if you thought that those guys were about to point an RPG at you and that they are responsible for killing your buddies.

I showed a colleague a work this clip and he said he saw it the other day on TV news. It was reported that they (the ones in the clip) did indeed have RPGs and were setting up when they got hit.

 

[Vince]

(Former) ranger here in my office work surmises waving a flag. They (the guys shot) didn't even know that the Apache(?) was there. No way in hell to retaliate.

I don't believe Democoder is stating that they were capable of shooting at the AH-64, but the difference in reaction between the two men when the first rounds hit would seem to indicate he consciously started working frantically to accomplish something as fragments of earth fell around him; as opposed to his buddy who hit the ground.

 

[Zaphod]

Here's an older one, but just as scary. An AC-130 gunship (think refitted Hercules transport plane) attacking a camp in Afghanistan: 5.5MB WMV or a 35MB Divx.

 

[PC-Engine]

Anyone know why in the beginning of that video, there's gunfire but no targets being hit???

 

[DemoCoder]

The video is much longer. The Apache actually follows these guys around for a long time watching them mess with a RPG-like object. The MPEG contains only the last few seconds.