Issue 30-06 ~ November/December 2012

© 2012 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association. All rights reserved.

IINN TTHHIISS IISSSSUUEEChristmas Lights.....................................5

Christmas Eve Mission Recap...............14

Welcome to the VHPA...........................16

Looking For ..........................................22

VHPA’ers in the News...........................24

VHPA Chapter Activities..................25-28

TAPS.................................................29-34

New Orleans, after the 2012 Reunion...38

The Newsletter of The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots AssociationThe Newsletter of The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association

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Join the Jokers, the Gunship Pilots of the 48th Assault HelicopterCompany (Blue Stars), for Thanksgiving Day Dinner in 1970, courtesyof Joker 94, Rick Lester. His story starts on page 4 of this, our 2012edition of our annual Christmas in Vietnam issue of the VHPA Aviator.

THE VHPA AVIATOR, THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE VIETNAM HELICOPTER PILOTSASSOCIATION (ISSN 1930-5737) (USPS 001-497) is published six times yearly ~ January, March, May,July, September & November. The VHPA is organized as a 501 (c ) (19) fraternal military organizationand one copy of each newsletter is included in each of our Member’s Dues, yearly subscriptions to the Avi-ator are available to non-members for $36.00. Published by See David Adams, Enterprises, LLC, 2900

Arbor Court, Round Rock, Texas, 78681 for the VHPA, headquartered at 2100 N. Highway 360, Suite 907,Grand Prairie, TX 75050. Periodicals Publications postage paid at Round Rock, Texas and additional mail-

ing points. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 2900 Arbor Court, Round Rock, TX 78681

Page 2 The VHPA Aviator

E-mail items to The Aviator at: Aviator@vhpa.org

AVIATOR PRIVACY STATEMENTThe VHPA Aviator contains member privacy information the VHPA considers proprietary and confidential.

This information, including but not limited to the VHPA Chapter list, shall not be used forcommercial solicitation purposes or for any correspondence related thereto without prior

written authorization from the VHPA president. Correspondence relating to commercial purposesor solicitations shall only be sent to the VHPA Officers, Committee Chairmen and/or Staff listed in this publication.

As I mentioned in the Annual Business Meeting in NewOrleans, the 2012 issue of the VHPACalendar sold out muchearlier thanthepublisherexpectedorevendesired. Perhaps read-ers of the Aviator responded well to the idea in the Christmas2011 issue to “doyourChristmasShoppingHere”? Butbecauseof thatearly sell-out,AcclaimPress increasedtheprintrunforthe2013 calendars by 200 and they have enjoyed strong sales sincetheybeganshippingtheminmid-June.Themessage here is, if you procrastinate ordering your copy ofthe 2013 VHPA Calendar until after Christmas – well, theymightalreadybesoldoutandyouwillbedisappointed.Just tobe clear, theVHPACalendar is not sold solely tomem-bers of the VHPA, it is offered for sale to anyone directly fromthe publisher, Acclaim Press (by calling 1-877-427-2665). TheVHPA does receive a royalty from the sales but that money ismostly used to off-set the expenses of developing the sourcematerial for thenext issue. Whatdowe in theVHPAgetoutofit? Mostly we get someone else paying for enhancing and pre-servingourownphotographic imagesoftheVietnamWar.Wealsoget someprettygreatpublicityandafewnewmembersas the true goal of the VHPACalendar project is to refresh thememories of all those who flew and worked on helicopters inSoutheastAsia during theVietnamWarEra, and to record, pre-serve anddisplay the events and activities thatwere important toveterans of that era. After all, there is something special whenyouseeabeautiful, full color,11”x17”glossyphotoofahelicopteryoumight have flown inVietnam! Sometimes you can “almostsmell theJP-4”again!ThisDecember I’ll finish preparing the sourcematerial for the2014 issue.My standard invitation is that if youhave some reallyneat photos from your tour that “deserve the appreciation of awider audience” – get in touchwithme303-988-7797 or calen-dar@vhpa.org. That really neat 35mm slide in the box in theback of your closet just might put a smile on lots of faces andmake you famous! And you’ll be helping record and preserveourhistory.

CCoonncceerrnniinngg tthhee VVHHPPAA CCaalleennddaarrbbyy MMiikkee LLaaww

Christmas Day Medivac 1968By VHPA Member Sherman Malkerson

It was early in the morning of December 25, 1968. I was in the company ReadyRoom, in Da Nang, my mission…on-call Medivac. The phone rings at about02:00 AM, we launch our CH-46 and head west towards Liberty Bridge.We are guided down into an LZ next to a small village by a Marine armed withonly with a flashlight, there we picked up a Vietnamese woman who was havingdifficulty delivering her baby. We flew back to Da Nang and dropped her off atthe Naval Hospital and were back in the reventments by 05:00 AM. And while Idon’t know for sure, I suspect the child was successfully delivered by one of ourNaval Doctors early on that Christmas Day, the same day as the day of the birth ofChrist, 1968 years earlier.

Never does a Christmas go by that I don’t think of that mission.

1st LT Sherman P. Malkerson, USMCHMM-164, Vietnam 1968-1969E-Mail: SMalkerson@cchaseco.com

President John SorensenVice President Bill "Moon" MullenPast President Mike LawMembers At LargeSenior Member Bob HesselbeinMidterm Member Clyde RomeroJunior Member John ShaferSecretary/Treasurer Tom PayneFounder Larry ClarkVHPA NATIONAL COMMITTEES AND THEIR CHAIRMENChapter Liaison John “Jack” SalmHistorical Mike SlonikerInvestment Bob SmithMembership Mike SheuermanNational Reunion Mike LawPublic Relations/Publications Bob HesselbeinRecords/Database Gary RoushSponsorship/Fundraising Bill "Moon" MullenVHPA Calendar Project Mike Law, EditorVHPA Membership Directory Gary Roush, EditorVHPA Memory Map Project Ron BowerVHPA Scholarship Program Tom PayneVHPA Aviator Newsletter David Adams, Editor

VHPA SUPPORTLegal Advisor Mike PoindexterInvestment Advisor Bob Potvin

VHPA HEADQUARTERS1-800-505-VHPA (8472)

VHPA ELECTRONIC MAIL ADDRESSESVHPA Headquarters HQ@VHPA.orgPresident of The VHPA President@VHPA.orgVHPA Secretary/Treasurer Bandit32@cox.netVHPA Chapter Liaison Johnsalmjr@aol.comHistorical Chairman MikeSloniker@yahoo.comMembership Chairman Membership@VHPA.orgNational Reunion Chairman Reunion@VHPA.orgPublic Relations/Publications BEANER1138@aol.comRecords/Database Roush@VHPA.orgVHPA Calendar Project Calendar@VHPA.orgVHPA Membership Directory Editor Roush@VHPA.orgVHPA Memory Map Project Ron@BowerHelicopter.comVHPA Scholarships Program Bandit32@cox.netVHPA Aviator Newsletter Aviator@VHPA.org

Official Web Site of the VHPAwww.VHPA.org

VHPA OFFICERSCommittee Chairmenand Staff ~ 2012-2013 Did you notice that over 100 aviators are

listed in the last issue of The VHPA Aviatoras new members of the VHPA? That is notonly an amazing number, but is indicative ofthe work being done by Sherry Rodgers,Mike Sheuerman and others. To all thosenew members, welcome home, and welcometo the VHPA. My sincere hope is that youfind everything you’re looking for in ourAssociation. The camaraderie, the fun and fellowship areunequalled. But let’s not let it end there. If you are a Chapter Presi-dent, contact those new members in your state, or area, and invitethem to join your chapter and to participate in chapter activities. If,on the other hand, you are a new member, living where no localchapter exists, why not consider starting one? You can feel free tocontact Jack Salm, our Chapter Liaison Officer, or me for informa-tion and assistance in getting started.

As this issue of The VHPAAviator reaches our homes, we find our-selves in the midst of the 2012 holiday season. We all remember thoseThanksgiving and Christmas days spent in Vietnam, away from ourhomes, our friends, andour family, and thosewho shared thoseholidayswith us, forever etched in our memories. While reflecting on thosememories, we can be grateful for all the freedoms we enjoy today, andfor those serving our country, preserving those freedoms and ourway oflife. So, frommyhome to yours, ourwishes are for a veryMerryChrist-mas andahappy,healthy, andprosperousNewYear.

As we turn the corner and enter the year 2013, we look toward the30th Annual VHPA Reunion in San Francisco. This will be at leastthe second to be held in “the city by the bay”, and the third in the bayarea. All have been well attended and well supported in the past, andour expectation is that this one will be also. We realize that someamongst us harbor hard feelings from the past. I, too, returned fromVietnam toTravis AFB, and flew to the east coast out of San FranciscoInternationalAirport, and experiencedmany of the same thoughts andemotions as others. However, I have made two recent trips to SanFrancisco, along with others, as we prepare for our reunion, and ourreception and support has been tremendous, positive, and heart warm-ing. Those who support our efforts, from the hotel staff, the tour busdrivers, excursion guides, and others, all want us to have a successful,enjoyable, and memorable reunion. San Francisco offers lots of fun,great food, andmany unforgettable tours. Please try to put those hurt-ful memories behind you and plan on joining us for a lot of fun andcamaraderie. I feel certain you’ll be glad youdid!

Lastly, please allow me to express a personal note. As we travelthrough our life’s journey, our path is often crossed by the path ofothers. Sometimes the paths of others will overlay ours, just as areaswhere our nation’s highways coincide. When this happens in life,that person often impacts our life in unforgettable ways. For me,such a person is VHPA Life Member Roy Sudeck. Roy wouldbecome my mentor in Vietnam, and life-long friend afterwards.Today, he faces the devastation of cancer, and battles those challengeseach day with the same valor and determination he showed in com-bat. Roy Sudeck has served our nation, and his fellow man coura-geously, and he is in my thoughts and prayers. I would ask each ofyou to remember him, and so many others, in your prayers. ThankyouRoy. MayGodBless You,Gayle, and your family.

From John Sorensen,President of the VHPA

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Myfather “encouraged”me to keep a journal as I left home tojointheArmy. AsacareermilitarymanwhowasawardedtheSil-ver Star at Omaha Beach with the 1st Infantry Division onD-Day and then served inKorea andVietnam, he has always beenmy personal hero. He toldme, as I was preparing to deploy toVietnam,thatIwouldexperienceeventsincombatthatwouldbedifficult to understand and evenmore difficult to explain to thelayman. He said Iwouldhave twochoices, let those eventshangoverme like a dark cloud andhamper everything I attempted inlife,orletthemtempermelikegoodsteelandbecomestrongerforenduringthem. Thelatteriswhathedemandedofme.He also spoke of the friendships thatwould be formedundertryingconditionsandsaidtheword“bonding”reallywouldn’tcomeclosetoexplain-ingtheir strength. Hetriedtoexplain,butthensaidIwouldonlyknowwhathewastalking about after I had faced my own fears while enduring the violence of waralongsidemy comrades. He also toldme that in combatmy timewouldn’t bemyownand theoperational tempoofbattle and thephysical andmental strainofdailylife or death challenges wouldmake it easy to sort of rationalize not maintaining aroutineor, tono longer see as apriority, those codeshehadmademybrothers and Ilive by. Hemademe promise, that at some time during the day I would closemyeyes, thinkofmyGod,sayourfamilyprayer,remembermypersonalstandards,ordermy thoughts and purge them intomy journal. He said one day that wouldmeansomethingtome,helpmetocopewithmyexperiencesandallowmetomoreclearlyunderstandwhathehadbeentryingtoteachme.I did asmyDad asked, although, because of the operational tempohe spoke of, attimesthenotesformyjournalwhichhadbeenhastilyscribbledon3x5cards,C-rationmealboxesor logbookpagesweresometimes just slippedintoapageofmyjournal tobetranscribedlater. WhenIlookthroughthepagesofmyjournalIrealizeI“capturedtime” and the notes clarify recollections ofmissions, geographic locations andwhat Itreasuremost,thememoryofthosemenwithwhomIhadthehonorofserving.Ihavebeenreviewingmy journalhoping topresenta story forTheAviator’sHoli-day edition and decided to use an email I posted on the 48th Assault HelicopterCompany’sreflectorpage. Iwasassignedtothatunitonmysecondtour inVietnam,andas theendof that tourwasdrawingnear, theunitwasorderedtomovenorthtoDongHa to stage for amajor operationwhichwe thoughtwas going to be amoveintoNorthVietnam to attempt the rescue of POW’s. I requested an extension toremainincountrysoIcouldbeapartofthismissionandwasthenassignedtoserveastheOfficer InChargeof theunit’s initialmove fromNinhHoa,north toDongHatoestablishoperational statuswith the223rdAviationBattalion. A fewdaysbeforewe departed, we received our briefing about the operation thatwould be known asLAMSON719.Mystory isaboutoneofthepilotswhoservedwithmeintheJokerGunPlatoon,amannamedEdmondBilbrey. He and Iquickly becameclose friends and aswe gottoknoweachother,hetoldmeabouthowhehadmethiswife,Karen,andhowtheyhad only been married a short time before his deployment to Vietnam. He hadplanneda twoweek leave to return toNewMexico to spendtimewith isnewbrideand, as the date for his leave was drawing near, his excitement about getting homebecamethecenterofconservationasweflewtogether. Theunitwasworkinghardtoprepare for themovenorthandtheapprehensionabout the threatwewouldbe fac-ing inLaosgaveourefforts anenhanced levelof intensity. AsEdheardstories aboutwhat theunitwouldbeupagainstonLAMSON719,hedecidedtocancelhis leavewithout telling therestofus, instead, leadingus tobelieve the importanceof themis-sion had caused his leave to be canceled. I spokewith our admin officer, Ron Put-nam,andfoundoutthiswasEd’s ideabecausehedidn’twantto leaveusshorthand-edfortheupcomingoperation.I worked a deal with Ron andwe reinstated Ed’s leave without telling him. Justbeforewewere to depart forDongHa, I woke Ed up early onemorning, when hewasn’t scheduled to fly, and toldhimwehada "shortnotice"mission to support the92dAssaultHelicopterCompanyatDongBaThin. Ihurriedhimoutofhishoochand down to the flight line and then packed his kit bag with what I thought hewouldhavebeen takingon leave, alongwith a few itemshehadpackaged tomail tohis wife. I stopped by the orderly roomon theway to the flight line, picked up his

leaveformandsignedhimoutonleave. IdroppedEd'skitbagnearourrevet-mentandasheandIstrappedin,thecrewchiefdiscreetlyplaceditintheaircraft.Irecordedthestoryinmyjournal,“Weheadedsouth,butdivertedtoCamRanhBayandthe14thAerialPortTerminal. EdaskedwhatwasgoingonandItoldhimwehadtocompleteanadminmissionenroute toDongBaThin. Aswe landednear the ter-minal I asked him to get out of the aircraft and come tomywindow to take somepaperworkinside. Aboutthesametimethecrewchiefplacedhisbagoutsidethedoor,IthentoldEdweweretherebecausehewasgoinghomeonleave. Hewasshocked,andrespondedbystatingthat ‘they‘hadcanceledhis leave. WetoldhimweknewHEwastheonewhocanceled it,butwehadthe leavereinstatedandtoldhimtocheckoutthepapershewasholding. Hewasobviously stunnedandstoodthere foraminuteuntil Isaid,‘Heyit’sOK,gohome!’ Westillrazzedhimalittleaswetookpossessionofhispis-tolandlethimknowwethoughtwecouldprobablygetbywithouthimfortwoweeks.I began to roll the throttle up topromptEd tomove toward the terminal. He stoodthere foramoment, smilingandshakinghishead,obviously still tryingtoabsorbwhatwasgoingon,thengrabbedhisbagandstartedtomoveaway. Suddenlyhedroppedhisbag,ranbacktotheaircraft,boundedontothetoeoftheskidandleanedinsidethedoorgrabbingmearoundtheneck. ‘IloveyouBrother,thanks!’heshoutednearmyhelmet.‘Yeah, yeahwe love you toman!’ I responded, ‘Get out of here, enjoy your leave andcomebackreadytofight!’ Hejumpedoffthetoeoftheskidandgavemeathumbsupsignwiththisbiggrinonhisfaceashehustledofftheramp

ThatwasthelasttimeIsawhimalive.Edreturnedfromhis leave,andstayedforashortwhileatNinhHoabeforemovingnorth,butby the timehegot toDongHa, Ihaddepartedtheunit asmyrequests forextensionweredenied. Hequickly integratedhimself intothehecticanddemandingoperational tempo of LAMSON719, andwas integral to the success of the Joker’smission to protect our lift assets. On11March, 1971, hewas killed in action at LZBrown, he would be one of the ten 48th AssaultHelicopter Company’s Joker gunplatooncrewmenwhogavetheirlivesorarestillmissinginactionfromthatoperation.Ithadbeenalmostthirty-twoyearssinceEdwaskilledinactiononLAMSON719,whenhiswidow,Karen, signed inontheguestbookat the48th’swebsite expressingadesire totrackdownthoseofuswhoknewandservedwithEd. Shereceivedmanyresponses and soon fit right in with our group. The 48th AHCwas planning areunion in conjunctionwith the 2002VHPA reunion in Las Vegas, so we invitedKarentoattend. Itwasanamazingreunion,andeveryonewhoknewEdwashappytoseeKarenandsharetheirstories.As a result of ourmeeting inLasVegas, Iwanted to sendanoteover theBlueStarReflector to explain to our group, andKaren, some of the stories she had questionsabout.ThisisasummaryofthemessageIpostedtoourgroup.When I first contactedKaren, prior to the reunion,most of our correspondencewas sentbackchannel aswegot toknoweachother. Sheexplainedhowmeaningfulthe twoweek leavewas and thanked us for getting Ed home for one last time. Shetold me that, as his second week of leave was starting, he became concerned withwhat hewatched on the news reports regardingwhat was happening back inViet-nam. The media was highlighting the helicopter losses in Laos and Ed knew the48thwastobedirectly involved intheactionnowplayingout inthenews. Hestart-edtotalkaboutcurtailinghis leavesohecouldgetbacktotheunitandshewasupset.Ed'smothertoldmethesamestoryandspokeofhowshetalkedEdoutofreturningearly. ShetoldmeEdwasanonlychildandwhenshetoldhimshedidn'tunderstandwhy hewouldwant to shorten his time home he said, "Mom,when I first went to

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Vietnam, I didn't have any brothers, but now I do!" I will never forget her words.Karen and I compared our perspectives on what had transpired and discusseduniquedetails abouthowIhad tried to contacther throughEd’sMomwhenI firstreturnedfromVietnamandhowhisMomwantedtoprotectherand lethergetonwith her life. She was amazed to learn that Ed's mom and I had stayed in touch,speakingregularlyaboutevents inour livesupuntil shepassedaway. Therearesomeveryspecialpointsabouthowthingstookplaceovertheyears,betweenmeandMrs.Bilbrey, thatKarenandI still findamazing,but trying toexplain themonthe reflec-torlistwouldtakeawhile.KarenandIalsospenta lotof timeonthephonetalkingaboutsomanythings shecould only wonder about over the years. With my journal, I was able to portraysomeof theaspectsofourduties and life in the48th. Thosewhoalsocorrespondedwithherprovided additional details thathelpedpaint thepicture aboutwhat itwaslikeforEdduringourdaysatNinhHoaandlateratDongHa. Itwasgreattofinallymeet Karen in Las Vegas and see her fit in so well with the Blue Stars. One nightthere,we talked about all themessageswehad sentback and forthover themonthsleadingupto the reunion inVegas. She toldmemy journalnotes aboutEd filled inthirty-one years of blanks andmeant somuch to her, but shewishedwe had com-municated more over the reflector list so those who didn’t know Ed could havelearnedmoreabouthim. I’dliketosharesomeofthosenoteswithyounow.Inmy first note to Karen after she had joined the list, I told her that, “Ed and Iwould sit on the bunker after toughmissions, to kind of decompress and, as closefriends have a way of doing, share certain thoughts wemight be reluctant to sharewith others. He had the additional duty of being ourMessOfficer and overseeingthedininghall, sowewouldunlocktheMessSergeant’sprivatestockofcannedhamandslicedbread,fillourcanteencupswithwhateverrefreshingbeveragewecouldgetfrom the O’club or scrounge from one of the slick pilots and talk about what wemissedabouthomeandwhatwewanted todowhenwegotback there. Wespokeabout our country not having unity of purpose with the war and so many otherissuesofthetime. Wewonderedifweweredoingtherightthingbybeingwherewewere. We realized our span of control over the situationwe faced inVietnamwasnarrow, butwemade a promise that, byGod,wewere going to control asmuch aswe could and do whatever necessary to take care of each other and those in ourcharge! ThatwasEd’snature,hewasatruewarrior.”“Manyof thosenightswesat there talkinguntilwe sawthe suncomingup! We’dgraba showerbefore everyoneelsebeatus to the ‘warm’water, fill our thermoswithcoffee, pick up ourmission sheet and start all over again! I know this all probablysoundsalittlecrazy,butthat’s justthewayitwas.”“Imiss Ed. I think of himoften andwish I could see himnow. I’d still kid himabout his ‘cowboy’ tan and I’d still give him crap for all the food “HE” served us inthe chowhall, but in a way that probably only those who served in combat wouldreallyunderstand, I’d lethimknowhowmuchhis friendshipmeant tomeandhowknowinghiminfluencedmylife.”Karenaskedmeabout themessofficer’sduties andIgaveher somebackgroundtoexplain,butIthoughtI’dsharethisstorywiththegroup,especiallysinceitseemssoappropriate for theholidayseason. Lookingthroughmyjournal, reviewingtheperi-odofSeptember-November1970,oneentry Inotedwas about the timewehadanofficer’scall intheclub. Thismeetingwas, justcoincidentally,onadaywehadcomeback froma long anddifficultmission, to find that, for the fourth time in five days,thechowhallwasservingfordinner,someformofroastbeef! Ifyourecall,somedaysit was roast beef and gravy, sometimes it was gravy and roast beef, beef “tips” andgravy, slicedroastbeef,beef steworbeefwithonionsandgravy! Manytimes, return-ing late frommissions, we would find that the chow, which had been saved for uswassandwiches,youguessedit, slicedroastbeefwhichcloselyresembledveryoldbeefjerky,betweentwoslicesofstalebread!“OperationsgaveustheheadsupaboutdinnerasourfireteamwashoveringoutofPOL to the gun revetments andwe couldn’t believe it! More roast beef! Ed and Iwerepissedanddecidedtoskipthemysterymeat,commonlyreferredtoasBlueStarspecial. We retreated to my hooch, ate C-rations and had a few shots of tequilawhich we chased with some Crown Beer the soldiers from the 9th Republic ofKorea(ROK),ArmyDivisionhadgivenus! Bythetimeofficer’scall started,EdandI had worked ourselves into a pretty rebellious mood, bitching about how ‘thetroops’deservedbetter,howall thatcrappyroastbeefhadprobablycomefromLBJ’sTexas ranch and howwe weren’t going to put up with this crap any longer! Wewere tiredofbustingourbutts allday toreturntoachowline thathadthese traysofdriedoutroastbeefglisteningwiththis strange,oily ‘rainbowhue’ frombeingonthesteamlineforhours!”

“As Officer’s call began and the Executive Officer was briefing all the requisiteadministrativecrap,Edstoodup,interruptedhimandsaid,‘ThehellwithallthisMili-taryPayCertificatecontrolBS! Weneedtotalkaboutaseriousmoraleissue,we’reallgetting sick of having this damn roast beef almost every night!’ Most of the pilotschimedup in support andEd lookedover at the rest of the Jokers, smiling andnod-ding his head. TheCommander,Major BobBunting, whowas seated in the frontrow,nowstoodupand,toeveryone’s surprise,voicedHISsupport, sayinghewasalsogettingsickofall that roastbeef! Edproudlyraisedhishandsgivingadouble thumbsup as everyone cheered! Then theCOadded, ‘…andLtBilbrey, I believeYOUarejusttheguywhocancorrectthisseriousmoraleproblem!’ HethenturnedtotheXOand said, ‘Place Lt Bilbrey on orders as the company’s newmess officer, effectivelyimmediately!’ Allthepilotscrowdedintheclubwentcrazy!”“Thatcommentkindofcutthroughourtequila fogandasEdsatdownhelookedatmeand,evenover thenoiseofeveryone’s laughterandcheers, youcouldhearhimexpressing how he felt about his new ‘additional duty.’ As it finally got quiet andeveryone was looking back toward the XO, one of the gun pilots, Beau Newton,stood up and said, ’Hey, Lt Bilbrey, what are you serving for chow tomorrownight?’...and everybody broke up again, laughing and cheering Ed and telling himwhattheyexpectedfromhiminhisnewjob!”“Ed took a lot of grief over the next fewweeks, and the roast beef stayed off themenu for themost part, butwhenwedidhave roast beef, Edhad it rough! We alltook notice as he really became serious about improving the mess operations andsoon,heandthemess sergeantbecameveryclose. Whenanyonecomplainedaboutthe food, Edwould ‘return fire’ and tell them about how he thought all the cooksandmaintenance guys alwaysworked their butts off, butnever got any credit!” Hemade sure “his” cooks got more respect and even rotated them on to some of themore routine flightmissions so they could see what themission of our unit was allabout. You could see they felt theywere nowmore of a part of the unit andmanytimeswhen aircraft returned late frommissions, the cooks stayed in the dining hallandtookpridetakingcareof"their"crews.Whenhewasn't scheduled to fly, youwould findEdreviewing theArmymanualsaboutmessoperationsandmanagementoftheArmy’s“mastermenu.”Hereviewedall documents related to food procurement, cooking equipment and the militaryoccupationalspecialtiesofrequiredpersonnelanddecidedtheTableofOrganizationand Equipment (TO&E) needed to be modified. The TO&E being used onlyaddressed equipment and staffing for an assault company,minus our attached sup-port, soheandtheXOfoundawayto increase thenumberofpersonnelassignedtothemesshall. MyadditionaldutieswereasAssistanceinKind,(AIK),Fundcustodi-anandCivilianPersonnelOfficer, (CPO), soEdaskedmeforadditionalcivilians tohelp do cleaning and prep work. During my review of the appropriate MilitaryAssistance Command, Vietnam, (MACV) and United States Army Vietnam,(USARV) regulations I applied some “dynamic” interpretation techniques thatallowed us to add, just coincidentally, the number of additional people Ed said heneeded. I figured if anyone at 10th Battalion or 17th Group took issue with ourefforts and tried to sendus to theLongBinh Jail, (TheLBJ),we could always arguethatouractionswerepurely“forthegoodoftheArmy!” Right?!“Thingswere starting to improve in themess hall and in earlyNovemberEd toldmethathewanted tomake the48th’sThanksgivingdinner thebest ever andaskedme to help him out. I had met an Army veterinarian at CamRanh Bay after he

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11LLtt.. RRiicckk LLeesstteerr aanndd CCpptt.. EEdd BBiillbbrreeyy sshhaarree aa qquuiieett mmoommeenntt iinn VViieettnnaamm..

Continued on page 12

On Christmas Day, 1967, I don’t believe the199th Light Infantry Brigade assigned even onemission to my unit, A Troop, 3/17 Air Cavalry.We were under their operational control at thetime. Westooddownfor somemuchneededrestand maintenance. The only thing I rememberabout the day is the glorious Christmas meal wewere served in our tent mess hall at Di An. Wewere still about a month away from the TetOffensiveof1968.

But about 2100 hours that night, the brigadeoperations officer, LTC Hall at that time, I’mpretty sure, calledmycommander,MajorNathanM. “Nate” Pulliam, on the VHF field phone.Hall was someone unusual: a staff officerwehot-shot Cavalry guys liked and respected, and whocaredaboutus. (Hewould laterbekilled inaheli-copter accident atNhaBe.) The 199th had two companies of infantry in the fieldjust north of BienHoa andmost of themhad just developed food poisoning fromtheirChristmasmeal. The foodwas undoubtedly turkey and dressing delivered tothem in mermite cans, and I guess someone let it sit too long before serving. Thetwo company commanders, sick themselves, were begging for evacuation of theirmen.The brigadewas in a real bind. They knew the companieswould not be combat

effective for long, if they stillwere, and itwouldtakehoursonChristmasnight, evenwith emergency requests, to obtain lift support from assault helicopter companies.The separatebrigadehadno significant aviationof its own, asdid infantrydivisions.Wewereaskedtohelpwithour little lift sectionofUH-1Hs,normallydedicatedtoourowninfantryplatoon. Thiswasunusual,notour job, againstdoctrine, andHallpresented it as a request for help, althoughhe couldhave ordered themission. Youknow what the Cavalry answer was. I wonder what would have happened if werefused? This mission was the way to really ruin what was left of Christmas. Thepilots and crewswere not happy, and complained like soldierswill, but I knew theywoulddothe job.NatePulliamsaidhewould flyC&CinhisUH-1Ccommandship, tailnumber

721, whichwasn’t suitable for troop carry with the command radio console in theback. I toldhimIwould“like”toflywithhim. HeandIbothknewwedidnotreal-lyneedaC&C,thathewasdoingthis for leadershippurposes. Hewouldshare thedistastefulmissionwithhis troops. As theoperationsofficer, I couldhave stayedonthe ground. I didnotwant to fly anymore thanNateor anyone else, but all crappymissions technically came through me, and I wouldn’t feel right staying behind.Besides, we could help if someone went down, God forbid. And if I flew, a morejunior officer, Nate’s command ship pilot, would be excused from this job onChristmasnight. Thatprobablywas JohnMarcy at that time, beforeRalphBarberarrived.I don’t remember howmany ships we put up, but it would have been four to six

UH-1HHueys. Gunships escorted, of course. The only people off the hookwerethescouts.The 199th arranged for the Air Force to provide continuous lighting with para-

chute flares, from a C-130, I think. It was a dark, moonless night, but clear. Thelight was great, but they were dropping the flares from too high an altitude. Somewere burning out before they got to our level, and I was afraid we would hit one.The lift section made several lifts with no enemy activity_the flights were shortbecausewewere soclose toBienHoaandLongBinh. Wewere tocompletely evac-uatebothcompanies. Everyoneprayedwewouldget themalloutbefore theenemyrealizedwhatwas happening. A ground attack against partial units of illmen,withustryingtoextract theminthedark,wouldmakearealmess.Nate and I were flying in circles, boring holes in the sky at altitude, watching the

goings and comings, getting bored, feeling sorry forourselves, and dodging parachute flares floating byus. Suddenly we were jarred awake by a muffled“thud” from the nose area of theHuey! First we allthought we took a hit from small arms, but weshould be too high. At the instant of the thud, anamber caution light lit up on the instrument panel!We quickly ascertained that it was the “air inletclogged” light. NowIthoughtwehadhit anunseen,burned-out flare, and its parachute was wrappedaroundour engine air intake aboveus, justbelowthemainrotorsystem! IsaidsoandNateandIfrantical-ly examined all the other instrumentswhile I starteda rapid descent with power. Everything else lookednormal, and the engine was strong as ever. We lostsome of the terror, but this wasn’t over, andnothingwaseasyatnight inVietnam.

WewereverynearBienHoa, soIstartedamodifiedrightbase legto landonthe litrunway, descending rapidly. I kept the approach where I could autorotate to therunway if the engine quit, which I expected any second. Amid the confusion andfear,neitherNatenor I could remember theBienHoa tower frequency! He franti-cally used a red-lens flashlight and searched through all the reference books we car-riedwhile I continuedtheapproach. Itwasnot reallydangerous; itwas aclearnightandwecould seenoone elsewas flying (itwasChristmasnight;) no jetswere in thepattern, and the tower could certainly seeusbecause I turnedonevery lightwehad.Even so, Iwas on short final to themain runway goingwest beforeNate found thetower frequency. Then they wanted to know if we were declaring an emergency.NowIwas at ahover on the runway. All the instrumentswere still good, therewasonly that one amber light (that lookedbig andbright as a searchlight,) and ahover-ing autorotation is nobig deal, sowe told them“negative,” thiswas a precautionarylanding. Since the engine still ran strong, I hovered to a ramp and shut down toinspect the shipandrefuelwhilewewerehere. Before I cut the engine, I called JerryThiels onUHFto tell himwhathappened andwherewewere, and that he shouldtakeovertemporarycommandfromhisgunship.Afteronly a fewminutesof inspection, I found the “problem.” Noparachutewas

wrappedaroundourmast. Abovethe landing lightonthenose, I foundblood,guts,and feathers fromahigh-flying bird! The small impact fromhitting the bird jarredthe caution light, whichwas above but almost directly behind the point of impact,to the “test” position. I saw very few birds inVietnam, and thought it strange thatonewouldbe sohigh in themiddleof adarknight. What a coincidenceof circum-stance.Wecompleted theevacuationof the infantrycompanieswithquite a few lifts. An

entire assaulthelicopter company shouldhavedone this job. (Years later,NatePul-liam looked in his flight records and told me he and I flew five and one-half hoursthatnight.) The lift sectionguys toldmesomeof thetroopsrolledandscreamedon

the cargo floor, in pain from thefood poisoning, and that nearly allof them were sick. I’ll bet some-onegotrelievedoverthatdeal.

Every Christmas night since1967, I remember that dark, clearnight, the eerie glow of the para-chute flares, and the instant, coldfear triggeredbyasuddensoundinthecockpit.

CChhuucckk OOuuaalllliinneeEE--MMaaiill:: SSppuurr33@@ssaattxx..rrrr..ccoomm

© 2004 Charles E. OuallineCChhuucckk iinn 22000088 pprreeppaarriinngg ttoo rriiddee oonn aann aannttiiqquuee ffiirreeeennggiinnee iinn aa VVeetteerraannss DDaayy ppaarraaddee iinn AAuussttiinn,, TTeexxaass..

CChhuucckk iinn VViieettnnaamm iinn 11996677 ppoossiinngg iinn ffrroonntt ooff hhiiss uunniitt’’ss ((AA//33//1177 CCaavv))oorrddeerrllyy rroooomm aatt LLoonngg BBiinnhh.. YYoouu ccaann sseeee ppiieecceess ooff wwoooodd sshhoott oouutt ffrroommtthhee ssttoocckk bbyy oonnee ooff tthheeiirr SSccoouutt PPiilloottss uussiinngg hhiiss OOHH66’’ss mmiinnii--gguunn..

Christmas Lightsby VHPA Member Charles E. Oualline

Page 6 The VHPA Aviator

Discovery of Flight 19: A 30-Year Search forthe Lost Patrol in the Bermuda Triangle

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VHPA MemberJon Myhre beganflying at age 12 andjoined the U.S.Marine CorpsReserve in 1961; in1965 he transferredto the U.S. Army asa WO-1 and gradu-ated flight schoolwith class 66-6. While in the Army he went on to earn a commis-sion, serve two tours in Vietnam and one in Germany. He leftactive duty in 1975 but flew with the Reserves until full militaryretirement in 1981; his military awards include the DFC, twoBronze Stars, four Purple Hearts and 30 AirMedals. He has worked for the FAA andflown as both a civilian Flight Instructorand a Corporate Pilot ever since. He is cur-rently living in Sebastian, Florida.

DISCOVERY OF FLIGHT 19 – The quest to find five Navy Avenger bombers thatdisappeared in the Bermuda Triangle in 1945.

Written by VHPA Member Jon F. Myhre

I WAS A PILOT FOR THE MOB

Is a gripping thriller abouta helicopter pilot whodevelops an addiction forviolence and thrills whileflying in Vietnam. Butwhen he returns home,the only place he canfeed this addiction is byf l y i ng f o r t he mos tdangerous society ofall, organized crime.

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Page 7 The VHPA Aviator

FFoorr tthhee CChhrriissttmmaass ooff 11996688,, the pilots of the 478th Heavy Lift(Sky Crane) Helicopter Company gathered around the fake fire-place in their Pilot’s Lounge at Red Beach in Vietnam. One of themen there that day, Jim Oden sent in this picture for all to enjoy.

PPiilloottss ppiiccttuurreedd tthhaatt ddaayy aarree:: ((11)) CCWW44 FFoorrrreesstt MMyyeerrss,, ((22)) 11LLTT EEvveerreetttt SScchhiioorrnnbbeecckk,, ((33))CCWW33 GGeeoo EElllliiss,, ((44)) CCWW44 GGeennee PPrriiccee,, ((55)) CCWW44 BBrruuccee NNiicchhoollssoonn,, ((66)) CCWW44 MMaauurriiccee WWiill--ssoonn,, ((77)) CCWW44 JJiimm OOddeenn,, ((88)) CCWW33 BBoobb AAcckkeerrss,, ((99)) CCWW33 DDaallee SSttoocckkwweellll,, ((1100)) CCWW22 JJiimmPPaarrkkeerr,, ((1111)) CCPPTT MMuurrrryy,, ((1122)) CCPPTT JJoonn GGrreeeessoonn,, ((1133)) CCiivv ((PP&&WW)) JJoohhnn CCaarrrroollllNNoott ppiiccttuurreedd tthhaatt ddaayy –– MMAAJJ SSuulllliivvaann,, MMAAJJ MMiinnssoonn,, CCWW33 EEuubbaannkkss,, CCWW44 PPaallmmeerr,, CCPPTTLLoovvggrreenn,, MMAAJJ TThhoommaass

Page 8 The VHPA Aviator

Christmas is not a formal ceasefire time. NotliketheTetNewYear. It isaunilateral ceasefireofsorts because no American, or Christian Viet-namese is going to go looking for trouble on thisHoly day. Not usually. (There was the Christmas

bombing of the North in 1972. But all the U.S. groundpounders were withdrawn from the country by then.) We pull in our fangsand try to let there be a little peace on earth. But all det’s are on call, ready toenforce peace through fire superiority if need be. But thatwould not preventtheVCorNVA from taking advantage of ourmaudlin self-pity if they couldcatchus looking inwardinsteadofscanningthetree linesvigilantly.I am tapped for a log run on Christmas Day, 1970. We are to make therounds of all the det’s in the SWMekongDelta, and all the friendly outpostsin the area that containedU.S. advisors. Ourmission? Deliver themail to allpoints. Anddelivera littleChristmas“cheer”toeachadvisor.Advisors aremoreof a target than theaverageG.I. because, they are relativelyeasy “pickins” out there in the boonies, even if they are in a “friendly” villagecompound/outpost. Andtheyarea ALONE;nootherAMERICANSwithwhich to commiserate and share the ache for our particular method of cele-brating the birth of our Savior. Theirs is the very loneliest of billets especiallyonthisDay. Notonly inaforeigncountry, awayfromhomeandhearth, fami-ly and friends, but in a combat zonewhere they are verymuch a high prioritytarget themselves.Those of you who have been away from home on Christmas (and I hopeyouarefew),haveanideaoftheacheofaChristmasspentawayfromhome.Thoseof you in that categorywhoare civilians,mayhavehada choice in thematter, andwereprobablyhome justbeforeor just afterTheDay. Ashametomiss the actual Day, but hey, just have it in a couple of days one side or theother. Nobigproblemunless littlecrittersare involved.Those in the service andaway fromhomeatChristmas arenotusually therevoluntarily, and are seldom going to be home in a day or even a week. It’slonger,muchlonger,notmeasured incalendardaysorclockhours. It is eterni-ty. You understand the peculiar ache, only slightly mitigated by a tinge ofpride, because, at least, you rationalize, youare ensuring thebenefits of apeace-fulChristmas foryour lovedonesbyyour sentineldutyonsomeforeign seaorrampartor revetment. This is apathetic rationalization, adesperate reach,butit isallyouhavetocountertheoverwhelmingmaudlinfunkChristmasbrings.It’s bad enough tobe away in theChristmas season, but tobe atwar? Andatarget on Christmas Day itself? Our fathers, who fought the Japanese canidentify, our fathers who fought the Germans probably can’t. Stories ofChristmasDay fraternization and local informal cease fires inEurope (on theWesternFront at least) are legion. But just think -What a coup in thepropa-ganda war back in the land of the big P.X. and round eyed “wimmin” if theVC could kill someAmericans on this day? Imagine how it would playwiththe television news pinko’s? Not just another ordinary individual deathunworthyof amentionon the eveningnews, instead thismisfortune is elevat-edtogrist forthepolitical soapbox. Ohthepathos, thetears, theoutrage!InVietnamwestill getgifts andcardsandsenda few,weputupsimpledeco-rations. These familiar procedures are bittersweet; familiar trappings, sugges-tionsofhappiness andcheer, reminderofbetterdays. But theyalsoevokenos-talgia, sadness, loneliness. What to do? Is it good to surroundourselveswithall these reminders, without a single familymember in sight? Wouldn’t it bebetter to blow by the day without any fanfare or preparation or poignantreminders and justmove on? We are not that jaundiced. Sowe get togetherwith our comrades and put on a jolly face. We drink. We sing (ever noticehow many of the old Christmas favorites are sad, wistful, maudlin? I nevernoticed ituntil I spentthatChristmassofarawayfromfamily). Weparty. We

trytokilloff thedayanddelaythe inevitablemomentwhenwefinallymustendthedayaloneandfaceourghosts. Add to that, you middle aged readers, thefact of our youth. Most of our previous Christ-mas’s have been from the point of view of a child.Not somanyChristmas’s away from the boundlesspossibilities, great expectation, eager anticipation andsheer excitement of a youthful Christmas to have yetevolvedintoresponsibleobligation,practicalpossibilities,matureexpectation, calmer anticipation, and perhaps, old friend, an eternally youthfulChristmastingle,whichispleasant,butnottheexcitementofinnocentyouth.)The home guard was selling Christmas Cards for Christmas 1970. BlackandWhite glossy. Night time-lapse shotof aBinhThuyguard towerwith anM-60with ammobelt attachedon a pintelmount silhouetted against a floodlight likeabigmoon. Withthepictureonthecoverwere thewords“PeaceonEarth” and inside were the additional words “Through Fire Superiority.”Prettymuchsummeditup.As we made our appointed rounds that day, the scenario went somethinglikethisatvirtuallyeveryoutpost:We land, shut down, and scuttle into the compound, wasting no time.Remember, the typical helo landing padwas often outside the defensewire atthe smaller outposts like the oneswewere visiting this day; a circle of concretepoured into a retainingmoldof empty artillery shell casings pounded into themud. About the sizeof the skids footprint; aprecision landing togeton it andstayon it. These groundpoundersdon’thavemuchappreciation for the finerthings in helo flying, like a great big pad to land on. Usually we just toss themailout,grabtheoutgoing,andtakeoff forthenext fort.On this special day, we actually shut down and go into the compoundbecause today we have two deliveries to make, one of which must be hand-delivered. MyHACandI leaveourcrewmen/gunnerswiththebirdtomakesure it is not picked clean like a Christmas turkey carcass while we are away.Weweave back and forth along the path through the concertina to themudbermwhich is the“fort”wall. Theyareusually rectangularor triangular enclo-sures, with bunkers andwatch towers at each corner. Thewalls have fightingpositions built into them, some with overhead cover, some without. Onceinside, we are in a sea of mud, for Christmas is still the rainy season. There isusually a drainage ditch or two crisscrossing the enclosed common. In someoutposts, they are invisible underneath a calm surface of standingwater cover-ingtheentire interior.Nograss in sight. Eitherneverplanted,which ismost likely, orwornawaybythe years. Occasionally, there are walkways of planks, or even gravel, betweenselectedpoints, but inevitablywe slog through themuck toget towherewearegoing. Someoutposts arebig enough tohost apairof105mmhowitzers,mostare not. There is usually a sandbagged bunker in the vicinity of the center,which is the radio shack. Often there is another, which is an ammo bunker.Andoftenthere isa firearrow;a largehorizontalarrowonaverticalpost. Itcanbe spun 360 degrees, and the arrow has flare pots which can be lit to make afieryarrow,visible fromoverhead,topointthedirectionoftheenemytofriend-ly aircraft. Along thewalls are scatteredhootches,with some sprinkled aroundthecentral“plaza”iftheenclosedperimeter isbigenough.Hootches were usually bamboo posts and frame, thatch walls, thatch roof.Sometimes the walls are plywood, or the roof is corrugated tin; usuallyscrounged from here or there, but never enough to fully standardize a place,for these are Vietnamese militia outposts. As we get inside the wall, we aregreeted by the advisor andhisVietnamese counterpart. He invites us into hishootch, out of the Sun. Inside the hootch; dark, dank, dirty, fetid,HOT, sti-fling. A table or two. Sometimes electricity fromsomeoverworkedportablegenerator. Strong odor of damp, sometimes mildewed, plywood, foul mud,stale sweat.First,wedeliver themail, if there is any. Sometimes there isn’t, that’s a crush-

A MAUDLINMISSION (look it up)By VHPA member Tom Phillips

CChhrriissttmmaass 11997700.. SSoouutthh VViieettnnaamm.. MMeekkoonngg DDeellttaa..

Page 9 The VHPA Aviator

Whenthere isn’t, theguy isquicktoputusateaseby insistingthathe justgothisChristmasmail theday/weekbefore. Ifhedoesn’t comeupwith that,wecomeupwith it, assuringhimthathismail is “inthemail”andwill surelybeheresoon.The guy quickly agrees, again to take us off the hot seat. Pro forma platitudesthat goeswith allmail deliveries on longoverseas deployments. If the guywith-outmail is a guywhonever getsmail, the formalities are observed and everyonewithmail, or who gets it regularly, goes about his business with aminimumofcomment, andNOdisplay of PITY. NOpity. NEVER. What a shitty littlecharade, especially on Christmas Day. It’s made worse by not knowing theseguys enough to knowwhich situationmight apply to them, who is telling thetruth,andwhoisobservingtheritual.Our shuttingdownandcoming in isunusual in andof itself, but thenwepre-sent theguy(orguys,occasionally thereare two),witha fifthof JackorPinch,orsome such (wehave a varietybecause theSeawolveshave cleanedoutthe P.X. to get enough for this task). “Compliments of theSeawolves,andMerryChristmas!” Thatusuallyelicitsa grand smile, a slap on the back, a heartfelt handshake, and an occasional choked up reply. Itain’t the booze, it’s the thought. I don’tknow whose idea this was for us to deliver“Cheer”, but the guy deserves a medal.This is bigger than a visit by Bob Hope,and more personally appreciated; theseguys had no chance of ever seeing BobHope.Neitherdidtherestofus“front line”guys.He did his show for all of IVCorps at LongBinh, the country’s largest rear area supply cen-ter, because ithadanamphitheatre. Oneguy“inamillion” fromthe“front lines”bythe luckof thedraw,got to go toLongBinh to see him. HA(L)-3used100%ofits allotted tickets (three as I recall) on enlistedmen. Sounds noble,but those 3 were all home guard, not det gunners. It just wasn’t a big dealbecausethechancesofgoingwere lowerthanthechancesofgettingshot.Wearehonoredtobetheonestodeliverthecheer,presentthispresent,andrep-resentthesquadron,andgetthereaction.Eachandeveryoneofthoseguysinsistedthatwe share a little nipwith them, since itwasChristmasDay and all. At everysite,weprotested. Sincerelyprotested. NoB.S. Reallyprotested,objected, arguedthatwewereflying,couldn’tdoit,wouldn’tbeprudent.

Really.No thanks!

No not just one.None. . . .

. . . . . .Have you ever looked into the eyes of a big ole sadbloodhound, or say, acocker spaniel. These guys were ALONE. A drink with their V.N. counter-parts wouldNOTbe the same. Pleading and begging ensued. It’s Christmas.PLEASE.Well, just onewouldn’t hurt. Weknew that. I don’t carewhat the flight sur-geon might say about impairment, whichWASN’T talked about with refer-encetoflying,becauseNOONEwoulddrinkandFLY! That’s fordriving,notflying. Jeez! Hedid everything but grab us around the ankleswhenwe tried togo. Sowetoastedhim,andourselves,withONEdrink.Anythingtoget thisguyto letusgo. That satisfiedhim,andwewereoff. Wesaunteredbacktothebird,remembering the crewwhen they came into view, blushedwith guilt, strappedin,andlaunched.Noproblem. Nosuspicion. Noadverseeffects.On to thenext little outpost. Samedrillwith themail. Samepresentationofthe booze, courtesy of the Seawolves! Samebattle to leave. Same results. Onelittledrinkfortheroad. Samebluffwiththe crewmen. Noadverseeffects.Despite the repetitionof the ceremony,weweren’t smart enough to comeupwith a better plan of action should this happen again. Probably because wealreadyweren’t thinking clearly. Not because of the booze, we hadn’t had thatmuch,butbecausewewereawash inguilt. Thevery thoughofdrinkingandfly-ingwasunthinkable, andanathematoallour sacredtraining. Itwas sounthink-able that Idoubtwehadeverbeen toldnot todo it. It simply isn’tdone. Flyinghung over?Maybe once or twice, but drinkingWHILE flying? And here we

hadhadTWO. Theobvioussolutionwastoknockitoff, fercrissakes!If we hadn’t been delivering the stuff from us, the Seawolves, but were just

nameless, faceless guys, passing out the stuff from some nameless, faceless,“higher authority” it would have been easy to beg off. Butwhen it came fromUS, the Seawolves, even though we didn’t personally know these guys, it waspersonal. Americanswere pulling out ofVietnambyChristmas of 1970. Wewere the rear guard. U.S. combat units were becoming scarce. These guysknew they could depend on us to be there pulling their chestnuts out of theroasting fire some night, and maybe soon. We represented their fire brigadearound here and everyone knew it. As real strangers, maybe we would havehadaneasier timeavoidingthetoast. Maybenot.Seawolves, ornoSeawolves, flyingornot flying,weWEREAmericans, and itwasChristmas, andwewere not heartless. It would take a strongerman than

either of us to actuallywalk awaywithout a toast. It would havetaken a heart of stone. So at the next outpost, we had

one, justone. Saunteredbacktothebird, andtookoff. The crewmenmay have been a little alert-ed that something was different, but . . . Noadverseeffects.

The obvious solution looking back onthat Merry Christmas flight, was tohave the crewmen to do our drinkingfor us. They probably would haveunderstood, and reluctantly taken onthe burden. It would have been anunusual order, and a dangerous assign-ment, but somebodyhad todo it. But the

same guilt about taking a drink at all, wasequally as strong when it came to co-opting

somebody else, especially enlisted men, into break-ing the Rule of Rules. Jeez, what kind of officer would

evenconsider sucha thing? Soour cultural constraints, and train-ing, completelyunable tohaveanticipatedthis leadershipsituation, lockedus insilence. Wecouldn’teventalkaboutbetweenus.It happened again at the next outpost, and at the next, and so forth. It got

harder andharder to say no. Not becausewewere getting tipsy and losing ourjudgment. Heavens no! Wekept trying, and loudly, to say no. Weprotestedno less fiercely as the daywent on. But itwas hard to say no,when the advisorcouldsmellourbreathfrom10meters. HeKNEWwehadnotbeensayingnowith 100% success at our previous stops, and he’d be damned if we would beallowed to leave without having a drink with him! One little drink for theroad. Onelittledrinkee.

No adverst defects.Our savinggrace,was thedistance and timebetweendeliveries. Wecontinuedourmissionofmercy, on into thegatheringdusk, anda little fog in thecockpit,towardBinhThuy,ourbase, andwhatmustpass forhomeonthisdayhalfwayaroundtheworldfromfamilyandhearth.Asthesunset, theChristmasDaysilence inouraircraftwasbrokenbyasingleburstof theUFHradio:

““TTHHIISS IISS GGOODD OONN GGUUAARRDD.. HHAAPPPPYY BBIIRRTTHHDDAAYY SSOONN..””

We finally managed to put the sleigh to bed. The HAC did the yellow sheetand slinked away. As the copilot, I wrote up the gripes without serious difficul-ty, briefed the maintenance chief about them. He looked at me quizzically,stared off into space, thought for a minute, looked back at me, then he shookhis head: Nah! Can’t be.

“Merry Christmas, Lieutenant”“Murrie Chrishmus, sheef, and to all a Good Night!”

Tom PhillipsLTJG, US Navy

Seawolf 98Mekong Delta ’70-‘71

E-mail: tphillips@score.com

Page 10 The VHPA Aviator

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by VHPA Life MemberCol (Ret) JamesW. “Pete”BoothA factual story of the developmentof armed helicopters in the USArmy and their first employment incombat as told by the courageousmen who lived it.This is the story of the UTT.Formed in October of 1962, thiscompany of cobbled-together, UH-1 gun-ships became the basis for the armed helicoptersdeployed to Vietnam. The UTTʼs legacy is strong andendures today, the US Armyʼs Apache program is adirect descendant of these men.Told by our author, Col (Ret) James W. “Pete” Booth, thisbook is the factual story of the development of armed heli-copters in the US Army and their first employment in combat.It is a true “Must Read” for all rotary-winged Aviators!Personalized, copies are available directly from COL Booth, (E-Mail: Pete-Sue@hotmail.com). Also available on-line throughAuthorHouse Press (www.AuthorHouse.com), Peerless Book(PeerlessBookStore.com) and all major on-line distributers(Amazon, Barnes and Nobels etc,). Your local book store canalso order you a copy – reference ISBN # 978-1-4567-4522-6

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RETURNING FIRE:IN THE BEGINNING…

Some of you have heard me explainhow I feel about the word “closure” todescribe what happens when a familylearns about a loved one who was killedin the Vietnam War. For many of us,Vietnam was never discussed, and thebook was “closed” for decades. It’s notclosure that we seek. Personally, I muchprefer the word “CLOSER.” Knowinghis fellow aviators has brought me “clos-er” to my brother, David, who died ofinjuries received in aLOHcrash in1969.The Gold Star Family Breakfast that

took place August 3 at the reunion inNewOrleans brought a dozen of usGoldStar family members “closer” to the menwe loved and lost. In the midst of VHPA members who attended toremember someone special to them, and to support us, we felt the cama-raderie of the Vietnam helicopter community. Nearly 100 people attend-ed the breakfast. Some of the family members there had never before beenamongVietnamhelicopter veterans.“In a way, it feels like the closest I can ever get to being around Vinnieagain,” said David Zappini, brother of WO Joseph “Vinnie” Zappini,128th AHC, who was killed June 4, 1969. “On top of that, we Gold Starfolks share a huge common experience. It’s really the only time and placewhere I can pictureVinnie as hewould be today.”What an honor and privilege it is to be in the roomwith families and vet-

erans, TOGETHER,to share memories. Iwould like you to expe-rience that same honorand privilege. If you’rein touch with a fallenbuddy’s family, invite them to attendthe next reunion with you, to learnabout what their loved one did whileserving as a helicopter pilot during theVietnam War. Bring them with youto the Gold Star Family Breakfast.It’s for VETERANS AND GOLDSTAR FAMILIES. Come, even ifyou’re not bringing anyone withyou, and tell us about the friend youlost.

If you would like help finding family of your buddy who was KIA orMIA, the Family Contacts Committee is ready to help.Thank you to all the very generous sponsors who contributed to payfor Gold Star Family members’ breakfasts and other event expenses,and to everyone with VHPA who worked hard to make this event asuccess. Hope to see in San Francisco.

JJuulliiee KKiinnkkSSiisstteerr ooff WWOO DDaavviidd KKiinnkk CC TTrroooopp 11//99tthh CCAAVV KKIIAA 88--33--11996699

mmeemmbbeerr ooff FFaammiillyy CCoonnttaaccttss CCoommmmiitttteeeehhttttpp::////wwwwww..VViirrttuuaallWWaallll..oorrgg//ccoonnttaaccttss

KKiinnkk110000@@aatttt..nneett

Page 11 The VHPA Aviator

In November and December of 1967 I was livingat the FOB 2 camp just south of Kontum. I was aflight platoon commander and was air missioncommander for a number of Special Forces mis-sions across the boarder into Laos and Cambodia.At the time it was a top secret mission and it wasknown as SOG. During that time there was a leprosarium/hospitalrun by I think a Belgian nun who had other nunsworking with her. The leprosarium was locatedabout 8-10 kilometers west of Kontum City. Fromtime to time the SF FOB camp commander wouldask me to help the nuns with the use of one of our heli-copters to pick-up supplies or even small animals. The camp Commander wasalso very helpful in providing whatever he could to help the nuns.On Christmas of 1967 the camp commander and I were invited to the lep-rosarium for dinner. It was amazing. We drove out in a jeep. It was late after-noon and when we arrived we were brought to a small open patio area where asmall table was set-up. The nuns waited on us and just the two of us had a won-derful meal. We asked the sister superior to join us but she declined saying thiswas just for us.After the dinner we were taken into a large room and given seats in the mid-dle of the room. In front of us were maybe 20 -30- beautiful little childrendressed in white dresses and the boys in white shorts. As we sat there the chil-dren sang a series of Christmas songs in English and finished with “SilverWings Upon Their Chest” a popular song at the time by Barry Sadler aboutthe Special Forces paratroopers. They sang the song in near perfect English.

When they finished, we were given twolarge bags of toys to hand out to the children-- the toys had been donated and flown upfrom Saigon. It was such an amazing sight. Each of thechildren came forward one at a time withthe youngest coming first – big bright smileson their faces and an English “thank you”when they received their gift.These were the children of the lepers whowere in the shadows in the back of the room.When the children were finished they alsocame forward to thank us – in Vietnamese.

You may have seen lepers and the ravages of the disease on the faces was a site toremember. I will never forget that evening.When we left the leprosarium, the sister superior insisted on riding in thefront seat of the jeep to take us back. It was now dark and although I had mypistol with me, as did the camp commander; neither of us thought we wouldhave enough fire power if we ran into an ambush on that little dirt road thatnight. The sister’s waving white robe was clear to see even in the dark as wedrove through the night with our lights on. On several occasions we saw VCtroops come out of the darkness with their AK’s in hand and then just stepback into the darkness.

It was a Christmas memory that I will never forget.Jack Heslin

E-Mail: jackheslin@comcast.net

CChhrriissttmmaass ooff 11996677 –– aa vviissiitt ttoo aa LLeepprroossaarriiuumm iinn KKoonnttuumm,, VViieettnnaammBy VHPA Life Member Jack Heslin

by Julie Kink

GGOOLLDD SSTTAARR FFAAMMIILLYY BBRREEAAKKFFAASSTT BBRROOUUGGHHTT ““CCLLOOSSEERR””

CCaappttaaiinn JJaacckk HHeesslliinn iinn 11996677

Gold Star Family Members at the VHPA Gold StarFamily Breakfast August 3, 2012

noticedmewalking to the91stFinanceoffice carryinganAK-47. TheVetwas fasci-natedwiththegunandaskedmeifIwouldbewillingtotradeit. Iaskedhimwhathehadtotradeandherespondedthathewas‘aVet.’ ItoldhimIwasn’tinthemarketforany animals andwedidn’thave anywhichwould requirehis services, (Cpt.Reno ranoffourmonkeyafter it sexuallyassaultedhim,andDuke,ourbaboon,diedafterbitinganAirForceFACpilot). He said, ‘Youdon’t understand, don’t youknowwhatmyjob is here? I have to inspectALLClass I, (rations!), which arrive in country via theportofCamRanhBay!’ Well, itdidn’ttakelongtorealizewhatavaluablecontactthisguywasand,aftergladlyrelinquishingmyAK-47,Iwassoonatthefinancepadloadingcases of steaks and BOTTLED beer into the admin bird that ChuckMarkhambroughtintopickmeup.”“I toldEd this contact couldbe abighelp tohim, sowe tookmyaircraft, 520, on a

‘testflight’toCamRanhBaysoIcouldintroducehimtotheVet‘guncollector’. Overthe next fewweeks, Ed did a lot of networkingwith this guy and a bunch of his AirForce friends. Idon’tknowwhatallheandtheMessSergeantactuallygathered fromthose guys, but I know that every time we could, we picked up equipment andweapons captured by the ground units we supported throughout our area of opera-tions and gave almost everything to Ed. Hewould head off toCamRanhBay on a“business trip” and soon themess hall became a lot more popular! It even becamealmost routine for theMessSergeant towalk into theOfficer orEMclubs late in theevening with trays of fried chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, fresh fruit or cookies andcake! Thatwasquiteawelcomedchange!”InmyjournalInotedon16November1970,“Edsayshe’s inabindwithaThanks-giving deal he’s workingwith theVet atCRB and needs fourAK-47's and twoM2carbines. The deal will get us cases of fresh fruit, whole hams, wine, (other than thatMateusRose crap), fresh bakedpies and real LIVE turkeys! Ed’s a great guy, but I’mbettingagainsthimonthe live turkeydeal. I thinktheAirForceguysare feedinghimsomecrap,soItoldhimnottopromisetheoldmanonthatone.”“Weheard through the rumormill that theCO is planning a ‘health andwelfare’

inspection of our hooches and the enlisted barracks within the next week, so we’vedeveloped a plan to gather some extra tradingmaterial for Ed to use in his efforts toclosethedealwiththeAirForce. TheSOPforthehealthandwelfare inspectionscallsfor all unauthorized weapons collected in conjunction with the inspection to bedestroyed. The48th’smethodofdestroyingtheweaponsis tohaveoneofouraircraftflyoffthecoastand‘deepsix’ them. We’llhavetosomehowmakesurethatoneoftheJokerbirdsgetsthatmission!”Well,tomakealongstoryshort,thehealthandwelfareinspectionwasagoldmineorasEdandtheMessSergeant said,while rejoicingwiththeir scotch, (his andEd’sbeverageof choice), “WePilgrimshave just reaped a blessed and abundantThanksgivinghar-vest!” And, yes, the Jokers flew themission to “destroy” the contrabandweapons andeven “properly” certified thedestructionpaperwork. Edwas veryquiet aboutwhathewasupto,but finallyon20November, Inoted, “OPSgotacall fromaninboundslickandrelayedamessage fromEdBilbrey tellingmetomeethimat thecommandpad. Iwasn’t surewhatwas going onuntil Iwalkeddown there and sawLtEdBilbrey, gunpilotandMessOfficerExtraordinaire, sitting inthebackofa slickgrinningfromear toearwhilecoveredinfeathersandturkeyshit! Hewaswrestlingwiththis ‘brace’or ‘gag-gle’ of live turkeyswho, oneor two at a time,would escape fromtheirmakeshift cagesandthrasharoundinsidetheaircraft! Needlesstosay,thiseventdrewalotofattentionfrom almost everyone on the compound and after a rowdywelcome to this excitedgroupofturkeys,whohadjustexperiencedtheirfirsthelicopterride,Ed’sprizedturkeyswerefinallyescortedtotheirnewdigsupbythemesshall.”Every day you’d find a group of guys, acting like little kids, checking on the turkeys

and playingwith them. Ed’s “big score”was a true hit with everyone and seemed to

take ourminds off thewar. It also seemed like everyonewas getting into the holidayspirit and looking forward to thebig feast! EdandI flewamission together twodaysbeforeThanksgivingandI toldhimtheMessSergeanthadbeenbraggingabouthim,tellingmehowmuchhehaddoneforallhisguys. Edwasreallyhumbleanddidn’tsaymuch, but he was truly proud of what he and theMess Sergeant had been able toaccomplish. I askedhimwhen theywere going to prep and cook the turkeys andhesaid, “Well there’s been kind of a change in plans, no one has the heart to kill theturkeys.” Hesaidmostof thecooksaswell as the restof theunithadbecomekindofattachedtothem,andhewasevenreferringtoTHEM,theturkeys,BYNAME,ashetoldme theMess Sergeant had promised everyone that they wouldn’t kill and cookthem! IaskedhimwhatwewerenowgoingtohaveforourThanksgivingdinnerandhesaidtheywere“…workingonthat.”Well,heandhismessteamcamethroughinspadesandweendeduphavingallkindsof great food. Themess hall remained open all day and for once, you could have asmuchtoeatasyouwantedandbecausethefoodwassogood,weallatetoomuch,buttheonlyturkeywehad,camefromacan! The“guestsofhonor,”Ed’sturkeys,stayedinour company area for a while after Thanksgiving but, one or two at a time, they“escaped”andasEdsaid, “wereprobablyover therehiding . . . INTHEROKs!”ashepointedtotheRepublicofKoreaArmy’sWhitehorseDivisioncompound!Ican’tbelievethatwasthirty-twoyearsago.Thisyear,I’llbecelebratingThanksgivinginmyfamily’straditionalway. We’lldoasalwaysandtrytodividetimebetweenJane’sparents andmineandrejoice in the fact that theyare stillwithus,while rememberingourfriendswhonowfacetheir firstholidaysincelosingalovedone. I’llbeamazed,asIameveryyear,bythevarietyandabundanceofunbelievablydeliciousfare,asitisloving-ly prepared andpresented in the finest southern tradition. Iwill give thanks for everyblessingGodhasgraciouslyrenderedme.This year, after attending the funeral for the crewofBlue Star 811,whohave been

missing since 1967, and spending timewithmany of their familymembers, I will bethinkingaboutwhat the familieswhohave lost lovedonesorhave lovedonesmissinginaction,havehadtoendureall theseyears. Icanonlyimaginewhatithasbeenliketosuffer the loss of someone you cherished somuchor, for somany years, to copewiththeanguishofwonderingaboutthefateofthosestillmissing. Ihavewitnessedthepainofmanyofourfriendswhostill facetheirpersonaldemonsfromtheirVietnamexperi-ence and I will pray they let that experience temper them,make them stronger andenablethemtofindtheirpeace.Iwill try hard to recapture the feelings I experiencedwalkingwith fellowBlue Stars

and family members across that hallowed ground at ArlingtonNational Cemetery.Being there among those who have gone before us, viewing the granite headstoneswhose etchings not only reflect letters of a name, but illuminate memories of thosewithwhomwesharedlife. Thosemen,whosestrengthofcommitment inamostdif-ficultwarduringoneof themost tryingtimes inourcountry’shistory, cost themtheirfuture. Iwillalwaysremembertheircourageandselflessness.In the excitement of the holiday’s activities, Iwill do as I have done every year since

1971andseekaplacewhereIcanbeawayfromotherswhomaynotunderstand. Iwillcover the ice inmy old canteen cupwith scotch and, in that peaceful time of sunset,toastmyBlueStarbrotherswhogave their all. While smiling throughmytears, Iwillalso remember a special friend named EdmondDavid Bilbrey, whomade his lastThanksgiving...mymostmemorable.

RickLester, Joker94Personal Journal

CopyrightRichardLester(Joker94)2002,AllRightsReservedE-Mail: Joker97inbound@yahoo.com

Page 12 The VHPA Aviator

A Friendship Forged Continued from page 5

Vietnam CombatHelicopter T-Shirts

from Morgan Miller,Spur 37, A Troop 3/17th Air Cav

Page 13 The VHPA Aviator

PotvinR@Stifel.com

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AH-1G Cobra, OH-6 Cayuse & OH-58 KiowaFor Selection, Prices and Payment.. GO TO ~http://northwestvets.com/spurs/miller-2.htm

QUESTIONS?morganmil5@aol.com or 619-997-1421

Page 14 The VHPA Aviator

Well, there I was in my “E” Battery, 82nd Artillery, 1st CavalryDivision (The Woodpeckers) LOH flying the border area westof Quan Loi in III Corps. The time was almost midnight as Iremember, my Mission was to spend the entire night observingand reporting on enemy movements in the area. If you recall,there was a “Christmas Truce” in effect at that time whichseverely restricted our activities, but, from what I “observed” didnot have much effect on the activities of the other side. I“observed and reported” numerous columns of troops movingsouth across the border. It looked to me like every soldier inevery column had what appeared to be a flashlight in hand. (Wewouldn’t want someone to trip and fall in the dark jungle wouldwe?)I was working in direct support of and in constant radio con-

tact with a very capable field artillery battalion with immediateaccess to at least 30 artillery tubes, ranging in size from 105mmto 175mm/8inch. I may have been flying a minimally armedLOH, but my back-up was super strong. The problem Iencountered was that the inconsiderate enemy below would notviolate the provisions of the “Christmas Truce” Rules of Engage-ment (ROE), i.e. they would not shoot at me or any other air-craft.According to the ROE, I had to be receiving fire and the fire I

was receiving had to be clearly hostile and damaging before I wasallowed to engage with weapons. Imagine my predicament. Ioperating in the middle of the world’s greatest “target rich envi-ronment” and can’t get clearance to pull the trigger. Oh well, Iguess I’ll just burn a few bags of gas, watch the show and tell theguys back at the TOC what’s going on. That was the situation,but that’s not the point of my story.As I went about accomplishing my mission,

beating the dark night air

into submission, observing and report-ing, I hear a call in a stressed voice comeover “Guard” reporting an unidentified aircraft, a bogie, headingsouth across the border in my general area. The pilot makingthe report gave his call sign as “Blue Max 63 Mother One”. Ididn’t know the guy personally, but recognized the call sign ascoming from a “C” Battery 2/20 ARA Cobra, another 1st Cav-alry Division Aviation Unit.Well, as you can imagine, a call like that really got my atten-

tion, all of my senses went straight to max alert. I started search-ing the horizon for anything that might resemble an aircraft try-ing to sneak into my area with what I was sure was bad inten-tions. We had received no “Intel” regarding the possible use ofaircraft by the enemy, what the hell was going on? Stay alert, beready for anything. Then “63 Mother One” comes back up on“Guard” with an update, he is now attempting to close on thebogie and indication that he is pulling max power and just barelykeeping up.For the next two or three minutes, silence. What’s going on?

Has Mother One” made contact? Where is he? Where is theintruder? What can I do to assist? Man it’s getting hot in here.The radio crackles back to life with the words “Blue Max 63

Mother One” has closed with the bogie. He reports that thebogie appears to be a sleight-like object powered by eight four-legged, horned creatures. The bogie appears to be piloted by abig man in a red flight suit trimmed in white and he seems to belaughing at us. Are you kidding me?The next sound I hear is “Mother One’s” voice reporting that

the bogie has been declared hostile, he has received clearance toshoot and he is engaging with rockets. Whoosh! Whoosh! Thedistinctive sound of several pairs of 2.75” FFAR’s leaving thetube is heard clearly over the radio. What just happened? Am Ireally hearing this?The next radio call I hear was classic: “This is Blue Max 63

Mother One on Guard with a BDA. I have one sleight-likebogie, 8 horned creatures and one fat bastard in a red suit goingdown in flames”. The “Guard” channel erupted and was cloggedfor a couple of minutes with cheers and pilots congratulating“Mother One” on his victory. I cheered “Mother One” thatnight too. Maybe someday I’ll get to meet this intrepid aviatorand shake his hand.

Michael A "Tony" HumphreysE-Mail: wdpekr27@aol.com

CChhrriissttmmaass EEvvee 11996688:: AA MMiissssiioonn RReeccaappBY VHPA Member Michael Humphreys

MMeerrrryy CChhrriissttmmaass aanndd aa hheeaarrttffeelltt wweellccoommee hhoommee ttoo aallll mmyyffeellllooww aaiirrccrreeww mmeemmbbeerrss.. WWee mmaayy nnoott hhaavvee wwoonn tthhee WWaarr,,

bbuutt tthheeyy ssuurree aass hheellll kknneeww tthheeyy hhaadd bbeeeenn iinn aa ffiigghhtt..

WWaass aannyyoonnee eellssee ffllyyiinngg tthhee nniigghhtt ooff CChhrriissttmmaass EEvvee 11996688?? II wwaass jjuusstt wwoonnddeerriinngg iiff aannyyoonnee eellssee rreemmeemmbbeerrss hheeaarriinngg wwhhaatt II hheeaarrdd llaattee tthhaatt nniigghhtt..

IItt wwaass ssoommeetthhiinngg tthhaatt II’’llll nneevveerr ffoorrggeett..

Page 15 The VHPA Aviator

The Army Aviation HeritageFoundation (AAHF) is a non-profitpublic educational foundation filedunder section 501(c)(3) of the IRS.

TheFoundationisdedicatedtopresentingtheArmyAviationstorytotheAmericanpeoplethroughnarrated,patrioticflyingpresentationsandstaticdisplaysoftheactualaircraftandequipmentusedbythemenandwomenwhoservedinArmyAviation.This is accomplished throughtheacquisition, restoration, andmaintenanceofhis-toricflyableArmyaircraftrepresentingArmyAviation(Vietnamtopresent).Whatbetterway togive theAmericanpublic a first-hand lookand feelof themis-sionsArmyAviatorsflewthantoofferHueyandCobraridesinactualcombatveter-anaircraftoperatedbythedecoratedcrewwhoflewthem.TheAAHF travels to airshows and events around the easternUnited States pre-senting our three mainmulti-aircraft demonstrations: Rescue at Dawn, VietnamCombatAssault,andCobraDemoTeam.In addition to those demonstrations,AAHFoffers educational rides in ourUH-1HHueysandAH-1FCobras. Forinstancemostofthepicturesaccompanyingthisarticlewere takenat theVectrenAirshowinDayton,Ohio this year. Wegave ridestoabout1200peoplewhomostlyhadonlycasualcontactwithArmyAviationuntilthen. Whatathrill it is forGrandpatoshowhis familywhat it looked, felt, sounded,andsmelledliketocrankupandheadoutonatypicaldailymission.Eachgroupofabout tenpassengers is guidedthroughacheck-inprocess andthenmanifestedonaflight. Thegroupisgivenasafetybriefingwhichincludesemergencyexits,seatbeltoperation,etc.,thenashortdescriptionoftheirmission. Somearelook-ing forward tozipping lowover the trees, taking a fewrounds, thenpulling abigoldhairy flare andgettingkickedout into2 feet ofmuddy ricepaddywater. I tell themthattheloadjustaheadofthemgotthatmission. Theirswillbevisualreconnaissance,something Idid foralmostmyentire tour inVietnamin ’67-’68with the101stAir-borneDivision. The colonel (pick the oldest passenger) will take his captains andlieutenantsovertheareaofoperationsandlookforplaceswherehecouldlandtroop-ladenhelicopters. Thatwaythesoldierswouldn’thavetowalkall thewaytothebat-tleandbeallhot,sweaty,andtired. Afterdroppingoffthetroops,theHueyscouldgo

back and return withmore beans and bullets so thatthe soldiers wouldn’t have to carry all of that ontheir initial assault. Finally, there might bewounded that the Hueys could quickly carryback to a hospital or aid station. This last mis-sion savedmany,many livesover there. I chokeup a littlewhen I tell them that there are proba-blymenhereatthisairshowwhoarealivebecauseoftheHueysandthebravemenwhoflewthem.Probably the hardest part of my briefing is pickingonly fourpassengers tosit inthegunner’spositions! Everyoneis jumpingupanddownforthose. Weflywiththedoorsopenthough, soeveryseatisagoodone. Asthereturningpassengersareexitingtheridearea,Itellthenextgroupto notice that they’re all smiling. The word I hear most at that point is, “AWE-SOME“!Cobraridesaresomewhatdifferentinthatthereisroom,ofcourse,foronlyonepas-sengerat a time.Andalthough it’s abitpricier, this givesourpilotsmoreone-on-onetimeandallowsamorepersonalizeddemonstration. Andit’sairconditioned!IpersonallyretiredearlyfrommyjobatAmericanAirlinesinCaliforniaandmovedtotheAtlantaareajustsoIcouldbewiththisgreatgroupofpeople. Youmightrecallthe article in theVHPANewsletter several years agowhichhighlightedmyreunionwiththeOH-6thattheAAHFfeaturedinitsVietnamandRescueatDawnscenar-ios…theveryLoachIflewinVietnamwiththe101stAirborneDivision,old795.

IIff yyoouu aarree iinntteerreesstteedd iinn vvoolluunntteeeerriinngg aassaann aaiirrccrreeww oorr ggrroouunndd ccrreeww mmeemmbbeerr iinntthhee AArrmmyy AAvviiaattiioonn HHeerriittaaggee FFoouunnddaa--ttiioonn aanndd hheellppiinngg ttoo ppaassss oonn yyoouurr lleeggaaccyy,,pplleeaassee sseeee oouurr wweebbssiittee,, wwwwww..aarrmmyyaavv..oorrgg

Curt Knapp101st Airborne Division LZ Sally 1968

loachpilot1968@yahoo.com

TToo tthhee MMeemmbbeerrss ooff tthhee VVHHPPAA,,AA RReeppoorrtt ooff tthhee OOppeerraattiioonnss ooff tthhee AArrmmyy AAvviiaattiioonn HHeerriittaaggee FFoouunnddaattiioonn ((AAAAHHFF))

Page 16 The VHPA Aviator

Anderson,JohnH. **Ozark, Alabama,USArmyFlight School class(s):55-FVietnamCombatUnit(s): 93 TCCO in 63;121AHC in 63; 205ASHC in 67;HHC/12CAG in 67-68

Asserson, Francis EricRoanoke, Virginia, USArmyFlight School class(s):68-8 68-10VietnamCombatUnit(s):A/227AHB1CAV in 68-69

Bach, Kenneth J. 'Ken'Snellville, Georgia, USArmyFlight School class(s):68-503 68-3VietnamCombatUnit(s): 54MEDDET in 68

Baker. Harley J.Clarksville, Tennessee USArmyFlight School class(s):69-26VietnamCombatUnit(s):173ABNBDE in 70-71

Baratko, Robert EdwardSurprise, Arizona,USNavyFlight School Class info not providedVietnamCombatUnit(s): HA(L)-3 in 70

Barnhart, David L.Atlanta,Georgia, USArmyFlight School class(s): 70-48Vietnamunit info not provided

Barrieault, GerardA.Woodlyn, Pennsylvania, USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-47 69-45VietnamCombat unit(s):196ASHC in 70; 605TCCO in 70

Broderick, JohnC.Millington,Maryland, USArmyFlight School class(s): 70-40VietnamCombat unit(s):128AHC in 70-71; A/82AVN in 71-72

Bowman,DavidK.Westfield, Indiana,USArmyFlight School class(s):70-38VietnamCombatUnit info not provided

Boyles, JamesD. 'JD'Greenville, SouthCarolina, USArmyFlight School class(s):69-15VietnamCombatUnit(s):128AHC in 69-70; B/3/17CAV in 70-71

Boyung, Arthur J.EauClaire,Wisconsin, USArmyFlight School class(s):69-7VietnamCombatUnit(s): 388TCCO in 69-71

Byrd,WilliamB. 'Bill'Bunnlevel, NorthCarolina, USAir ForceFlight School class(s):63-HVietnamCombatUnit(s): 37ARRS in 67-68

Carrithers, JohnP. 'J.P.'SierraVista, Arizona,USArmyFlight School class(s):70-17 70-15VietnamCombatUnit(s):117AHC in 71; 195AHC in 70

Casper, Robert J.MountainView,Wyoming,USArmyFlight School class(s):70-39VietnamCombatUnit(s): 158AVN101ABNin 70; 101AVN101ABN in 70-71

Chunn,DonC. **Mesquite, Texas,USArmyFlight School class(s):61-3VietnamCombatUnit(s):339TCCO in 63-64; 68AVN in 64

Clark, JimmyL.Hickory, NorthCarolina, USArmyFlight School class(s):70-24VietnamCombatUnit(s): 61AHC in 71

Crawford, EugeneG. 'Gene'Woodbury, Connecticut, USArmyFlight School class(s):69-17VietnamCombatUnit info not provided

Daniel, GaryRTemple, Texas,USArmyFlight School class(s):70-6VietnamCombatUnit(s):C/7/17CAV in 70-71

Darrow, KennethW. **Klamath Falls.Oregon,USArmyFlight School class(s): 71-11 71-9VietnamCombat unit(s):B/7/17CAV in 71-72

Della AllenB. '"A" "D"'RenoNevada,USArmyFlight School class(s):69-39 69-37VietnamCombatUnit info not provided

Depaul, DennisM. 'Den' **University Place,Washington,USArmyFlight School class(s):70-2VietnamCombatUnit(s): 238AVN in 70-71

Derry, StephenM. **Corinth, NewYork, USArmyFlight School class(s):70-33 70-29VietnamCombatUnit info not provided

UPCOMING REUNIONSThe 48th Assault Helicopter Company – The Blue Stars6th Annual Fall Reunion - November 7th - 11th, 2012

The Inn at Ellis Square, Savannah, GeorgiaPOC’s Rick Lester at: joker94inbound@yahoo.com

Carl Cortez at: ccortez@scseng.com.

187th AHC – Blackhawks, Crusaders and Rat Packand all attached units

Nov 8-12, 2012 - San Diego, CAPOC: John Quesenberry (619) 813 0367,

or Email: jquesen1@san.rr.comRegistration @www.187thahc.net/reunions

The 162nd AHC Reunion17-20 February 2013 - Savannah, GA

POC: dwelch98@tampabay.rr.com or 727-667-0644

D Troop, 1/1 Cav Reunion – The Sabers1-3 March 2013 – Orlando, Florida

POC: Chuck AbbottE-Mail: RedBaron28@aol.com or (775) 882-7391

WELCOME TO THE VHPA!Look the list over and if you recognize anyone, give them a call, drop them a line or send them an e-mail welcoming them into ourAssociation. Full contact information is available either on-line in the Member Services section of our website, or through ourstaff at HQ by calling 1-800-505-VHPA.

Line 1, Last, first, MI and/or nickname of new member; double asterisks (**) ID new life membersLine 2, his current city and state, branch of serviceLine 3 -5 , his (Flight) Class and Vietnam (VN) Unit(s) served with, if that info is available

We also welcome these 91 new Members to our Associa-tion in this issue. All have joined the VHPA during theperiod from 25July thru 1October 2012.

Want to see yourReunionpublicizedhere?Send details to: Aviator@VHPA.org

Book nowfor the 2013Reunion - Makesa great ChristmasPresent!

DolinRichardW. 'Dick'ColoradoSprings, Colorado,USArmyFlight School class(s): 71-19 71-17VietnamCombat unit(s): 7/1CAV in 71-72

Driggers, DonA.Paris, Texas, USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-13VietnamCombat unit(s): 162AHC in 69-70

Drinkwater, GaryWBatonRouge, Louisiana,USArmyFlight School class(s):70-20VietnamCombatUnit(s): 170AHC in 70-71

Fiest, Terrance J.Orlando, Florida, USArmyFlight School class(s): 68-4VietnamCombat unit(s):D/1/4CAV1 INF in 68-69

Frizzell, ThomasMSurprise, Arizona,USArmyFlight School class(s):67-26VietnamCombatUnit(s):HHC269CAB in 68

Golly, LeroyE. 'Roy'Baldwin,Maryland, USArmyFlight School class(s): 68-6VietnamCombat unit(s):162AHC in 68-69; 60AHC in 72-73

Hairston, Eric B.CopperasCove, Texas,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-7Vietnamunit info not provided

Harrell, JohnW.Columbia, SouthCarolina, USArmyFlight School class(s): 62-10Vietnamunit info not provided

Heath, HermanS.Enterprise, Alabama,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-24VietnamCombat unit(s):134AHC in 69-70

Heim,PhillipG.WeekiWachee, Florida, USArmyFlight School class(s):67-501 67-23VietnamCombatUnit info not provided

Hendrix, RodneyW.Norfolk, Nebraska, USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-3VietnamCombat unit(s): 281AHC in 69-70;USARVTRANDET in 70-71

Hils, NormanM. 'Norm'Adkins, Texas, USArmyFlight School class(s): 71-15VietnamCombat unit(s):247MEDDET in 71-72

Hoagland,RonaldD. 'Ron'Greeley, Colorado,USArmyFlight School class(s): 70-44VietnamCombat unit(s): F/4CAV in 71; 120AHC in 71-72

Horton, BruceS.Lewisville, NorthCarolina, USArmyFlight School class(s): 70-5 70-3VietnamCombat unit(s): HHC/2BDE/101 in67-68;HHC/52CAB in 71-72

Hrastich, ThomasA.Saint Louis,Missouri, USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-8VietnamCombat unit(s): 125ATC in 69-70

Hunter, DonC.Kirkland,GeraldA. **Racine,Wisconsin, USArmyFlight School class(s):70-1 69-49VietnamCombatUnit(s):B/229AHB1CAV in 70-71

Lee,Massachusetts, USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-35VietnamCombat unit(s):82MEDDET in 70-71

Harrell, Donny L.Culloden,Georgia, USArmyFlight School class(s):69-17VietnamCombatUnit(s):A/123AVN23 INF in 69-70

Hutson,Richard F. “Hut”Enterprise, Alabama,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-5VietnamCombat unit(s): 174AHC in 69-70;HHC1AVNBDE in 72-73

Jackson, ThomasK. 'Tommy'Simpson, Louisiana,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-18VietnamCombat unit(s):C/3/17CAV in 69-70

James, BruceE.Winston,Georgia, USArmyFlight School class(s): 70-1VietnamCombat unit(s):C/227AHB1CAV in 70-71; 60AHC in 71

Jeter, TommyL.Viola, Kansas,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-3VietnamCombat unit(s):498MEDCO in 69-70

Kalina, JohnM. **Escondido,California, USArmyFlight School class(s):60-6QVietnamCombatUnit(s): 178ASHC in66-67

Kuci, RichardA 'Dick' **SignalMountain. Tennessee,USMarineCorpsFlight School class info not providedVietnamCombat unit(s): VHMM-361 in 66;H&MS-36 in 67

Lewis, JohnT.Hitchcock, Texas,USArmyFlight School class(s):69-31 69-27VietnamCombatUnit(s): A/228ASHB1CAV in 71; 203ASHC in 71

Long,DavidECanyon Lake, Texas,USArmyFlight School class(s):69-50VietnamCombatUnit(s): ACT/11ACR in 70

Lowe, JohnH. 'Clubhouse6'PompanoBeach, Florida, USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-4VietnamCombat unit(s):187AHC in 69;HHC269CAB in 70

Martinez,ManuelRockawayPark, NewYork, USArmyFlight School class(s): 70-49 70-47Vietnamunit info not provided

Matt, JohnEdwardCharleston,West Virginia, USArmyFlight School class(s):66-18VietnamCombatUnit(s):57MEDDET in 68; 82MEDDET in 68-69;247MEDDET in 71-72

McCormick, TimothyR.Dallas, Texas,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-25VietnamCombat unit(s):11AVNGS1CAV in 69-70

Middlebrook, PaulPennYan,NewYork, USArmyFlight School class(s):69-48 69-40VietnamCombatUnit info not provided

MillerWayne J.Paducah, Kentucky, UAArmyFlight School class(s): 69-1VietnamCombat unit(s):229AHB1CAV in 69-70; 7RR in 74-74

Misurek,GeraldS.Cumming,Georgia, USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-30Vietnamunit info not provided

Nutter, Jerry L.Cushing,Wisconsin, USArmyFlight School class(s): 68-511 68-19VietnamCombat unit(s): 7/1CAV in 69

O'Connell, RichardM. 'Dick'Dothan, Alabama,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-45VietnamCombat unit(s):132ASHC in 70-71; 14 BN; 16GRP

VHPA Member Bill Hatounian is a 24-year mili-tary veteran and a retired Army Aviator, He servedwith the 1st Squadron, 4th United States Cavalry inVietnam and after active duty, he flew with the997th AHC of the Arizona Army National Guard.He has recently retired from being both a pilot anda Lieutenant with the Phoenix Police Departmentand is enjoying retired life by writing books, beingactive and traveling with his wife.

TANK WITCHDoug Baker, a Vietnam War veteran and hisNational Guard tank crew are whisked througha warp in t ime and into another dimension.They have been summoned by a hag witch andfind themselves in a medieval land, where theyare unwittingly thrown into the social conflictsof the kingdom.

THE AFGHAN DECEPTIONColonel Martin Daniels and the 4th United StatesCavalry are unwittingly thrust into the world of inter-national politics and intrigue in this historical fictionnovel set in 1879. The relationship between twocolonels of cavalry, one American and one British,could forever alter the fate of the British Empire.

Interested in Advertis ing in The VHPA Aviator?The Official Newsletter of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association

Pr i c e s r ang e f r om $135 . 0 0 f o r a qua r t e r - p a g e t o $ 4 7 5 . 0 0 f o r a f u l l - p a g e , c o l o r adv e r t i s emen t .Our staff Graphic Designer will help design your Aviator ad at no cost, other price discounts are available.

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All four of Bill’s Books,The Afgan Deception, Tank Witch,Causel Connection and Toltancina

are available at:www.MyNovelTales.com

Page 17 The VHPA Aviator

O'Quinn, EdwinB. **Magnolia, Texas, USArmyFlight School class(s): 63-2WFWVietnamCombat unit(s):A/101AVN101ABN in 65-66

O'Quin,OtisW **FortWorth, Texas, USArmyFlight School class(s): 68-514 68-24VietnamCombatUnit(s): 134AHC in 68-69

Overturf, Kenneth L. 'Ken'ColoradoSprings, Colorado,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-2VietnamCombat unit(s):1CAVDIV in 69-70

Phillips, JohnR.Warwick, NorthDakota, USArmyFlight School class(s): 71-43VietnamCombat unit(s):48AHC in 72;H/17CAV in 72-73

Prigge,Roy J.Carlos,Minnesota, USMarineCorpsFlight School class not providedVietnamCombatUnit info not provided

Prior, George 'Big Foot'Orlando, Florida, USArmyFlight School class(s):68-510 68-16VietnamCombatUnit(s): 11ACR in 69-70

Rapp, JohnM. 'Mike'Crosby, Texas, USArmyFlight School class(s): 68-24 68-42VietnamCombat unit(s): 7/1CAV in 69-70;1AVNBDE in 69-70

Redemann, Paul E.Oshkosh,Wisconsin, USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-47VietnamCombat unit(s): 71AHC in 70-71

Rench,Robert F.Sturgeon Lake,Minnesota, USArmyFlight School class(s): 67-9VietnamCombat unit(s): 117AHC in 67-68;71AHC in 70-71; 131SAC in 03-04

Roberts, HenryP.Blacksburg, SouthCarolina, USArmyFlight School class(s):68-508 68-12VietnamCombatUnit info not provided

Roberts,MalcolmH.Mounds,Oklahoma,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-32VietnamCombat unit(s):C/4/77ARA101ABN in 69-70

Rodgers, JamesMChipley, Florida, USArmyFlight School class(s):70-45 70-43VietnamCombatUnit info not provided

Rose,DaleH **DeSoto, Kansas, USArmyFlight School class(s):69-10VietnamCombatUnit info not provided

Rose, StanleyA.BrynAthyn, Pennsylvania, USArmyFlight School class(s):69-31VietnamCombatUnit(s):201CAC in 70; 61AHC in 71

Roseborough,MorganG.Charlotte, NorthCarolina, USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-18VietnamCombat unit(s): D/1/4CAV1 INF in69-69; 3/5CAV9 INF in 76-78; 503CAB3AD in 79-80

Rush, LeslieR. 'Les'Phoenix,Maryland,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-19VietnamCombat unit(s):101ABNDIV in 69-70

Shadoan,Robert P. 'Bob'Belton, Texas,USArmyFlight School class(s): 68-21 68-35VietnamCombat unit(s): B/101AVN101ABN in 69-70; 48AHC in 72; F/8CAV in 72

Sheveland, AlanG.San Jose,California, USArmyFlight School class(s): 71-2VietnamCombat unit(s):A/7/17CAV in 71-72

Simmons,Roger L. 'Nubbs' **OwensCrossRoads, Alabama,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-21VietnamCombat unit(s):B/1/9CAV1CAV in 69

Stenzel, RalphW.Santa Fe, Texas,USArmyFlight School class(s): 68-514 68-24VietnamCombat unit(s): 9 INF in 69-69

Stumpf, Albert HHenryville, Indiana,USArmyFlight School class(s):65-13WVietnamCombatUnit(s):128AHC in 65-66; 128AHC in 68-69

Sumner, StephenR.Axtell, Texas,USArmyFlight School class(s): 68-512 68-20Vietnamunit info not provided

Tarbe, BenShawneeMission, Kansas,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-19VietnamCombat unit(s): 7/1CAV in 69-72

Taylor, RonaldR. 'Ron' **Pleasant Plains, Illinois, USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-50VietnamCombat unit(s): 117AHC in 70-71

Tickner, Arthur J.Syracuse,NewYork, USArmyFlight School class(s): 68-11 68-15VietnamCombat unit(s):17AVNGP in 68-69

Timmerman,RobertM. 'BobT.' **MidlandCity, Alabama,USArmyFlight School class(s): 67-24VietnamCombat unit(s):281AHC in 68-69;HHC17CAG in 69

Toschi, DouglasS.Seattle,Washington,USArmyFlight School class(s): 70-8Vietnamunit info not provided

Trapani, JohnA.HuntingtonBeach,California, USArmyFlight School class(s): 70-4VietnamCombat unit(s): 173AHC in 70-71

Trautman,GeraldA. 'Gary'Moses Lake,Washington,USArmyFlight School class(s): 68-9 68-11VietnamCombat unit(s):1 AVNCO2/20ARA in 68-69

Trumpe,DrakeF.SanMarcos,California, USMarineCorpsFlight School class(s):69-1VietnamCombatUnit(s): HML-167 in 70-71

Turner, ThomasS.Alice, Texas,USArmyFlight School class(s): 68-9 68-11VietnamCombat unit(s): 247MEDDET in68; 82MEDDET in 68-69

Welch, Larry L. **Marlow,Oklahoma,USArmyFlight School class(s): 57-13VietnamCombat unit(s): 17AHC in 65-66;1AVNCO in 66; 192AHC in 67;173ABNBDE in 67-68; 183AVN in 68

Wenzel, Thomas J. **Hemlock,Michigan,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-22 69-20VietnamCombat unit(s): 173ABN in 66-67;61AHC in 69-70

Willhouse,DonaldE. 'Dan' **Georgetown, Texas,USArmyFlight School class(s): 69-421VietnamCombat unit(s): 91AHC in 70-71

Page 18 The VHPA Aviator

AA pphhoottoo ffrroomm tthhee hhiissttoorryy ooff AArrmmyy AAvviiaattiioonn

AArrmmyy CCaarrggoo HHeelliiccoopptteerr CCoouurrssee GGrraadduuaatteess –– CCllaassss 5555LL

Photo and captions courtesy of Harry Bryant (left row, far right).Harry went on to say “We reported to Rucker in March of 1955.Most of us were senior NCO's but as soon as we reported in, ourchevrons were removed and we all became lowly Warrant OfficeCandidates. I can honestly say we were treated pretty bad, out ofthe 48 original candidates, only 17 graduated. “

Just take a look at our class photo and you won’t see a smile onanyone’s face. The Tac Officers tried really hard to make us quitbut one day mine told me that if you want to make it through thecourse, you just have to put up with it. So I did and after 22 weeksof Flight Training and lots of BS, we graduated in August 1955.Happy Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

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Page 19 The VHPA Aviator

One of the few constants of the Vietnam War—one eagerly anticipated by Americantroops, that is—wastheannualBobHopeChristmasShow.From1964to1972,Hopeincluded South Vietnam on his annual trips to visit troops during the holiday season, atraditionthatstartedforhimduringWorldWarII. "Backin1941,atMarchField,Cali-fornia…I still remember fondly that first soldier audience," Hope once said. "I looked atthem,theylaughedatme,anditwasloveatfirstsight."

Whileonlyasmall fractionofthe2.5milliontroopswhoservedinSoutheastAsiaac-tuallygottoattendHope'sperformances,forthosewhodidhemanagedtobreakthemo-notony, ease the loneliness and give the troops in combat zones across Vietnam a coupleof hours of laughter—and a memory for a lifetime. Bob Hope's classic opening mono-loguesofrapid-firejokesalwaystookjabsattheGIsandthespecificsofthelocalsituation.

Underahotsunoradrivingrain,hisyoungaudienceslaughedandcheeredthelegendarycomedianandhiscastofsingers,dancersandthemusiciansofLesBrownandhisBandofRenown.Hope'sshtickincludedaconstant,sometimesbawdybanterwiththeotherper-formers,takingplentyofshotsattheabsurditiesofmilitarylifewhileconveyingarealsenseofhowdifficultitwasforthetroopstobeawayfromhomeduringtheholidays.

HopebegantakinghisshowontheroadaertheUnitedStatesenteredWorldWarIIandtheUnitedServiceOrganization(USO)startedsendingHollywoodandradioen-tertainerstoperformformilitaryaudiencesatbasesinNorthAfrica,EuropeandtheSouthPacific.Alreadyagiantmovieandradiostar,Hopetraveledoverseassixtimes,loggingmorethanamillionmilesduringWorldWarII.AttheoutsetoftheColdWarin1948,whentheSovietsclosedallgroundtravelfromWestGermanytoBerlin,Hope'sshowfollowedthereservessentbyPresidentHarryTrumantofacilitatetheairliintothewesternsectorsofBerlin.Later,HopetraveledtoKoreaintheearly1950saerNorthKoreantroopsin-vadedSouthKorea,andallduringthe1950shisshowplayedatmilitarybasesinJapan.Bythe1960s,Hope'sChristmasshowsfortroopsoverseashadbecomeafixtureofAmerica'straditionalholidayseason.

AtBienHoaAirBaseonChristmasEveof1965,Bobrecalled:"IaskedMcNamaraifwecouldcomeoverandhesaid, 'Whynot,we'vetriedeverythingelse!'"

Asearlyas1962,HopewantedtogotoVietnamtoperformforthegrowingcontin-gentofAmericanmilitaryadvisers.Althoughplanningmovedatasteadypacefora1963show,thePentagonultimatelypulledtheplugonitbecauseofwhatitconsideredtoohigharisk.Nevertheless,atage61,HopepersistedandwonapprovalforhisfirstVietnamshows

inDecember1964.Withhisnewdestinationcameanewtwisttotheshows:eywouldbefilmedtobebroadcastasholidayspecialsinearlyJanuaryofthenextyear.ese filmed productions required a newlevelofeffortinorganizationandexecutiontobringthemtoanewdomesticaudience.Hope remained the star and the drivingforcebehindhistours.Otherleadingper-formers such as Connie Stevens, Ann-MargretandJoeyHeathertonwelcomedthe opportunity to join him, despite thestress of travel into a far-flung war zoneand the hardships they encounteredthere. Hope's Vietnam engagementswere among the most dangerous everforthefunnymanandhisentertainers.

On December 15, 1964, Hope's

contingentleLosAn-geles aboard a militarytransport aircra largeenough to carry thesupportstaffandalltheentertainers,includingLesBrownandhisband,thereigningMissWorld,AnitaBryant,actressesJanisPaigeandJillSt.JohnandcomicactorJerryColonna,whohadbeenpartofHope'sgroupduringWorldWarII.

etourcovered25,000milesandincludedstopsatWakeIslandandGuam.eyflewontoKoreaforaperformanceinwhichHopeopenedhismonologuebylabelingSouthKoreaas"VietnamNorth."Hewonthunderousapplausewhenhecracked,"Wehadalit-tletroublelandinginSeoul:Someonestoletherunway."

SecuritywasexceptionallytightforBobHope'sfirstvisittoVietnam.Althoughtheplan-ners had made intricate arrangements through the offices of Military Assistance Com-mand Vietnam (MACV) prior to his December 24 landing, there had been no officialannouncements or confirmation of Hope's visit. And the locations of all his shows re-mainedsecret.EvenHopeandhisstaffneverknewthenameofthebasetheyweretoper-form at until they landed. Reporters noted that plans for Hope's visits to different areasweremoresecretthanthoseforgeneralsorCabinetofficials.Troopswhomadeuptheau-dienceswerenevertoldwhowouldbevisitinguntilthelastminute.HopeandhisentourageweregivensternwarningsfromMACV.Whilesomewererou-tineforanyoverseastravel—avoidallwaterandicebecausenonewassafetodrink,andstayawayfromallmilkproducts—thethreatsrelatedtoterrorismwereespeciallyserious.eyweretoldtostayawayfromwindowsinrestaurantsandintheirhotelrooms,andtokeeptheirdrapesclosed.Andafinalcaution:Droptothefloorwhentheyheardanexplosion.Inspiteofthedangers,theshowswenton,butthesoundofaircraoverheadduringaper-formancealwaysbroughtastartledlookfromHope.

efirstshowinVietnam,onChristmasEve,beganalmostimmediatelyuponlandingatBienHoaairbase,whichtheVietConghadbombedinNovember,destroyingmanyaircra. As soon as Hope reached the stage, he opened with a hearty "Hello, advisers! IaskedSecretaryMcNamaraifwecouldcomeandhesaid,'Whynot,we'vetriedeverythingelse!'No,really,we'rethrilledtobehereinSniperValley.WhatawelcomeIgotattheair-port…theythoughtIwasareplacement."

AlthoughaCommunistattackwasarealpossibility,Hopeappearedrelaxed,swingingagolfclub,whichbecameaconstantpropduringhismonologues."Ilovetherunwayyouhavehere,"hequipped."Greatgolfingcountry…eventherunwayhas18holes."

Aertheshow,thegroupmovedtoSaigon,wherethedirewarningsofdangerliterallyexploded into reality. Hope and most of the performers stayed at the Caravelle Hotel,whileBrownandmembersofthebandstayedattheContinentalPalace.BothwereclosetotheBrinksHotel,whichservedasabachelorofficersquartersfortheAmericans.ataernoon, a bomb flattened the Brinks, sent glass and other debris into some rooms ofthe Continental and shook the Caravelle. No one in the troupe was injured, but the ex-plosionleallthehotelswithoutwaterorelectricity.Truetoform,Hopestitchedthisin-cidentintohisactatTanSonNhutthenextday:"IwanttothankGeneralWestmorelandforthatwonderfulwelcomeyesterday.Weopenedwithabang!"AndatthesmalloutpostintheMekongDelta,hejoked:"AfunnythinghappenedtomewhenIwasdrivingthroughdowntownSaigontomyhotellastnight.Wemetahotelgoingtheotherway."

Next up was a flight to Pleiku, a small helicopter base in the highlands near the borderwithNorthVietnam,withheavysecurityinplaceforthevisitors.RumorshadcirculatedthatHope'sgroupwasheadedtheirway,butnoonewassureuntiltheairplanelandedandBob Hope walked onto the stage. "What a welcome," he declared. "Wherever we landwe'remetbythousandsofcheeringservicemen…theythinkit'sSecretaryMcNamarawith

shut-downorders!"JillSt.Johndidherstand-uproutinewithHope,tradingone-linersaboutherIQandhis

golfscore,andlaterintheshowsheperformedthesegmentthatbecameverypopularwiththe servicemen, when they joined her on stage to dance the "Go-Go" to the beat of LesBrown'sband.

At Da Nang, the tour's largest audience in Vietnam, Hope made light of the frequentchangesingovernmentthatyear:"Vietnamisaverydemocraticcountry,everyonegetstobepresident."Asusual,he jokedaboutmilitarycutbacksandtheaircrahewasforcedtoflyin:"It'soneoftheearlierjets…insteadofaerburners,ithasanovenandabagofcharcoal."

e last show on the 1964 Vietnam tour was at the seaside city of Nha Trang. At thisand every performance, aer a brief prayer from the chaplain, Anita Bryant closed theshowbysingingthefirstverseof"SilentNight,"andaskedthetroopsandotherperform-ers to join in on the second verse, a tradition that continued through all the show's years.e group le Vietnam on December 28 and flew to Clark Air Base in the Philippinesfor a show before heading home. Arriving back in Los Angeles on December 30, Hopetoldreporters,"iswasthemostexcitingChristmastripsince1943."

1964 NBC Broadcast:"Let's face it…we're the Big Daddy of this world"

e1964tripsetthepaceandthepatternforallofBobHope'svisitsto American troops around the world for the next eight years. While the performerschangedandthelocationsvaried,Hopewasalwaysthestarandbegantheshowsbystrut-tingonstagewithhisgolfclubinhand,firingoffjokestailoredtoeachbase.HealwayshadthereigningMissWorldandalwaystriedtobringthetroopstheoutstandingglamourstarfrombackhome.Hestartedappearingonstageinmilitaryuniformshirtsandjacketsout-landishly decorated with patches, stripes, stars and insignias. And as the number of mili-tarypersonnelstationedinVietnamgreweachyear,thetour'slengthexpandedtoo.

All the shows were filmed live and later edited down to 90-minute television specialsbroadcastonNBCinJanuary,sponsoredbyChryslerandruncommercial-free.etele-castsfeaturednotonlytheentertainers,butalsoplentyofshotsoftheU.S.troops,includ-ingfootageoftheChristmasmealstheysharedtogether,andHope'svisitstothehospitalsandhospitalships.Attheendofthe1964telecast,Hopedisplayedhismoreseriousside:

"WewanttothankSecretaryofDefenseRobertMcNamaraformakingthisChristmastrippossible….Let'sfaceit,we'retheBigDaddyofthisworld….Italkedtoalotofourfight-ingmenoverhereandeventhoughthey'reputtingupagreatfight,againsttremendousoddsinthishide-and-seekwar,they'renotabouttogiveup,becausetheyknowiftheywalkout

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hhiiss ffaammoouuss ggoollff cclluubb..

BBoobb HHooppee''ss VViieettnnaamm CChhrriissttmmaass TToouurrssBy Judith Johnson, Published on HistoryNet.com, December 23, 2009 and used by permission. ((AAllll pphhoottooss:: NNaattiioonnaall AArrcchhiivveess))

BBoobb HHooppee''ss VViieettnnaamm CChhrriissttmmaass TToouurrss

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BBoobb HHooppee wwaass aallwwaayyss tthhee ssttaarr aanndd bbeeggaann eeaacchh sshhooww bbyy ssttrruuttttiinngg oonn ssttaaggee wwiitthh hhiiss ggoollff cclluubb,, ffiirriinngg ooffff jjookkeess ttaaiilloorreedd ttooeeaacchh bbaassee.. AAnndd hhee aallwwaayyss bbrroouugghhtt tthhee oouuttssttaannddiinngg ggllaammoouurr ssttaarr ffrroomm bbaacckk hhoommee.. OOnn tthhee 11996677 ttoouurr,, aaccttrreessss RRaaqquueellWWeellcchh jjooiinneedd HHooppee oonn ssttaaggee ttoo aadddd aa ffeeww ccrroowwdd--pplleeaassiinngg ddaannccee mmoovveess ttoo BBoobb''ss rreennddiittiioonn ooff ""DDaanncciinn iinn tthhee SSttrreeeettss..""

Continued on page 35

AAccttrreessss AAnnnn--MMaarrggrreett jjooiinneedd BBoobbHHooppee''ss ttrroouuppee ffoorr tthhee 11996688 ttoouurr..

TThhee bbrraassss aallwwaayyss mmaannaaggeedd ttoo ffiinndd HHooppee oonn ssttaaggeessoommeewwhheerree,, ttoo tthhaannkk hhiimm aanndd hhiiss ppeerrffoorrmmeerrss ffoorr bbrriinnggiinngg aa bbiitt ooff CChhrriissttmmaass cchheeeerr ttoo tthhee ttrrooooppss..

One of the few constants of the Vietnam War—one eagerly anticipated by Americantroops, that is—wastheannualBobHopeChristmasShow.From1964to1972,Hopeincluded South Vietnam on his annual trips to visit troops during the holiday season, atraditionthatstartedforhimduringWorldWarII. "Backin1941,atMarchField,Cali-fornia…I still remember fondly that first soldier audience," Hope once said. "I looked atthem,theylaughedatme,anditwasloveatfirstsight."

Whileonlyasmall fractionofthe2.5milliontroopswhoservedinSoutheastAsiaac-tuallygottoattendHope'sperformances,forthosewhodidhemanagedtobreakthemo-notony, ease the loneliness and give the troops in combat zones across Vietnam a coupleof hours of laughter—and a memory for a lifetime. Bob Hope's classic opening mono-loguesofrapid-firejokesalwaystookjabsattheGIsandthespecificsofthelocalsituation.

Underahotsunoradrivingrain,hisyoungaudienceslaughedandcheeredthelegendarycomedianandhiscastofsingers,dancersandthemusiciansofLesBrownandhisBandofRenown.Hope'sshtickincludedaconstant,sometimesbawdybanterwiththeotherper-formers,takingplentyofshotsattheabsurditiesofmilitarylifewhileconveyingarealsenseofhowdifficultitwasforthetroopstobeawayfromhomeduringtheholidays.

HopebegantakinghisshowontheroadaertheUnitedStatesenteredWorldWarIIandtheUnitedServiceOrganization(USO)startedsendingHollywoodandradioen-tertainerstoperformformilitaryaudiencesatbasesinNorthAfrica,EuropeandtheSouthPacific.Alreadyagiantmovieandradiostar,Hopetraveledoverseassixtimes,loggingmorethanamillionmilesduringWorldWarII.AttheoutsetoftheColdWarin1948,whentheSovietsclosedallgroundtravelfromWestGermanytoBerlin,Hope'sshowfollowedthereservessentbyPresidentHarryTrumantofacilitatetheairliintothewesternsectorsofBerlin.Later,HopetraveledtoKoreaintheearly1950saerNorthKoreantroopsin-vadedSouthKorea,andallduringthe1950shisshowplayedatmilitarybasesinJapan.Bythe1960s,Hope'sChristmasshowsfortroopsoverseashadbecomeafixtureofAmerica'straditionalholidayseason.

AtBienHoaAirBaseonChristmasEveof1965,Bobrecalled:"IaskedMcNamaraifwecouldcomeoverandhesaid, 'Whynot,we'vetriedeverythingelse!'"

Asearlyas1962,HopewantedtogotoVietnamtoperformforthegrowingcontin-gentofAmericanmilitaryadvisers.Althoughplanningmovedatasteadypacefora1963show,thePentagonultimatelypulledtheplugonitbecauseofwhatitconsideredtoohigharisk.Nevertheless,atage61,HopepersistedandwonapprovalforhisfirstVietnamshows

inDecember1964.Withhisnewdestinationcameanewtwisttotheshows:eywouldbefilmedtobebroadcastasholidayspecialsinearlyJanuaryofthenextyear.ese filmed productions required a newlevelofeffortinorganizationandexecutiontobringthemtoanewdomesticaudience.Hope remained the star and the drivingforcebehindhistours.Otherleadingper-formers such as Connie Stevens, Ann-MargretandJoeyHeathertonwelcomedthe opportunity to join him, despite thestress of travel into a far-flung war zoneand the hardships they encounteredthere. Hope's Vietnam engagementswere among the most dangerous everforthefunnymanandhisentertainers.

On December 15, 1964, Hope's

contingentleLosAn-geles aboard a militarytransport aircra largeenough to carry thesupportstaffandalltheentertainers,includingLesBrownandhisband,thereigningMissWorld,AnitaBryant,actressesJanisPaigeandJillSt.JohnandcomicactorJerryColonna,whohadbeenpartofHope'sgroupduringWorldWarII.

etourcovered25,000milesandincludedstopsatWakeIslandandGuam.eyflewontoKoreaforaperformanceinwhichHopeopenedhismonologuebylabelingSouthKoreaas"VietnamNorth."Hewonthunderousapplausewhenhecracked,"Wehadalit-tletroublelandinginSeoul:Someonestoletherunway."

SecuritywasexceptionallytightforBobHope'sfirstvisittoVietnam.Althoughtheplan-ners had made intricate arrangements through the offices of Military Assistance Com-mand Vietnam (MACV) prior to his December 24 landing, there had been no officialannouncements or confirmation of Hope's visit. And the locations of all his shows re-mainedsecret.EvenHopeandhisstaffneverknewthenameofthebasetheyweretoper-form at until they landed. Reporters noted that plans for Hope's visits to different areasweremoresecretthanthoseforgeneralsorCabinetofficials.Troopswhomadeuptheau-dienceswerenevertoldwhowouldbevisitinguntilthelastminute.HopeandhisentourageweregivensternwarningsfromMACV.Whilesomewererou-tineforanyoverseastravel—avoidallwaterandicebecausenonewassafetodrink,andstayawayfromallmilkproducts—thethreatsrelatedtoterrorismwereespeciallyserious.eyweretoldtostayawayfromwindowsinrestaurantsandintheirhotelrooms,andtokeeptheirdrapesclosed.Andafinalcaution:Droptothefloorwhentheyheardanexplosion.Inspiteofthedangers,theshowswenton,butthesoundofaircraoverheadduringaper-formancealwaysbroughtastartledlookfromHope.

efirstshowinVietnam,onChristmasEve,beganalmostimmediatelyuponlandingatBienHoaairbase,whichtheVietConghadbombedinNovember,destroyingmanyaircra. As soon as Hope reached the stage, he opened with a hearty "Hello, advisers! IaskedSecretaryMcNamaraifwecouldcomeandhesaid,'Whynot,we'vetriedeverythingelse!'No,really,we'rethrilledtobehereinSniperValley.WhatawelcomeIgotattheair-port…theythoughtIwasareplacement."

AlthoughaCommunistattackwasarealpossibility,Hopeappearedrelaxed,swingingagolfclub,whichbecameaconstantpropduringhismonologues."Ilovetherunwayyouhavehere,"hequipped."Greatgolfingcountry…eventherunwayhas18holes."

Aertheshow,thegroupmovedtoSaigon,wherethedirewarningsofdangerliterallyexploded into reality. Hope and most of the performers stayed at the Caravelle Hotel,whileBrownandmembersofthebandstayedattheContinentalPalace.BothwereclosetotheBrinksHotel,whichservedasabachelorofficersquartersfortheAmericans.ataernoon, a bomb flattened the Brinks, sent glass and other debris into some rooms ofthe Continental and shook the Caravelle. No one in the troupe was injured, but the ex-plosionleallthehotelswithoutwaterorelectricity.Truetoform,Hopestitchedthisin-cidentintohisactatTanSonNhutthenextday:"IwanttothankGeneralWestmorelandforthatwonderfulwelcomeyesterday.Weopenedwithabang!"AndatthesmalloutpostintheMekongDelta,hejoked:"AfunnythinghappenedtomewhenIwasdrivingthroughdowntownSaigontomyhotellastnight.Wemetahotelgoingtheotherway."

Next up was a flight to Pleiku, a small helicopter base in the highlands near the borderwithNorthVietnam,withheavysecurityinplaceforthevisitors.RumorshadcirculatedthatHope'sgroupwasheadedtheirway,butnoonewassureuntiltheairplanelandedandBob Hope walked onto the stage. "What a welcome," he declared. "Wherever we landwe'remetbythousandsofcheeringservicemen…theythinkit'sSecretaryMcNamarawith

shut-downorders!"JillSt.Johndidherstand-uproutinewithHope,tradingone-linersaboutherIQandhis

golfscore,andlaterintheshowsheperformedthesegmentthatbecameverypopularwiththe servicemen, when they joined her on stage to dance the "Go-Go" to the beat of LesBrown'sband.

At Da Nang, the tour's largest audience in Vietnam, Hope made light of the frequentchangesingovernmentthatyear:"Vietnamisaverydemocraticcountry,everyonegetstobepresident."Asusual,he jokedaboutmilitarycutbacksandtheaircrahewasforcedtoflyin:"It'soneoftheearlierjets…insteadofaerburners,ithasanovenandabagofcharcoal."

e last show on the 1964 Vietnam tour was at the seaside city of Nha Trang. At thisand every performance, aer a brief prayer from the chaplain, Anita Bryant closed theshowbysingingthefirstverseof"SilentNight,"andaskedthetroopsandotherperform-ers to join in on the second verse, a tradition that continued through all the show's years.e group le Vietnam on December 28 and flew to Clark Air Base in the Philippinesfor a show before heading home. Arriving back in Los Angeles on December 30, Hopetoldreporters,"iswasthemostexcitingChristmastripsince1943."

1964 NBC Broadcast:"Let's face it…we're the Big Daddy of this world"

e1964tripsetthepaceandthepatternforallofBobHope'svisitsto American troops around the world for the next eight years. While the performerschangedandthelocationsvaried,Hopewasalwaysthestarandbegantheshowsbystrut-tingonstagewithhisgolfclubinhand,firingoffjokestailoredtoeachbase.HealwayshadthereigningMissWorldandalwaystriedtobringthetroopstheoutstandingglamourstarfrombackhome.Hestartedappearingonstageinmilitaryuniformshirtsandjacketsout-landishly decorated with patches, stripes, stars and insignias. And as the number of mili-tarypersonnelstationedinVietnamgreweachyear,thetour'slengthexpandedtoo.

All the shows were filmed live and later edited down to 90-minute television specialsbroadcastonNBCinJanuary,sponsoredbyChryslerandruncommercial-free.etele-castsfeaturednotonlytheentertainers,butalsoplentyofshotsoftheU.S.troops,includ-ingfootageoftheChristmasmealstheysharedtogether,andHope'svisitstothehospitalsandhospitalships.Attheendofthe1964telecast,Hopedisplayedhismoreseriousside:

"WewanttothankSecretaryofDefenseRobertMcNamaraformakingthisChristmastrippossible….Let'sfaceit,we'retheBigDaddyofthisworld….Italkedtoalotofourfight-ingmenoverhereandeventhoughthey'reputtingupagreatfight,againsttremendousoddsinthishide-and-seekwar,they'renotabouttogiveup,becausetheyknowiftheywalkout

HHooppee aanndd hhiiss gguueesstt ssttaarrss mmaaddee ssttooppss aatt hhoossppiittaallss aanndd oonn sshhiippss ttoo vviissiittwwiitthh wwoouunnddeedd sseerrvviiccee mmeemmbbeerrss..

HHooppee''ss sshhooww sscchheedduullee wwaass aa wweellll--gguuaarrddeedd sseeccrreett

oonn aaiirr bbaasseess oorr sshhiippss,, uunnttiill hhee ttoouucchheedd ddoowwnn wwiitthh

hhiiss ffaammoouuss ggoollff cclluubb..

BBoobb HHooppee''ss VViieettnnaamm CChhrriissttmmaass TToouurrssBy Judith Johnson, Published on HistoryNet.com, December 23, 2009 and used by permission. ((AAllll pphhoottooss:: NNaattiioonnaall AArrcchhiivveess))

BBoobb HHooppee''ss VViieettnnaamm CChhrriissttmmaass TToouurrss

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BBoobb HHooppee wwaass aallwwaayyss tthhee ssttaarr aanndd bbeeggaann eeaacchh sshhooww bbyy ssttrruuttttiinngg oonn ssttaaggee wwiitthh hhiiss ggoollff cclluubb,, ffiirriinngg ooffff jjookkeess ttaaiilloorreedd ttooeeaacchh bbaassee.. AAnndd hhee aallwwaayyss bbrroouugghhtt tthhee oouuttssttaannddiinngg ggllaammoouurr ssttaarr ffrroomm bbaacckk hhoommee.. OOnn tthhee 11996677 ttoouurr,, aaccttrreessss RRaaqquueellWWeellcchh jjooiinneedd HHooppee oonn ssttaaggee ttoo aadddd aa ffeeww ccrroowwdd--pplleeaassiinngg ddaannccee mmoovveess ttoo BBoobb''ss rreennddiittiioonn ooff ""DDaanncciinn iinn tthhee SSttrreeeettss..""

Continued on page 35

AAccttrreessss AAnnnn--MMaarrggrreett jjooiinneedd BBoobbHHooppee''ss ttrroouuppee ffoorr tthhee 11996688 ttoouurr..

TThhee bbrraassss aallwwaayyss mmaannaaggeedd ttoo ffiinndd HHooppee oonn ssttaaggeessoommeewwhheerree,, ttoo tthhaannkk hhiimm aanndd hhiiss ppeerrffoorrmmeerrss ffoorr bbrriinnggiinngg aa bbiitt ooff CChhrriissttmmaass cchheeeerr ttoo tthhee ttrrooooppss..

Page 22 The VHPA Aviator

LLooookkiinngg FFoorr……..Looking for an old stick buddy from Flight School, trying to locate a guy you flew

with in Vietnam or maybe a pilot you served with after your tour in SE Asia or inthe Reserves or National Guard? Let me help you find that guy.

For starters, go to the VHPA website, click on member services, click on onlinedirectory. If he's listed there, then try and contact him with the info listed. If thedata is out of date contact me via email or phone call, and give me all you have on theguy and I'll do the rest. Hey, it's my job as MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN and Ireally like my job. Why will I do all this for you? Two things - 1) I get to help a fel-low VHPA member and 2) I know YOU will help me recruit the guy to joinVHPA, so we all three win.

Looking forward to helping you find your friend- MMiikkee SShheeuueerrmmaann,, MMeemmbbeerrsshhiipp CChhaaiirrmmaann..

EE--mmaaiill:: mmsshheeuueerrmmaann@@ttxx..rrrr..ccoomm oorr mmeemmbbeerrsshhiipp@@vvhhppaa..oorrgg oorr pphhoonnee 221144--880022--44224444 oorr 11--880000--550055--88447722

LLooookkiinngg FFoorr DDoonnaalldd WW.. FFrreeddrriicckkI’m looking for Donald W Fredrick, his last known address was Port Saint. Lucie,

Florida. He was a grunt machine gunner with 1/7th Cav, 1st Cav Div back in 1966and he was seriously wounded and pulled out by my 2/20th ARA gunship . Helater re-upped and came back to again be a door gunner on my ship and he saved mybuns on more than one occasion.

I think it is way past time we reconnect so I can thank him.RRooddggeerr MMccAAlliisstteerr

CCoollrrooddggeerr@@aatttt..nneett

LLooookkiinngg FFoorr……..pphhoottooggrraapphhss ooff tthhee rreessuullttss ooff aa mmiidd--aaiirr oonn OOccttoobbeerr 2299,, 11997700My name is Sharon Kilgore and my brother Larry was killed in a mid-air collision

on October 20th, 1970. Larry was with C Co., 4th BN, 3rd Infantry, 110th BDGor the Americal Division and he was killed while being medevaced with injuriesfrom a claymore mine when his UH-1 helicopter collided with an OH-6 Loachapp. 10 klicks south of Chu Lai. Everyone on Larry’s helicopter was killed in the subsequent crash and there were

one killed and two injured in the Loach. I have talked to the loach pilot that day andhe has shared with me all that he has kept from that day, but none of it pertains tomy brother’s aircraft, and I really want to learn everything I can about that day.Here’s hoping one of your Member’s can help.

SShhaarroonn KKiillggoorree -- EE--MMaaiill:: sshhaarroonntthhoommaass0099@@ccoommccaasstt..nneett

LLooookkiinngg FFoorr……..11//99tthh HHuueeyy ppiilloott wwhhoo rreessccuueedd mmaann iinn tthhee vviicciinniittyy ooffHHuuee,, dduurriinngg tthhee TTEETT ooff 11996688I met an old infantryman who served in B/5/7 Cav, which was part of 3 BDE, 1

CAV DIV, he was in Vietnam from July, 1967 to July, 1968. He is looking for a1/9th Huey pilot who rescued him in the vicinity of Hue, during the 1968 TETcounter-offensive. He only remembers that the guy was flying in the left seat, wasolder than most pilots of the day and had a red handlebar mustache and I believethis pilot was probably assigned to B Troop. If anyone recalls such a person, please let me know. Thanks,

WWiilllliiaamm EE.. GGiibbssoonn ((CCWW44 RReettiirreedd))EEmmaaiill:: wwggiibbssoonn22@@ttaammppaabbaayy..rrrr..ccoomm

LLooookkiinngg FFoorr……..aannyyoonnee wwhhoo ccaann hheellpp mmee ffiinndd ssoommee HHuueeyy ppaarrttss(From member Bruce D'Agostino) Can anyone out there help the American

Huey369 group help us find any Huey parts that might just be sitting around in agarage or on a display? We (The American Huey 369 group) are a 501 (c) 3 taxdeductible flying and display museum that’s located in Peru, IA. Founded by aMarine Capt. Huey pilot and his brother, Johnnie and Alan Walker, we are lookingfor any Huey or Huey parts and especially for a Huey that is not flying, one that isowned by an individual, a VFW or Legion Post or any person, group or city that ISNOT on loan from the government. The American Huey 369 group has gone from restoring one, now flying, "Dust

Off" Med-Evac Huey 369 to also rebuilding and flying Huey 803. In support of thataircraft and another “Vietnam UH-1 Gun Ship” we are working on, I am scroung-

ing for parts anywhere I can, from small parts up to an entire Huey are desirable andall donations are tax deductable. Also consider joining the American Huey 369 group, as a member you get a free

Huey flight at any of their scheduled events, most of the air crews are Nam Vets andarea a great bunch. Last weekend was spent at flying people around Kokomo, Iowaafter Sgt. Sammy Davis, Medal of Honor recipient, invited us to join about 5,000Iowa Vietnam Vets at their Reunion. Full details on the American Huey 369 group are available at their website:

hhttttpp::////wwwwww..aammeerriiccaannhhuueeyy336699..ccoomm//ggaalllleerryy--ppaaggee1111..hhttmmllMy contact info for stray Huey parts is:

BBrruuccee DD''AAggoossttiinnoo –– EE--MMaaiill:: bb..ddaaggoossttiinnoo@@ccoommccaasstt..nneettOOrr pphhoonnee 440044 662266--00889999

LLooookkiinngg FFoorr..…… ppiilloottss ffoorr AA CCoo 115599tthh AASSCCOO,, 110011sstt AABB tthhaatt fflleeww iinn ssuupp--ppoorrtt ooff tthhee MMaarriinneess oouutt ooff MMaarriinnee BBaassee VVaannddeerrggrriifftt iinn eeaarrllyy 11996699I am trying to locate any pilots from A Co 159th ASCO 101st AB that flew in

support of the Marines out of Marine Base Vandergrift in early 1969. I am particu-larly interested in any Army pilots and their crewmembers that received medalsfrom two Marine Corps Generals with Col Crozier serving as a representative fromthe 101AB Division.

PPeetteerr PPaaddeennEE--MMaaiill:: ppppaaddeenn@@mmoollddaammaattiicc..ccoomm

LLooookkiinngg FFoorr……HHeellpp wwiitthh FFoorrtt WWoolltteerrss pphhoottoo ooff WWaarrrraanntt OOffffiicceerr CCllaassss 6699--3311aa--22Can anyone help me identify a picture of my cousin, Rodney 'Keith' Arnold, an

Army UH1-H pilot who died in Vietnam in 1970. In viewing the 1969 FortWolters Class Photos on the VHPA’s website, I found in the class photograph for69-31a-2, a man in the back row, 6th from the right that appears to be my cousinKeith but the photograph does not list any of the names of those pictured.Can anyone out there help me confirm whether or not my cousin Keith is indeed

the man I have noted in this picture? I do appreciate any assistance you can offer.BBrreetttt RReennnniissoonn

EE--mmaaiill:: iiddaahhooccooyyoottee@@yyaahhoooo..ccoomm

LLooookkiinngg FFoorr……HHeellpp wwiitthh FFoorrtt WWoolltteerrss pphhoottoo ooff FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6644--77My father, Francis A. Keeley, Jr., was in Flight Class 64-7 and by using his separa-

tion papers and Google; I was able to find his flight class image. Unfortunately, theimage is very blurry and I was wondering if anyone out there either has the image ina higher resolution, or the original photo itself?Dad is near 80 now, and has both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The only

things he really remembers clearly these days are his times in the Army and his fami-ly back in the 1930's; my brother and I would like to show him this image to hope-fully brighten his day and perhaps hear a story or two. I found VHPA online for my dad a few years ago and he became a member. He

even went to Ft. Rucker on a tour in his late 60's and got to fly the Blackhawk simu-lator. He was so dang happy after that trip, but he's faded much since then. Thankyou for putting this association together, I know it means a lot to the guys and theirfamilies.

FFrraannkk KKeeeelleeyyEE--MMaaiill:: ffkkeeeelleeyy@@wwaatteerr..ccaa..ggoovv

LLooookkiinngg FFoorr......My name is Fred Albert Williams Jr and my father was WO1 Fred Albert

Williams Sr. He was killed in action December 16, 1970 while flying with the358th Aviation Detachment in support of the 525th Military Intelligence Group.

I an seeking contact with any of your members who may have served with myDad, or attended Flight School with him while he was a member of class 70-9 atFort Wolters and class 70-11 at Fort Rucker.

Thank you very much for your time,FF.. AAllbbeerrtt WWiilllliiaammss

EE--MMaaiill:: ppeerrll..ffoooo@@ggmmaaiill..ccoomm

It goes without saying that almost everyone who reads the Taps sec-tion can identify with at least one person in most every issue. As Imonitored the registrations and cancellations for this year’s NewOrleans Reunion, three thoughts hit me harder than in any of the pastyears.

The first was the fact that at least five registrants (three pilots andtwo guests) passed away in the time between when they registered andwhen we started the reunion! Five is a huge number to me!!The second was the fact that at least four people that I’d spent some

time with during the Orlando Reunion (and several prior Reunions)had passed away in the time between the end of the Orlando Reunionand the start of the NewOrleans Reunion.

The third relates to the “bucket list” idea many of us have. Youknow – Things you want to do before you 'kick the bucket'? VHPALife member William A. James died 24 August 2012 after attendingthe New Orleans Reunion even though he was critically ill at the time.When his wife informed the VHPA of his death, she mentioned thatone thing on his “Bucket List” was to attend that Reunion, to wear hisdress blues to the closing Banquet and to once again, stand with all ofus to toast the Missing Man.

Along this same line, about three weeks prior to the New OrleansReunion, I received a call from a wonderfully faithful VHPA Reunionattendee. He originally registered for the Reunion in January then hadto cancel in April when his wife was diagnosed with a serious cancerand was started on an especially nasty Chemo regimen. In the phonecall he asked if he could “un-cancel” and/or “re-register” but he neededto change some of the events in his original registration. My answerwas: “Of course” I said, “Do what do you want, we’ll make it happen!”He went on to share with me that on his wife’s bucket list was toattend the New Orleans Reunion. So I’m working the Banquet Seat-

ing desk one day in NewOrleans - he comes up tome, gets my attention andturns to point out his wifewalking slowly down thehall with a thin smile onher face. I don’t know,maybe no one else knewabout her bucket list goal –but I did – so I stood upand took off my hat and Ismiled at her and shesmiled back. For that moment - all was good!

In my way of thinking Life Member William A. James and the“bucket list lady” (I won’t provide her name out of respect for her pri-vacy) were saying to all of us – The VHPA is important to me – I amproud of what I did (or my husband did) in Vietnam years ago – I amproud to stand with my brothers and their family and friends as wesalute those who died there and those that have already passed on – Iam proud to be in your company again. In my mind they were also say-ing – I love you guys and I may not be able to say that to you again.There is no doubt in my mind that both these people and many oth-

ers made big sacrifices to simply attend the Reunion. As one of theleaders and workers at the New Orleans Reunion I wish to say to thesespecial brothers and sisters – thanks. I am honored to be one of morethan 1,800 there that week to receive your good wishes – God Bless.

Mike Law, Reunion ChairmanE-Mail: Reunion@VHPA.org

Page 23 The VHPA Aviator

The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association and Acclaim Press are pleased to present the new VHPA 2013 Calendar, hot off the press and available for immediate shipment. This is the 20th calendar produced by the VHPA.

The goal of the VHPA calendar project is to refresh the memories of all those who flew and worked on helicopters in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War era, and to record, preserve and display the events and activities that were im-portant to veterans of that period.

Each month features photographs depicting the machines & people that flew over Vietnam, plus detailed captions about what is pictured. This VHPA Calendar also commemorates the 2,186 helicopter pilots who died or whose bodies were not returned (BNR) from Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Era (1961-1975).

Printed in full-color, this 17x11-inch (BIG) wall calendar is the perfect gift for all VHPA members and their families. Only $14.95! (plus shipping $5 first calendar; $1.50 each add’l copy) *Missouri residents add 6.225% sales tax

To order, visit the publisher online at www.acclaimpress.com, call toll-free at 1-877-427-2665, or send your check/money order to the address below.

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Page 24 The VHPA Aviator

VHPA’ers in the NewsHelicopter pilots bear scars of VietnamBByy AAllvv iinn BBeennnn ooff tthhee MMoonnttggoommeerryy ((AAllaabbaammaa)) AAddvviissoorr nneewwssppaappeerr .. IInniitt iiaall ll yy ppuubbll iisshheedd JJuunnee 2255tthh ,, 22001122 aanndd uusseedd bbyy ppeerrmmiiss ssii oonn..Helicopter pilots who served during the Vietnam War were a brave bunch

who flew into the teeth of enemy ground fire to land troops or return to pickup the dead and wounded. They were far removed from jet pilots who nor-mally viewed enemy installations from high above the battlefield, not at tree-top levels or lower.Many of the pilots who flew Cobra attack helicopters or the UH-1 “Hueys”were fearless men who paid the ultimate price because of their closeness tothe fighting. Warrant Officers Jerry Hatfield, Ed Skuza and Geoff Darlingwere the kind of pilots portrayed in popular movies such as “ApocalypseNow” and “We Were Soldiers,” and they lived to describe just how close theycame to dying four decades ago.Each was wounded, and one almost died of burns, but they survived the

loss of blood and shock thanks to quick evacuations in choppers to aid sta-tions miles from where they were hit. “We were just above the trees when wewere laced by ground fire,” said Hatfield, who was with Skuza on a missionthat almost claimed his life. “I told Ed I was hit. (The bullet) came in here andwent out there.” Hatfield, who had a career as a pilot with the state Depart-ment of Public Safety and the Alabama National Guard after the war, movedhis hands to indicate where the bullet entered his leg. “There was a lot ofblood all over the place.”Skuza would get it next, and Darling followed. It wasn’t long before their

war had ended, too. The year was 1970.Hatfield stood with Skuza and Darling in a field Thursday afternoon in

Montgomery, a few feet from where a replica of a UH-1 rested on a pedestal.Each time they looked at it, memories flooded back. They were just kids backthen, three Army aviators fresh out of flight school at Fort Rucker andassigned to the 121st Assault Helicopter Co. stationed in Soc Trang, a for-mer Japanese airfield during World War II.Their area of operation was primarily in “4th Corps” in the Vietnamese

Delta region, and they each flew choppers called “Tiger Surprise” duringtheir abbreviated tours. Skuza’s helicopter was hit by an enemy rocket. Thecraft crashed and burned, claiming the lives of two crew members. Skuzasuffered third-degree burns over much of his body and has carried visiblescars since. Hatfield and Skuza were close friends, going through flightschool together and remaining roommates in Vietnam.The three men met in Montgomery before heading to Dothan for a

reunion Friday to meet with other members of their unit. On Saturday, theymoved on to Fort Rucker for the dedication of a unit memorial for otherhelicopter pilots and crewmen who were killed in combat during a war thatclaimed 58,000 American lives.“We did everything we could to win it, but we weren’t decision makers,”

said Skuza, who was 21 when he was wounded and now is a flight inspectorwith the Federal Aviation Administration. “We just did our job. It was anunpopular war.”Darling, who was 19 when he was hit, attended Rutgers University after

the war and became an international commodities trader. He also was aNational Guard pilot for a time. Hatfield, 20 when he was wounded,advanced from helicopters to corporate jets and flew for the Southern Co.,finally retiring for good at the age of 60. The retired jet pilot has seen manymovies that depict the bravery exhibited by chopper pilots who flew troopsinto landing zones under heavy enemy fire.Actor Robert Duvall uttered one of the most memorable lines in any Viet-nam War movie in “Apocalypse Now” when he told a group of soldiers, “Ilove the smell of napalm in the morning.” Hatfield said that scene mighthave been a bit too much “Hollywood,” but did say he and other chopperpilots had ways of livening up attacks by playing loud music, much likeDuvall’s actor “pilots.” “We’d tune to a radio station that played our kind ofmusic and turn up the volume as we moved toward a target,” he said. “One

was the theme from ‘Bat-man,’ a TV show duringthat time.” He said apopular song often playedby chopper pilots zeroingin on enemy positionswas “We Gotta Get Outof This Place” by TheAnimals.Hatfield, Skuza and

Darling hold no animosi-ty toward the Viet Congor North Vietnamesetroops they faced in Viet-nam. “They have beenfighting for centuriesagainst someone, andthey’re pretty good at it,”he said. “Personally, I’drather trade with themthan fight with them. Weshould find better ways of resolving our differences.”They haven’t been to Vietnam as peaceful visitors since their painful depar-tures but have been to “The Wall” in Washington, D.C., where the names ofU.S. troops killed in combat are listed.“I knew a lot of the men whose names are on that wall, and there are dropsof water on it whenever I get close to them,” Skuza said.

ALVIN BENN/SPECIAL PHOTOGRAPHER TO THE ADVERTISER

From left, Geoff Darling, Ed Skuza and Jerry Hatfieldstand in front of a 'Huey' helicopter on display in Mont-gomery similar to ones they flew in Vietnam.

The Cub Inn is a 5,000-square-foot logcabin that offers unique charm that blendsour love of aviation with the great outdoors.Located in Californiaʼs Sierra Nevada moun-tains just 25 miles from Yosemite NationalPark, our five guest rooms sleep either twoor four people, and they all feature a privatebath. Our guests start each day with a heartycountry breakfast and are also invited tojoin us in the living room each evening toenjoy a glass of wine and a light snack.The Cub Inn is the life-long dream of hus-band and wife team, Piper Cub ownerand pilot Charleen Beam and VHPA LifeMember Joe Riley. Full details and booking information

are available on our website: TheCubInn.com

Or call us at: 209-962-0403 (land line) to book.

Our Gift Certificatesmake a greatChristmas present!

SSOOUUTTHH MMIISSSSOOUURRII CCHHAAPPTTEERR Russ Emory, President1590 S. Georgia Dr.Bolivar, MO 65613(417) 326-6657tealy@windstream.net

RROOCCKKYY MMOOUUNNTTAAIINN CCHHAAPPTTEERRHHaall BBeerrggddaahhll1100225511 WW.. IIddaa AAvv 115566,, LLiittttlleettoonn ,, CCOO 8800112277330033--994488--66224466EE--MMaaiill:: mmvv33ssttuuddiiooss@@qq..ccoomm

TTHHEE AALLAAMMOO CCHHAAPPTTEERRSan Antonio, TexasBob Dillon, President4211 Sweet SandSan Antonio, TX 78253(210) 253-9457 home(512) 799-6049 cellbdillon106@aol.com

SSOOUUTTHH CCAARROOLLIINNAA CCHHAAPPTTEERR(Celebrate Freedom) ChapterLarry Russell, President254 Bear Creek Rd.Little Mountain, SC 29075(803) 553-0113larry@esad.net

SSOOUUTTHHEERRNN CCAALLIIFFOORRNNIIAA CCHHAAPPTTEERRSven Akesson, President26601 BrandonMission Viejo, CA 92692svenahesson@yahoo.com(948) 348-9509 (home)(949) 689-7061 (cell)

VVHHPPAA OOFF FFLLOORRIIDDAATom Rountree, 4692 N. Lake Vista Trl.Fernando, FL 34442. (352) 560-7361e-mail <trountree@tampabay.rr.com

OOLLDD DDOOMMIINNIIOONN CCHHAAPPTTEERRJT (Tom) Severin, President5801 Willow Oaks Dr, Unit BRichmond , VA 23225804-767-2410E-Mail: severinjt@yahoo.com

WWAASSHHIINNGGTTOONN SSTTAATTEE CCHHAAPPTTEERRMark Hansen, President2750 Comet St., Milton, WA 98354(206) 604-0505mhansen@king5.comwww.vhpawa.org

Page 25 The VHPA Aviator

CURRENT VHPA CHAPTERS

The VHPA and Chapters share information and guidance with one another for the mutual benefitof each other. All of our Chapters are separate and independently managed organizations notunder control of the VHPA. The VHPA is not authorized to act as an agent or a representative forany of the Chapters nor are any of the Chapters authorized to act as agent or representative forany of the other Chapters or the VHPA as a whole.

MMIICCHHIIGGAANN CCHHAAPPTTEERRCharley Martin, President12197 W. Greenfield Rd.Lansing, MI 48917-9708hospitalhopper@yahoo.com(517) 627-4580

MMIINNNNEESSOOTTAA CCHHAAPPTTEERRRay Wilson, President895 Lakeview Ave.St. Paul, MN 55117raywilson19@msn.com(651) 592-2598

MMOONNTTAANNAA CCHHAAPPTTEERRTodd Brandoff, PresidentBox 790, Lolo MT 59847(406) 273-2511tbrandoff@hotmail.com

NNOORRTTHH AALLAABBAAMMAA CCHHAAPPTTEERRJim White, President811 Forrest Heights Dr. SE Huntsville, AL 35802 (256) 882-1293 Minuteman15@att.net

NNEEWW EENNGGLLAANNDD CCHHAAPPTTEERRBill Williams, President75 Division Rd.West Greenwich, RI 02817(401) 885-6942williamwilliams4@verizon.net

NNEEWW JJEERRSSEEYY CCHHAAPPTTEERRPete Purnell, President4 Peacock LaneMendham, NJ 07945ppurnell@att.net(972) 740-5582

NNOORRTTHH CCAARROOLLIINNAA CCHHAAPPTTEERRSamuel B. Mc Lamb, Jr.201 Cox Blvd.Goldsboro, NC 27534samuelbmclamb@bellsouth.net(919) 738 2711 cell

OOHHIIOO RRIIVVEERR LLZZ CCHHAAPPTTEERRJack Mecham4303 Lone Wolf RoadSpringfield, OH 45501(937) 323-2704 homeE-Mail: mecham@woh.rr.comwww.ohriviz.org

SSOOUUTTHH DDAAKKOOTTAA CCHHAAPPTTEERR Jim Miles610 N. Summit Ave.Sioux Falls, SD 57104E-Mail: DustOff1525@Yahoo.com

AALLAASSKKAA CCHHAAPPTTEERRVictor Micol, President 2430 Brittany Cir. Anchorage, AK 99504-3310 (907) 338-6623vic.e.micol@bp.com

AARRIIZZOONNAA CCHHAAPPTTEERRBill Sorenson, President7903 E. Plata Ave.Mesa, Ariz. 85212(480) 354-1135heavyhogah1g@cox.net

CCAALLIIFFOORRNNIIAA CCHHAAPPTTEERR NNOORRTTHHKen Fritz, President9357 Honeywood CourtOrangevale, Calif. 95662(916) 988-7027kenhfritz@sbcglobal.net

CCEENNTTRRAALL NNEEWW YYOORRKK CCHHAAPPTTEERRTom Mc Millen, President17 Broad St.Morris, NY 13808(607) 263-2551tomgenevamcmillen@yahoo.com

FFOORRTT RRUUCCKKEERR CCHHAAPPTTEERRRoscoe V. Souders, President222 Little Oak Ct.Dothan, AL 36303(334) 806-8248roscoesouders@yahoo.com

FFOORRTT WWOOLLTTEERRSS CCHHAAPPTTEERRMike Sheuerman, President2712 Meadow Lake Dr.Grand Prairie, TX 75050(972) 988-8108msheuerman@tx.rr.com

GGEEOORRGGIIAA CCHHAAPPTTEERRBill Mc Rae, President351 Willow Glen Ct.Marietta, GA 30068-3940(770) 843-3973E-Mail: wmcrae@mindspring.com

LLOOUUIISSIIAANNAA GGUULLFF CCOOAASSTT CCHHAAPPTTEERRVictor Lent, PresidentP.O. Box 111Arabi, LA 70032(504) 201-9070colvlent@earthlink.net

HHAAWWAAIIII CCHHAAPPTTEERRDon Harlor, President91-1053 Kaiko. St.Ewa Beach, HI 96706Phone (808) 285-7639dharlor@aol.com

AALLAAMMOO CCHHAAPPTTEERRSeveral of our members attended the VHPA Reunion 2012 in August in

New Orleans, and all reported they had a great time.By the time this is published, many of our members who trained at Ft.

Wolters will have met in Mineral Wells to visit old locations and old memo-ries from their youth. At the time this is written, the Alamo Chapter plansto meet on October 12th at the Days Inn Hotel, which is just inside the oldFt. Wolters main gate, for a cookout around the pool. On Saturday the 13th, the group plans to visit Ft. Wolters (which has long

since closed, of course), the Mineral Wells Crazy Water Fest, and the site ofthe National Vietnam War Museum, where a replica Vietnam VeteransMemorial Wall and the Camp Holloway replica Memorial Wall are bothmaintained. A report of our visits will be in the next Aviator.

Bob Dillon, the president of the Alamo Chapter, is married to Diane, thedaughter of the late Sam Knight, who was vice president of Southern Air-ways School in its earliest days. This company, of course, was the civiliancontractor that trained pilots at Ft. Wolters for years. The Dillons’ marriagetook place in a chapel at Fort Wolters.

When most of us went through their flight training, President JohnKennedy had recently been assassinated and Lyndon Johnson was president.The Cold War and the Vietnam War were both in full bloom, and most ofthese veterans would serve at least two tours in Vietnam. Engineers were stillusing slide rules as the hand calculator, the personal computer, and the cellphone had not been invented. Man would not land on the moon until 1969.The veterans will undoubtedly find many other changes in the local areasince they flew here.

Bob Dillon, President

SSOOUUTTHH MMIISSSSOOUURRII CCHHAAPPTTEERRThe South Missouri Chapter of VHPA held its Fourth Quarterly meeting at

the Keeter Center on the beautiful campus of the College of the Ozarks, justsouth of Branson, Missouri. The meeting held on November 3, was well attend-ed by members, wives, guests and provided an excellent kick-off to an entireweek of Veterans’ activities, hosted by the city of Branson. Dick Elgin, chaptermember made an excellent presentation of his return trip to Vietnam, thanksDick

Though our chapter name is the “South Missouri Chapter of VHPA”, ourmembership covers the entire state of Missouri and goes well beyond our statelines. We have members living in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Illinois and Indiana, soif you live in a neighboring state, or anywhere else for that matter, and youwould like to join a bunch of fellow aviators, who enjoy being together, laughingand telling stories, please feel free to come check us out and join if you wish.

The Third Quarterly meeting will be election of officers for the Chapterfor the year 2013. If you might be interested in a position on the ChapterCouncil please notify Russ Emory, President either by emailtealy@windstream.net or telephone 417 326-6657. Believe me it is a kick.Visit our website at www.vhpasmo.org Lots of good material, thanks to BillThompson and his staff.

Russ Emory, President

CCAALLIIFFOORRNNIIAA CCHHAAPPTTEERR NNOORRTTHHNicolaus, CA - Labor Day Parade

The parade in Nicolaus was a lot of fun, this is one little community thatputs on a big show... Just after the Huey and Mobile "O" Club turned shortfinal on to the tree lined parade route, the Parade Master of Ceremoniesasked for the Huey to stop. The MC graciously recognized the commitmentof all the branches for their service in Viet Nam and that of VHPA-CCNmembers. This caught everyone by surprise and was a special moment for usall. Additionally, we were awarded a first place ribbon for best "emergencyresponse vehicle". California Airshow, September 8th:

Attended the California Airshow at Mather Field (Sacramento) theTHUNDERBIRDS are in town! What a surprise though to spot a this beau-tiful "Red & White AH-1" sitting handsomely on the tarmack. Standing nextto Cobra "945" was the pilot, VHPA Life Member Mike Billow, aka "Spur38". You may recall "Spur 38" and "945" were featured on the cover and in

the July/August 2012 issue of the VHPA AVIATOR. Mike was very givingof his time and talked about the restoration experience in some detail. Andlike some of you old buzzards out there, Mike is still living the dream, hecan't believe it either. And the Thunderbirds, they were OK.CCN Upcoming Events:

Sept 29th, Action Military Surplus Military Vehicle Display and MilitaryAppreciation Day. Along with the Huey we will bring the MOC for thecommunity to visit. Veteran's Day for the CCN, Huey, and MOC will bespent in W. Sacramento. The Christmas Party is in final planning stages,more to follow.CCN Contact Info: The chapter is in the process of updating contact information. Even if you

have been getting recent CCN updates, please e-mail CCN Secretary-Trea-surer, Greg Hutson, with your current e-mail. ghutson@comcast.net

Ken Fritz, President

SSOOUUTTHHEERRNN CCAALLIIFFOORRNNIIAA CCHHAAPPTTEERRThe American Heroes Airshow at the Hansen Dam Recreation area was a

great event. The So Cal Chapter was there with our booth and banners toshow our support. Thanks to members Glen Warren, Tom Jones, LarryRogers, Tom Murphy and Tom Lasser. There were 20 static display helicopters from military, police, fire and EMS.

The air show finale was a formation of 3 LA County Fire Dept helicoptersmaking a water drop of red white and blue. Several of these helicopter-onlyairshows are scheduled throughout the US all year and they are free.

On Sun October 28th, the So Cal Chapter will have a information andrecruitment booth at the 11th Annual Wings Wheels and Rotor Expo at LosAlamitos. Last year 30,000 attended the Expo and raised money for the baseMWR.

Sven Akesson, President

MMIINNNNEESSOOTTAA CCHHAAPPTTEERR The second meeting of the MN Chapter of VHPA took place at Mai Village.

We had 6 attendees including new member Julie Kink - sister of WO1 DavidKink, who was KIA in Vietnam while flying with C/1/9 Cav. in 1969. Julie is avery active supporter of the VHPA and coordinates the Gold Star breakfast atnearly every national Reunion. She is a wonderful person and offered a lot to ourgathering - we are lucky to have her as one of our members.The food was excellent and the stories (all mostly true) were outstanding. If

you missed it, try to come next time because it can only get better with moreof us in attendance. We might tell the same stories over and over but whatthe hell, we are all getting old and forgetful ... except me of course.

Members in attendance were: Ray Wilson, our illustrious President, MikeRynerson, Don Abrams, Wendell Pieper, Julie Kink and myself.

Raymond Wilson, President

GGEEOORRGGIIAA CCHHAAPPTTEERRThe Georgia Chapter continues to hold its bi-monthly Saturday morning

breakfast meetings and continues to assist with efforts to educate local peo-ple and groups about the Vietnam War. We furnish speakers to high schoolsand colleges, Boy Scout Troops, other youth organizations and civic groupswho want to learn about the Vietnam War, from the people who actuallyparticipated in it. Newnan High School teaches a course on the VietnamWar, and our Chapter provides assistance whenever possible, especially fortheir Student-Vet Connect days held last May and this October.

Our September meeting featured LT. COL (Ret) Bill Perrin as our GuestSpeaker. Bill was a young fixed wing aviator when he was assigned to FortWolters and he got a quick Q Course into helicopters. Bill gave an interest-ing and informative presentation about the early days at Ft. Wolters and theproblems of ferrying 225 new OH-23 helicopters from California to Ft.Wolters, fifteen at a time. Each trip took a week, so they had to make 15trips to move all the aircraft to Texas. Each pilot learned the names of justabout each cactus on the route.To those former Vietnam Helicopter Pilots in the Atlanta area, who would

like to check us out and/or join our group, please see our web site at www.ga-vhpa.org, for the next meeting date or contact me atwmcrae@mindspring.com or via telephone at (770) 843-3973.

Bill McRae, President

VHPA CHAPTER ACTIVITIES

Page 26 The VHPA Aviator

Page 27 The VHPA Aviator

Alamo Chapter

NNOORRTTHH AALLAABBAAMMAA CCHHAAPPTTEERRThis is our first report since the National Reunion in New Orleans. Our Chapter hada very good turnout to the reunion. Out of our 42 members the following memberswere present: Robert Davis and wife Anne, Doug Madigan and wife Connie, SamMaki and wife Ruth, John McDaniel, John Miller and wife Debbie, Bob Monett, HalStitt and wife Virginia, Ralph Weber and wife Diane, Jim White and wife Teresa, LashWisener and wife Dang and Les Haas. Les is also a new member of the VHPA. Wehad a new member join at the reunion from the State of Ohio., his name is Charles(Chuck) Canfield. The Chapter had several tables at the banquet and there were plentyof War Stories told. Of course they were all true and accurate. Also when we were notattending events we were able to gather during the week at a TOC. This is really a greatthing to be able to do and I commend the VHPA for making this possible. I hope wecan continue to do this in the future. We are continuing the restoration project of the Charlie Model. We have completelyfinished the disassembly repair and assembly of the airframe and have mounted it on thetrailer. Many hours have been spent in this project by our members as well as some non-members. We have since transported the helicopter and trailer to the Huntsville Inter-

national Airport for painting. We hope to display it in the Veteran’s Parade in Novem-ber. There are many people we must thank for their work and also their support in thisproject. There will be a Final report to the VHPA for this project in the near futurewhich will give credit where it is due.

Jim White/NAVHPA President

FFOORRTT WWOOLLTTEERRSS CCHHAAPPTTEERRThe next meeting for the Fort Wolters Chapter is scheduled for 1130 AM Saturday,December 8, at Logan's Road House, 948 NE Loop 820, Hurst, Texas. CPT MeganBurke, USAVN and Combat Veteran Aviator will be our guest speaker and she willtalk about her experiences in a combat theater. That should be very interesting as thegreat majority of us have never met a fellow combat aviator of the opposite gender. Bringyour wives and a new guy. At our Chapter meeting in September the representative from the new VA clinic had aton of great information for Vietnam veterans, I recommend each Chapter locate a VArep and invite him to one of your future Chapter meetings. It's really worth your time.

Mike Sheuerman, President

VHPA CHAPTER ACTIVITIES

The NC VHPA proudly supported the Golden Corral(GC) restaurant chain during their Camp Corral program inNC. Golden Corral sponsored and paid for 1495 children ofmilitary families to attend 1 of 3 weeks in July at Camp Corralsites located in 8 states. These children were from families ofdeployed, wounded or KIA parents. GC raised over $1.4 mil-lion to support these camps. Other military program GC sup-ports are Disabled American Veterans and Military Apprecia-tion Day whereby veterans and active duty personnel receive afree meal around Veterans Day. To date, GC has contributedover $6.1 million to the Disabled American Veterans organi-zation and over 3.2 million free meals. We are planning tosupport GC on this year's Military Appreciation Day by bring-ing helicopters to several of their restaurant locations.

Sam McLamb, President. Submitted by Bob Inglis

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WWAASSHHIINNGGTTOONN SSTTAATTEE CCHHAAPPTTEERRWhat a great summer we’ve had here in the PacificNorthwest. Maybe a little too dry in some areas,but even as I write this note, it’s still in the low 70swith perfect Indian summer days. All that willindeed stop pretty quickly, as THE real Fall andWinter are JUST about on us. We had a wonderful get-together over in Spokaneagain this August, with more guys from the east sideof the state attending. Thanks go out to Jerry Mel-lick (RWQC 68)and Hal Thorn-ton (68-23) for alltheir efforts. Our next meet-

ing will be at the2012 Auburn Vet-erans Day Paradescheduled for the10th of Novem-ber. Please watchour website atvhpawa.org formore informationon activities, meeting dates and times, past meetingrecaps and to buy Chapter hats, patches, shirts andpins. We’ll be getting in new long sleeve T-shirtsbefore the November parade and those too will beposted on the website. Thanks to all our membersthat make our chapter a success. You are appreciat-ed.We had a great meeting over at the Timber CreekGrill and Buffet in Spokane last Saturday with 18 ofus attending. Many thanks go to Jerry Mellick andHal Thornton for a great site selection. The foodwas excellent, as was the staff and building access.We had a short meeting and talked about therecent reunion held in New Orleans and the plansfor 2013 in San Francisco. During this meeting, wealso talked to the guys from the east about a newLife Membership that will be finalized by theCouncil before the end of this year. The consensuswas similar to that expressed at the meeting in June.The final amount in the $240 - $260 range wasacceptable, as long as the total payment could bestretched out over a single calendar year. The Coun-cil will meet, make a decision and present it to youbefore the end of the year.We also talked about the

east side meeting and how this meeting will contin-ue annually with the location and date being set bythe guys in the east. If you have something to sayabout either, please tell me directly or through youreast side leads: Jerry Mellick (jerrymelli@aol.com)or Hal Thornton (hnbthorn@aol.com). We havea very nice group, but have room for more, so it’s upto each of us to make contact with those that youknow are Vietnam rotary pilots, but are not part ofour wonderful little organization. Let’s bring them

in on a meeting andsee if we can’t showthem a reason ortwo why they needto come back andjoin us. Ours is total-ly a social organiza-tion dedicated tomaking connec-tions between peo-ple that flew togeth-er so many yearsago.Two otherquick notes: First,

the much desired alternate logo patches using thebranch wings that you earned will, once again, beavailable in the near future. As a result of discussionat the annual business meeting and the over whelm-ing support of the crowd, the National ExecutiveCommittee reversed the 2009 the prohibition onthese patches. I have some of the large back patcheswith the Army wings and there will be some smallerpatches out soon. Keep an eye on the patch ads inthe ‘Aviator’ magazine, as Denny will probablybegin this advertising within the next issue or so.Second, we are cranking up an order for some longsleeved shirts with our chapter logo on them in thenear future and they should be available before theNovember Veterans Day parade in Auburn.OK,that’s it; the next get together will come on the 10thof November at the Auburn Veterans Day parade.We always have such a great time so please plan tocome out and join your buddies as we escort ournewly painted Huey down Main St. in Auburn.More info will follow as we get closer to thatdate.Mark Hansen - 2012 Chapter President

Mark Hansen2012 Chapter President

SSOO CCAALL CCHHAAPPTTEERR

Page 28 The VHPA Aviator

VHPA CHAPTER ACTIVITIESVVHHPPAA OOFF FFLLOORRIIDDAA

On Sept 20-23, 2012 the FloridaChapter held their 20th Reunion atthe Plantation Inn in Crystal River Fl.The setting for the reunion was per-fect with great weather, beautiful loca-tion and view of the river, wonderfulsupport from the management andstaff of the Inn. Throw in a great group of Army pilots, crew members and fam-ily and you have a special event to remember.

The chapter set up a display of their OH-6 Cayuse on the front lawn of theInn for public viewing. Inside the Inn the chapter displayed their extensive Viet-nam memorabilia collection and sales room. Throughout the four day eventmany visitors at the Inn and local community came out to see, photograph andtalk with the chapter members.

Several special activities were planned for the chaptermembers to enjoy. One event on Friday morning was achance to swim with the Manatees in the CrystalRiver. The report back to everyone was all survived theencounter with these slow creatures with a couple ofstartling face to face meetings under water. On Satur-day afternoon boat excursions were arranged to tourthe river, bay area and springs around Crystal River.ON Saturday morning we held our annual businessmeeting and elected our new officers for 2013. TomRountree was elected President, Frank Hoover VicePresident, Chris Garbow Secretary and Tom Tomlin-son Treasure.

The highlight of the reunion is our banquet whichwas held at the Plantation Inn. Our quest speaker this year was The HonorableRichard F. Healing, PE, Captain USCGR Ret. Mr Healing is the senior Part-ner, R3 Consulting LLC, Washington DC and is a former board member ofthe National Transportation Safety Board. Mr. Healing served with theUSCG in Vietnam in the Delta region on a CG patrol boat.

We also had a very special quest attending our reunion and banquet. She is anIcon of the Vietnam War period, Chris Noel; as we remember her as a Holly-wood star, pin up girl, and disc jockey for the Armed Forces Radio daily pro-

gram "A Date with Chris". Everyone enjoyed talking with Chris and asking herquestions about her travels and experiences in Vietnam.Every year we give the Jim Yoho Memorial Award to the "outstanding mem-

ber who's actions have clearly demonstrated their dedication to the advance-ment of the VHPA of Florida. This year recipient was Chris Garbow for hisefforts in establishing a LISTSERV for the chapter which greatly improvedcommunications to all members.Up coming events the chapter will be sup-

porting are; Crystal River Salute to Veterans,9/27-10/1; Nature Coast All VeteransReunion 10/14-10/21, Veterans Day Parade11/10 in Inverness Fl. If you are a member ofthe VHPA and wish to join us and participate,you may contact us at our web siteVHPAF.org.

SSOOLLDDIIEERRSS MMIISSSSIINNGG FFRROOMM VVIIEETTNNAAMM WWAARR IIDDEENNTTIIFFIIEEDD

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Officehas announced that the remains of Captain James M. Johnstoneand Major James l. Whited, both from Oklahoma, who were waslost on Nov. 19, 1966, when their OV-1A Mohawk aircraftcrashed in Attapu Province, Laos, were recovered on June 5, 2009and identified on July 9, 2012.

On September 13, 2012 representatives from JPAC met withtheir Vietnamese government counterparts in Hanoi, Vietnam.highlight was Vietnam's turnover of another set of long requestedarchival documents, which summarize annual activities of theunit responsible for the security and maintenance of the Ho ChiMinh Trail during the war. Vietnam also agreed to continuesearching for other documents previously requested by the U.S.The talks were conducted in an atmosphere of good will andfriendship.

The number of Americans returned and identified since theend of the Vietnam War in 1975 is now 928; another 63 US per-sonnel, recovered post-incident and identified before the end ofthe war, bring the total to 991. Of the 1,655 unreturned Ameri-can veterans from the Vietnam War, our POW/MIAs, 90% werelost in Vietnam or in areas of Laos and Cambodia under Viet-nam’s wartime control. Detailed numbers are Vietnam – 1,280(VN-470, VS-810); Laos – 314; Cambodia – 54; Peoples Repub-lic of China territorial waters – 7. Over 450 of these were over-water losses.

SSOOUUTTHH MMIISSSSOOUURRII CCHHAAPPTTEERR Members and their guests of the South Missouri Chapter of the VHPA gatherfor their Third Quarterly meeting

BBaacckk rrooww ((LL ttoo RR))LLyyllee HHoorrnneerr,, RRuussss EEmmoorryy,, RRooggeerr CCaaffffeerryy,, JJoohhnn SSoorreennsseenn,, JJeeffff PPeeppppeerr,, MMeettaa SSmmiitthh,,BBoobb SSmmiitthh,, KKaarreenn WWiillkkiinnssoonn,, JJoohhnn WWiillkkiinnssoonn,, LLiinnddaa FFiinnddeerr,, LLeewwiiss PPhhiilllliippss

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Page 29 The VHPA Aviator

AALLEEXXAANNDDEERR,, RRoobbeerrtt EE.. GGrraadd--uuaatteedd fflliigghhtt ttrraaiinniinngg wwiitthh FFlliigghhttCCllaassss 6688--0033.. FFlleeww iinn VViieettnnaammwwiitthh tthhee 55tthh TTCC,, 110011 AABBNN iinn11996688 aanndd wwiitthh tthhee 22nndd DDBBEE,,110011 AABBNN iinn 11996699Robert E. Alexander, 65, of

Kenosha, passed away at his residence on Thursday,Aug. 16, 2012 with his loving family by his side.Born on Sept. 27, 1946 in Longview, Texas, he was a1964 graduate of Furr High School in Houston, Texasand attended various schools during his 20 year mili-tary career. He received his Bachelor of Science degreein Professional Aeronautics on Aug. 13, 1997. OnSept. 5, 1981 in San Antonio, TX he was united inmarriage to Pamela Nunes.Bob served in the U.S. Army enlisting in March 1966until his honorable discharge in August, 1986. He flewhelicopters in Vietnam during 1968-1969, and he alsoserved in Thailand, Turkey, and Germany. Following hismilitary career he moved from helicopters to jets. His 42year flying career ended piloting a Falcon 2000 in 2008.He received the rank of Eagle Scout on Feb. 28, 1962.Bob enjoyed reading and politics. He especially valuedthe time he spent with his grandchildren. Left to cher-ish their memories are his wife, Pamela, his five childrenand his eleven grandchildren. Bob is further survivedby his one brother and two sisters. Along with his par-ents, he was preceded in death by a granddaughter,Taylor Hickle. Inurnment took place in the SouthernWI Memorial Veterans Cemetery. The familyrequests that remembrances of Bob be made to Hos-pice Alliance, Inc., 10220 Prairie Ridge Blvd., PleasantPrairie, WI, 53158. Online Condolences atwww.piasecki-althaus.com

BBAAIILLEEYY,, DDeennnniiss ““SSkkiipp””,, ggrraadd--uuaatteedd fflliigghhtt ttrraaiinniinngg wwiitthhFFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6699--4400Captain Dennis "Skip" Bailey,

born March 24, 1943 in Havre,Montana to George W. Bailey andValerie Novak passed away July 18,2012 in a long battle with cancer. Skip was a highly decorated, 2-tour Veteran of the Viet-nam War. He is a Special Forces Green Beret/AirborneRanger and Helicopter Pilot. Decorations, metals, badgesawarded include: National Defense Service Metal; Para-chutist Badge; Good Conduct Metal; Combat Infantry-man's Badge; Army Commendation Metal w/V Device;Bronze Star Metal w/1 OLC; Air Metal; Vietnam Ser-vice Metal w/8 Bronze Stars; Republic of Vietnam Cam-paign Metal w/60 Device; Ranger tab; Army AviatorBadge; Meritorious Unit Commendation; VietnamCross of Gallantry w/Palm; Vietnam Cross of Gallantryw/Bronze Star. After Vietnam Skip flew helicopters forthe oil industry and private corporations.During Skip's life he was also an Eagle and Explorer

Scout, feline lover and rescuer, ski and dance instructor,wood carver, carpenter, piano player, artist, stand-upcomedian, inventor, chef, entrepreneur and businessman.He was a resident of New Braunfels, Texas since 1987.He lived by his motto "Life regrets....are risks you didnot take". He will be missed greatly by his family,friends, his felines and his brothers in the Army andSpecial Forces Chapter XV, of San Antonio, Texas.

BBAARRTTLLEETTTT,, JJoohhnn CC.. GGrraadduuaatt--eedd fflliigghhtt sscchhooooll wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt ccllaassss6699--3333 aanndd fflleeww iinn VViieettnnaamm wwiitthhAA TTrroooopp,, 11sstt SSqquuaaddrroonn,, 99tthhCCaavvaallrryy 11996699--11997700 uunnddeerr tthheeccaallllssiiggnn AAppaacchhee 2211..Cowboys in the Old West aspired todie with their boots on – to go down fighting ratherthan give in to sickness, old age, or fear. John Bartlettwas like that. He simply refused to let a damaged heartkeep him from the active outdoor life he’d always lived,and on September 4, 2012, after a full day’s fishing on aMontana river, in the good company of a boyhoodfriend, he literally died with his boots on, in the cab ofhis friend’s pickup, on the way to the ER.John had a college football scholarship that would

have deferred him from service in Vietnam, for a fewyears at least, but he missed his high school sweetheartBillie, who was going to school elsewhere, so hedropped out, made plans to marry, and enlisted in theArmy to fly helicopters. After Wolters and Rucker, hewent to Cobra School at Hunter Army Air Field. Heand Billie broke up on the eve of his departure to Viet-nam but made up the next day when bad weather com-bined with good fortune to place them both on thesame flight out of Seattle. On R&R in Hawaii, halfwaythrough John’s tour, they were married, a marriage thatlasted 42 years. Together they raised four children,who between them produced six grandkids.In Vietnam, Bart was assigned to A Troop, 1st of the9th Cav. He flew Cobras his whole tour, taking thecallsign Apache 21 when he made AC. He was fearless,and for that reason was much loved by the Scouts andthe Blues he covered in combat. Former Scout BillMcIntosh, Apache 11, remembers a mission intoCambodia in June 1970 to find a Long Range Recon-naissance Patrol (LRRP) team that had not been heardfrom: “I led the flight and the weather was so bad wehad to fly all the way to Laos to find a way downthrough the clouds. We ended up hovering downroads in Laos to get back into Cambodia and find themissing LRRPs. I remember looking out and there wasJohn hovering down a road in a country we weren'tsupposed to be in, in a Cobra gunship! That was muchmore effective than trying to navigate from altitude,but it made him a sitting duck, and I remember think-ing, ‘Wow, he really is crazier than I am.’ But that wasBart: he flew lower than most, always in extreme dan-ger just so he could cover his low bird better. It was agreat comfort knowing Bloody Bart was covering youon a Scout mission – it meant your odds of survival justwent up.” Former Blues squad leader Kregg Jorgensonremembers the same mission to find the missingLRRPs. The Blues had managed to find two of them,wounded, when they were hit by NVA gunfire. Bart inhis Cobra “roared in and bought us time to find coverand return fire. He then flew pass after pass to protectus.” Lift pilot Ron Glass, Apache 33, says, “I owe mylife to John Bartlett, more than once. He was my wing-man on many missions, putting long range reconpatrols deep into enemy controlled area, extractingSpecial Forces, or rescuing downed aircrews underenemy fire. When the situation demanded bold, pre-cise and timely gunship air cover, there was no one bet-ter to get iron on the bad guys than Bart.” In recogni-tion of his bravery and skill in Vietnam, Bart was

awarded a Silver Star, a Distinguished Flying Cross, aBronze Star for meritorious service, three awards of theAir Medal with “V” and two of the Army Commenda-tion Medal with “V.”His combat tour over, John returned to Fort Ruckeras an instructor pilot, but opted to leave the Army andreturn to college, where he earned degrees in PoliticalScience and History. He went to work for the BNSFrailroad as an engineer, and for 30 years drove trainsbetween his hometown of Whitefish, Montana, andSpokane, Washington. In 2003, John talked Billie into hosting a reunion inWhitefish. It wasn’t the first time Apache Troop gottogether, but the turnout was the biggest to date, andthe good feelings that came from meeting with oldfriends were such that three years later they hostedanother. The standard set by the Bartletts inspired oth-ers, and the Troop has gathered since in Chicago,Orlando, and Albuquerque, and is set to meet again atLake Tahoe in 2013. News of John Bartlett’s death traveled fast and was

met with disbelief and sadness. Many Troopers emailedmemories of John at war, including those repeatedabove. When word came that there would be a celebra-tion of John’s life at the same lodge where two reunionshad been held, Troopers and their wives convergedfrom all over the United States, and others sent condo-lences from as far away as London and Azerbaijan. Flight school classmates and others who served withJohn are invited to post comments at his son John’sblog website,

BBAAUUEERR,, RRiicchhaarrdd EEddwwaarrddRichard Edward Bauer, 65, passedaway Saturday, September 29, 2012,at Box Butte General Hospital inAlliance, Nebraska. Richard wasborn October 1, 1946, and graduat-ed from Alliance High School in1964. In 1966, Richard began a twenty-year career inthe United States Army, serving two tours in Vietnamas a airplane and helicopter pilot, as well as tours inKorea and Turkey, and many stateside assignments.During his military career, Richard earned numerouscommendations and awards. After retiring from the military, Richard returned tohis hometown of Alliance and eventually began acareer in law enforcement, starting as a part-time cor-rectional officer at the Box Butte County Jail, whilealso delivering mail in rural Alliance. He became adeputy sheriff in 1994, the same year he received theNebraska Sheriff's Association Officer of the Yearaward, after retrieving a loaded gun from a defendantin District Court. Later that year he was appointedSheriff for a full four-year term, he was reelected twicemore , serving 12 years total as the Box Butte CountySheriff, before retiring in 2007. Richard enjoyed golf-ing, hunting, fishing and spending time with familyand friends. He is survived by his wife, Carol; one brother, two

sons, one daughter, seven grandchildren and numerousnieces and nephews. Burial was held at the NebraskaVeterans Cemetery, the family requests that memorialsbe given to the Nebraska Veterans Cemetery.

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showComment=1346985555872.

http://carponthefly.blogspot.com/2012/09/john-bartlett-1947-2012.html?

“Carp on the Fly”

BBRRIIMMMMEERR,, VViicc HH.. GGrraadduuaatteedd wwiitthh FFlliigghhttCCllaassss 6688--552233//6688--4433.. HHee fflleeww 1199 mmoonntthhss iinnVViieettnnaamm wwiitthh tthhee 112288tthh AAHHCC.. ((11996699--11997700))Vic Brimmer, age 64, passed away from cancer on 29

August 2012 in Loma Linda University Medical Cen-ter, California with his family at his side. He is survivedby his wife Lorraine; sons, Michael and Doug; daughter,Kelly Connelly, brother Gary and seven grandchildren.After Vietnam, Vic spent 25 years with the California

Army National Guard flying several different Armyaircraft and retiring as a CW4 in 2008. Vic’s awardsand decorations include the Bronze Star, Air Medal,Army Commendation Metal, Army AchievementMedal, Vietnam Service Medal, Global War on Ter-rorism Service Ribbon, Humanitarian Service Medal.

In his civilian life, Vic served 31 years with the SanBernardino County Sheriff’s Department and retired asa Lieutenant in 2004. Vic was in charge of the Sheriff’sAviation Division for over 20 years flying numerous air-planes and helicopters and logging over 19,000 hours.

Vic loved to spend his time with his family, friendsand at Sunrise Church in Rialto CA. He touchedmany lives and could always light up a room with hissmile and friendliness. Vic was laid to rest at RiversideNational Cemetery, the family requests donations besent to Mission Aviation Fellowship www.maf.org.

CCHHAAMMBBEERRSS,, RReexx KKeennddaallllFFlleeww wwiitthh tthhee 112288tthh iinn VViieettnnaamm ffrroomm 11996655 ttoo 11996688

Rex Kendall Chambers, died ofheart failure on August 19th,2012, at his home in Carterville,Illinois. He was 83 years old. Hewas born in St. Louis, MO and he married ElsiePearl Paulk on March 1, 1952, in Columbus, Ga.

He honorably served our country in the U.S.Army during the Korean War and Vietnam con-flict. He also served overseas in Japan, Italy andGermany and was an Army helicopter and airplanepilot. Rex retired in 1968 as a chief warrant officer3 after 20 years of service. After he retired from themilitary, he worked for SIU in the computer dataprocessing center.

Rex was a member of First Baptist Church inCarterville, where he served as a deacon. He wasalso a member of the Carterville American Legion.He was an avid Miners and Cardinals baseball fan.Rex enjoyed woodworking, gardening and goingout to eat with friends. He was the type of personwho was always there for anybody who needed ahelping hand.

Rex was a wonderful husband, father, grandfa-ther and brother. He was proud of his six grand-children who have grown to be an airman, a graph-ic designer, a Marine, a missionary and two mili-tary soldiers.

Elsie Pearl preceded Rex in death March 25,2005. He later married Violet Barnett on Oct. 30,2007. He is survived by his wife, Violet BarnettChambers; one daughter and son-in-law, one sonand daughter-in-aw, one sister and his six grand-children. Friends may sign the guest register at:www.rigginpillatschburkefh.com. Memorial con-tributions may be made to Folds of Honor Foun-dation, 5800 N. Patriot Drive, Owasso, OK74055.

EETTHHEERRIIDDGGEE,, CCllaarrkk ““EEdd”” GGrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhttttrraaiinniinngg wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss ddaatteess 6677--6688,, fflleeww iinnVViieettnnaamm wwiitthh tthhee 111144tthh AAHHCC iinn 11996699--11997700aanndd llaatteerr wwiitthh tthhee OOHH--66 NNEETTTT tteeaamm..

CW3 Clark Edward Etheridge, U.S. Army (Ret),69, of Little Rock, AR., died Friday, September 21,2012. He was born in Harrison, Arkansas, andserved his country as a helicopter pilot in the U. S.Army and served two tours in Vietnam. He wasawarded many metals and decorations including theBronze Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross. After his military career, Mr. Etheridge continued to

fly, owning his own company and was a pilot forArkansas Children's Hospital as well as local lawenforcement agencies. Mr. Etheridge was instrumen-tal in implementing the Friday Night Flights pro-gram for local news station Channel 4. He alsoenjoyed fishing and traveling with his wife in theirRV. He was a fun loving person with a great personal-ity who never met a stranger.

Mr. Etheridge is survived by his wife, PatriciaHumphries Etheridge of Little Rock; three children,as well as two step sons. Mr. Etheridge is also survivedby his mother, one sister, one brother, two uncles,eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

FFIISSCCHH,, GGeerraalldd ""JJeerrrryy"" WWeesslleeyy.. GGrraadduuaatteeddfflliigghhtt sscchhooooll wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6666--2211,, fflleeww iinnVViieettnnaamm wwiitthh tthhee 112288tthh AAHHCC iinn 11996688 uunnddeerrtthhee GGuunnsslliinnggeerr 3300 ccaallllssiiggnn,, wwiitthh BB TTrroooopp ooff tthhee77//11sstt CCAAVV iinn 11996688,, wwiitthh MMAAVVCC iinn 11996699 aannddwwiitthh tthhee 112200tthh AAHHCC uunnddeerr tthhee RRaazzoorrbbaacckk ccaallll--ssiiggnn iinn 11996699..Gerald “Jerry” Fisch, 71, passed away on 16 May

2012 from the affects of prostrate cancer whilebeing treated in the VA Hospital of San Francisco,California.

After flight school and before he started his twotours in Vietnam, Jerry flew with the 8th InfantryDivision out of Wackerheim AAF in Mannheim,Germany. He leaves no known survivors.

FFIISSHHEERR,, ZZaannee BBeellll,, UUSS MMaarriinnee CCoorrppss Zane Bell Fisher age 74 passed away Wednesday,

July 4, 2012 in his home surrounded by the peoplehe loved. Zane was born in Hamilton, NC August7, 1937; he was a graduate of Duke University andimmediately following graduation he was commis-sioned as a second lieutenant in the United StatesMarine Corps. After training at Quantico, Pen-sacola and other commands, he joined the FleetMarine Force as a Marine Aviator and flew A-4Skyhawk ground attack jets, H-34 helicopters andC-130 Hercules transport aircraft. He served twocombat tours in Vietnam where he participated inOperation Starlight and in the first Marine Corpsnight strike attack against the Viet Cong in Opera-tion Midnight. He flew almost every MarineCorps offensive operation during 1965 and early1966. Mr. Fisher received numerous air medals aswell as the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. HisSquadron was awarded the Navy Unit Commen-dation.

After his military career, he and his wife Carolelived in Wilmington/Kure Beach, NC, Puerto Val-larta, Mexico and Sparta, NC. He leaves his wife,Carol Stone Fisher, a much loved Jack Russell Ter-

rier, Jack Spratt, one sister, one brother-in-law andone sister-in-law, and numerous nieces andnephews. The family request donations made toeither, Hospice of Alleghany, PO Box 1287, Sparta,NC 28675 or to The Marine Corps League, 297Buckeye Ridge Road, Sparta, NC 28675. Onlinecondolences may be made towww.elkinfuneralservice.com.

FFOORRBBEESS,, TThhoommaass FFoosstteerr..GGrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhtt sscchhooooll wwiitthhFFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6644--88 aanndd 6644--88WW,,fflleeww iinn VViieettnnaamm wwiitthh tthhee 112211ssttAAHHCC iinn 11996655.. Thomas Foster Forbes, 74, died

Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012. HisDad was one of the new breed of pilots, oftenreferred to as "barnstormers," who traveledthroughout the country performing at airshows inthe 1920s and 1930s. When Bell Helicopterarrived in Fort Worth, the Forbes family soon fol-lowed. By then, flying was a family affair, as hisDad, his mother and his sister were all licensedfixed wing pilots.

But Tom's passion was helicopters. Tom gradu-ated from Polytechnic High School in 1956,Arlington State College in 1959 and Texas Wes-leyan College in 1968. He joined the U.S. Armyin 1960, attending flight school at Fort Rocker,Ala., and Fort Wolters in Mineral Wells. AfterVietnam he was assigned to the U.S. ArmyReserve, Unit 300th Aviation Company, whereon weekends he served until 1973. Upon his dis-charge from active duty, he joined Southern Air-ways and at Southern, Tom found his calling as aninstructor pilot. In 1973, Tom was hired by BellHelicopter International and moved to Esfahan,Iran. Tom lived and worked in Esfahan until Feb-ruary 1979, when civil war broke out in Iran andhe returned to Fort Worth where he lived untilhis death. The friends Tom made at Southernand Bell Helicopter International would befriends forever, for Tom put no small price onfriendship. Tom was a member of St. John theApostle Church where he served as a communionminister and was a member of the Knights ofColumbus, Council #8512. He was an activemember of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Associ-ation and served on the board of directors for theNational Vietnam War Museum. Upon hisreturn to Fort Worth, Tom was employed byRussell Associates. He retired in 2008 after 30years with the company. As a former associate ofTom's wrote, "...Tom was a great person, father,friend and employee. He will be missed."

Tom was predeceased by a daughter, MollyKathleen Forbes. He is survived by his wife of 35years, Ellen; three daughters, one sister, two broth-ers-in-law, one sister-in-law, six grandchildren andhis faithful companions, Duke and Bea. In lieu offlowers, the family suggests that memorials bemade in Tom's name to the Humane Society ofNorth Texas, 1840 E. Lancaster Ave., FortWorth, Texas 76103, or the National VietnamWar Museum, Box 146, Mineral Wells, Texas76068-0146.

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Page 30 The VHPA Aviator

GGOOSSSSEETTTT,, CChhaarrlleess WW.. GGrraadd--uuaatteedd fflliigghhtt sscchhooooll wwiitthh FFlliigghhttCCllaassss 6699--3311,, iinn VViieettnnaamm hheefflleeww CCoobbrraa’’ss iinn VViieettnnaamm wwiitthhffiirrsstt tthhee BBrraavvoo aanndd CChhaarrlliieeBBaatttteerriieess ooff tthhee 22//2200tthh AARRAAiinn 11997700 ((uunnddeerr tthhee BBlluueeMMaaxxccaallllssiiggnn)) aanndd nneexxtt wwiitthh tthhee 113388tthh AAvvnn CCOOuunnddeerr tthhee VVaanngguuaarrdd ccaallllssiiggnn..Charles W. Gossett, 66, VHPA member and author

of our “Let’s Smoke on This” stories passed away July31, 2012 after a short but courageous 3-month battlewith a non-survivable and aggressive form of lung can-cer. As he wished, he died at home under the care of hisdevoted wife, Lynne. His life was spent in service to hisCountry, his state and his community.Born into a military family in Charlotte, NC, Charlie

was the youngest of 3 siblings and was raised in boththe states and abroad. Charlie’s patriotism and militaryinterest peaked at a young age when he spent time inhis father’s mahogany paneled den filled with Navaland war memorabilia. His father served in the Pacificduring WWII on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. San Jacinto(CVL-30) alongside many great men to include Presi-dent George H.W. Bush. Charlie also held fond mem-ories of sitting on the lap of Admiral William Halsey,Jr, a close family friend; his picture hung on the walls ofCharlie’s den for many years.

Charlie first started flying at age 19 when he joinedFort Bliss Flying Club, following high school Charlieenlisted in the Army, served one tour in Vietnam andin 1968, he applied to flight school. Both of his Viet-nam Combat assignments were followed by variousstateside flying assignments flying both the Huey andthe Cobra helicopters. In the early 1980’s, Charlietransitioned into fixed wing aircraft and started special-izing in Military Intelligence Collection aircraft andtheir missions. Charlie went on to fly the OV-1Mohawk in Germany and the RU-21 Guardrail bothstateside and in the Central America theater beforefinally retiring from the Army as a Master Aviator andChief Warrant Officer 4 with over 20 years of service.During the course of his military career he accumulatedover 4,000 hours flight time, which included 1600hours of combat flight.

During Vietnam and his subsequent military career,Charlie was awarded the Silver Star, the DistinguishedFlying Cross, the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal(First Oak Leaf Cluster), the Air Medal with 60 OakLeaf Clusters and too many other awards and decora-tions to mention.

From a young age Charlie had four main careergoals; to become an Army Aviator, Law EnforcementOfficer, Park Ranger, and Firefighter and he attainedeach one. Following his Military retirement he gradu-ated from Police Academy at age 43 and was hired byOrmond Beach Police Dept where he went on to cre-ate a program that sponsored children of lowerincome families to attend a one-week camp for free.Charlie retired from there in 2000 after serving as anOfficer, a Crisis Negotiator and a Detective. After-wards, Charlie and Lynne traveled in their newMotor Home volunteering their services in exchangefor a free space in a Florida State Park. Their firstendeavor was right there in Ormond Beach at Tomo-ka State Park and before long Charlie was accepted as

a fulltime Park Ranger at a local, day-use state park.Starting when the gates closed at 5pm, Charlie andLynne lived what they loved. They had their own pri-vate Park on a beautiful winding river where theycould explore the trails and protect the animal lifefrom poachers. They also hunted wild Boar andfished to their hearts content, being there was theirsanctuary and home for 2 1/2 years. Charlie went onto become an expert on Wildfire Firefighting and theuse of Controlled Burns, but now that they hadreached all of his career goals, they decided it was timeto finally retire in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Charlie’s hobbies and likes were varied. A lifetimelove of military history, an avid reader, writing cou-pled with desire to write a book, collecting model air-craft, catch and release fishing, a day at the shootingrange, hunting wild boar and his yearly pumpkin gar-den were among his favorites. He loved writing the“Let’s Smoke on This” articles for VHPA and was sograteful for the opportunity. There were many sub-jects he still wanted to write about and was saddenedhis health forced him to give it up. And lastly, the 2years of researching his father’s military history heldthe most importance to him.

Charlie was a devoted husband and he and Lynnewere best friends and soul mates for 21 years. Hedeeply loved his family, his 3 pets, his friends, and hiscombat brothers. He always seemed to know the bestway to approach people and was always available tohelp or give advice if asked. He was intelligent andlogical and an anchor that could always be countedon, he had a witty sense of humor and knew justwhen to use it! He valued honesty and integrity andwas not only a combat hero, but a hero in everydaylife.

Lynne would love to hear from anyone that knewCharlie and that would care to share their memoriesand pictures. It would be a great honor. You may con-tact her through e-mail; RangerGossett2@aol.com.

She would like to sincerely express her gratitude toall of Charlie’s brothers and fellow VHPA and OV-1Mohawk Association members for your thoughtsand prayers. She is grateful beyond words. Her specialthanks go out to Bob Monette, David Adams, CalBrown, Hoot Gibson, and too many others to men-tion for their contact and support.

Charlie is preceded in death by his parents and onesister. He is survived by his beloved wife, Lynne Gos-sett, one daughter, one son, three brothers, one sister,five grandchildren, and numerous other relatives,nieces, nephews, and extended family. He will begreatly missed by everyone who had the privilege toknow and love this great man. Over the years Charlieand Lynne often spent time discussing and formingtheir spiritual beliefs including afterlife thoughts., hewould often tell Lynne “I’ll be flying around in theCosmos exploring the miracle of it all! Watching overfamily and friends and catching up with those alreadythere.́ Have a great flight our friend! Memorial contributions may be made in his name to

Four Seasons Hospice @ 571 South Allen Rd, FlatRock, NC 28731 (828) 692-6178

HHAALLEE,, DDiicckk GGrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhtt ttrraaiinniinngg wwiitthhFFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 5588--1133.. FFlleeww iinn VViieettnnaamm wwiitthh BBTTrroooopp,, 11//99tthh CCaavv iinn 11996666--11996677 uunnddeerr tthhee RReedd

CChhaarrggeerr 2222 ccaallllssiiggnn aanndd wwiitthh CC BBaatttteerryy,, 44//7777tthhAARRAA,, 110011 AABBNN DDiivv iinn 11997700--11997711 uunnddeerr tthheeGGrriiffffiinn 66 ccaallllssiiggnn

US Army (Retired) Major Dick Hale, age 83 ofWest Milton, OH, passed away Sunday, September16, 2012.

Dick was born July 24, 1929 in Dayton, OH, hebegan his decades of military service in 1948. Themany facets of service Dick honorably executed,including spending 2 years serving 2 separate "Toursof Duty" in the Republic of Vietnam from 1966-1967 and 1970-1971, flying helicopter gunships. Hewas "shot down" on 3 separate occasions, escapingserious injuries and capture by the enemy. Dick wasthe Commanding Officer of an Aerial Rocket Unit,flying the Cobra Helicopters.

Also, tucked within the framework of his militaryservice, Dick served as a police officer with the Cityof Dayton Police Department. Then in 1963, as theneed for experienced pilots became critical, Dick wasonce again called into active military service, wherehe remained until his retirement in 1979. During these times of service and raising a family of

2 daughters, he found the time to earn a BachelorsDegree from the University of Omaha. Followinghis retirement from the US Army, having attainedthe rank of Major, Dick enjoyed several years in theair as the Airborne Traffic Reporter forWONE/WTUE radio.

Major Hale is survived by his beloved wife of 58years, Sue Ann (Thomas) Hale, who he married onJuly 17, 1954 in Dayton, OH; one daughter, 3grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren and manyother loving family members and friends. He waspreceded in death by one daughter, one grandsonand three brothers. Online memories and condo-lences may be left for the family atwww.bakerhazelsnider.com

JJAAMMEESS,, WWiilllliiaamm ““BBiillll”” GGrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhtt sscchhoooollwwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6699--3377,, hhee fflleeww iinn VViieettnnaammwwiitthh tthhee 228811sstt AAHHCC oouutt ooff DDaa NNaanngg iinn 11996699uunnddeerr tthhee RRaatt PPaacckk ccaallll ssiiggnn..

William "Bill" James, age 65, died 24 August 2012at his home in League City, Texas after a long fightagainst cancer caused by being exposed to AgentOrange while in Vietnam. Bill retired from the Army in April 1986 as a CW3

and he still enjoyed a long career as a helicopter pilot.He flew for Lifeflight for Welborn Hospital in Evans-ville Indiana, then he moved into offshore flying forAir Logistics out of Louisiana. He also taughtROTC for the Clear Creek Independent School Dis-trict in Texas, then he opened a Gun Store andIndoor Gun Range in League City in 2006. The facil-ity was his life long dream, it’s certified as the only 5star rated Indoor range in Texas. He truly lived theAmerican Dream.

He is survived by his wife of 44 years Mary, twodaughters, two sons and two beautiful grandchildren.His wife reports that “Bill attended the 2012 reunionin New Orleans, Louisiana. He was very ill the entiretime and was unable to enjoy the reunion as much ashe wanted too. But he was able to attend the banquetand he stood tall and proud in his dress blues. It wason his bucket list”.

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TAPSMMEENNGG,, MMoorrtteenn GGrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhttttrraaiinniinngg wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss wwiitthhFFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6677--550011 && 6677--2233Morton Meng, 65, passed away Tues-day, Sept. 4, 2012. Morten was bornMarch 11, 1947, in Copenhagen, Den-mark, and came to America from Denmark as ateenager. Morten worked to show devotion to thiscountry, he first became an American citizen and laterserved in Vietnam as a highly decorated combat heli-copter pilot earning, among other awards, the Distin-guished Flying Cross. In 1981, Morton competed as a USA team pilot at

the World Helicopter Championship where the teamwon first place. In 1982, the USA team was recognizedwith a display at the Smithsonian's National Air andSpace Museum. Mr. Meng continued that notewor-thy service by working for Bell Helicopter as an experi-mental test pilot, including his work as a test pilot forthe V-22 Osprey. His many years of service at Belldemonstrated the devotion to our country's defenseand national security.Morten is survived by his wife Sharon, two daughters,four grandchildren and two sisters. A Memorial Ser-vice will be held at a later date, internment will be con-ducted at Arlington National Cemetery.

KKIINNNN,, JJaammeess HH.. GGrraadduuaatteeddfflliigghhtt sscchhooooll wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6699--0099,, fflleeww iinn VViieettnnaamm oouutt ooff DDuuccPPhhoo wwiitthh 117744tthh AAHHCC iinn JJuunnee11996699 tthhrroouugghh NNoovveemmbbeerr 11997700..Mr. Kinne grew up in Broad RunFarms, near Sterling, VA, he tookflying lessons as a teenager and in1964 soloed at Godfrey Field in Leesburg, VA. Hegraduated from Loudoun County High School in1965, and in 1968 began a 27-year highly-decoratedcareer as a United States Army helicopter aviator,including 4 Purple Hearts. In 1995 he received theLegion of Merit in recognition of his service. His dutystations included flight school at Ft. Rucker, AL;combat missions with the 174th Aviation Companyin Vietnam; wound recovery at Walter Reed ArmyMedical Center; MAST operations with the 571stMedical Detachment in Ft. Carson, CO; air opera-tions with the 8th Infantry Division in Baumholder,Germany; and the 82nd Aviation Battalion in Ft.Bragg, NC, service which saw multiple deploymentsto the Middle East, including the build-up to andcombat missions for Operation Desert Storm. In1993, he was appointed Chief Warrant Officer Five[Aviation Corps]. Following his retirement, Mr. Kinne lived briefly

near Kilmarnock, VA and eventually set sail on “Rest-less” to find a latitude where the temperature rarely fellbelow 70 degrees. He docked in Fort Myers Beach,and enjoyed his life with Donna and their cockerspaniels, BJ and Toni, traversing America and Canadafor Eighteen months, sailing the warm gulf waters, andspending time with friends and family. He is survivedby his wife Donna, two sisters, one brother and severalnieces and nephews. The family requests that expres-sions of sympathy be directed to Hope Hospice inCape Coral, Smith Point Sea Rescue in Reedville, VA,or a charity of your choice.

LLAAWWRREENNCCEE,, WWiilllliiaamm AA.. The VHPA has been notified of the death of Col.William A. Lawrence, age 69, who died in Octoberof 2000 in Decatur. Alabama. Col. Lawrence flewin Vietnam with the 128th Tomahawks in 1965-1966 and also with the 269th CAB out of Chu Chiunder the Blackbarron 6 callsign. He retired fromthe Army in 1975 after his last assignment at thePentagon.His wife passed away in 2001, he is survived by twosons and more information is available from his sonBill (Lawrence) at:w.lawrence@yahoo.com

MMAADDSSEENN,, RRoonnaalldd LL.. FFlleewwiinn VViieettnnaamm wwiitthh tthhee 112288tthhAAHHCC iinn 11996655--11996666 uunnddeerrtthhee TToommaahhaawwkk ccaallllssiiggnn aannddllaatteerr wwiitthh HHHHCC,, 226699tthhCCAABB iinn 11996699--11997700 uunnddeerr tthhee BBllaacckk BBaarroonn 66ccaallllssiiggnn..Ronald L. Madsen graduated to be with his Lord onSunday, Sept. 9, 2012. He was born April 2, 1932, inTwin Falls, Idaho.Ron cared deeply for his family and his country andwas proud of his military service. He was a member ofthe NRA, Twirly Birds (an elite international organi-zation), the Military Order of the Purple Heart, andVeterans of the 118th Assault Helicopter Company.Aviation was an occupation he loved. Ron first discov-ered this passion while in high school. He would workall day Saturdays at the stockyards and then spend hispay on one-hour flying lessons at the Twin Falls Air-port. He joined the U.S. Navy in November 1950during the Korean War, where he served four years asan aircraft mechanic. In January 1955, he enrolled atSacramento City College, where he obtained his FAAA&P license and AA degree. He married Clara OliviaChavez during this period on March 22, 1956, andthey left for Guam in the Mariana Islands thatNovember to work for TransOcean Airlines. Ron andClara returned to Sacramento, Calif., where they liveduntil 1964. In that year, Ron volunteered for theArmy due to the war in Vietnam. He learned to flyhelicopters during his Army career earning a Distin-guished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Air Medal with 21Clusters, Cross of Gallantry and a Purple Heart. Healso earned a Presidential Unit Citation. After four years of Army service, Ron taught at theSacramento City College for 12 years. He continuedflying helicopters after his separation from the Army,working as a bush pilot in northern Canada during hissummer break from teaching. Later, Ron also flew inAlaska over most of the state. After leaving Sacramen-to City College, he worked as a base manager for ERAhelicopters in Deadhorse, Alaska. He also flew as arelief pilot for Bannock Regional Life Flight during hisoff time. Later, he managed the Twin Falls-Sun ValleyRegional Airport, where he retired May 1, 1997. Heended his flying career with airline transport ratings inboth airplanes and helicopters SEL and SMEL, certi-fied as a flight instructor in instruments in both rotorand fixed-wing, and a Canadian commercial license.He also had earned a Teacher’s Credential issued forLife by the state of California in Aviation subjects. He is survived by his wife, Clara (they were still ontheir honeymoon after 56 years); their three children,

nine grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; andhis brother. Ron was preceded in death by his parents;his stepson and one great-grandson. He looked for-ward to his “last” flight, so be happy for him.MMYY FFLLIIGGHHTT PPLLAANN BBYY RROONNAALLDD MMAADDSSEENN

I’ve flown an airplane high and a helicopter low,Passed through God’s own rainbow.Seen the jungles of Vietnam and its rain,Experienced war with all its pain.Landed in paddies full of rice,Even the arctic with all its ice!Flew the Yukon with its mountains and streams,Caught trout beyond my dreams!Claire was with me on the high mountain peak,And the children heard the cry from the eagle’s beak.A carefree spirit, like a life without direction,Even when I received God’s correction.Yet I know He’s with me on my flight plan,That I’ll be with Him when I land.He’s wooing and loves you more than you know,Won’t you answer His call before I go?The family suggests memorials be given to the Wound-ed Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS66675. A service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept, 15,at the Lighthouse Christian Fellowship Church.

MMAAXXWWEELLLL,, JJaammeess TT,, ggrraadduuaatteedd ffll iigghhttsscchhooooll wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6699--4455,, fflleeww iinn VViieett--nnaamm wwiitthh tthhee 6688tthh AAHHCC iinn 11997700 uunnddeerr tthheeTToopp TTiiggeerr ccaallllssiiggnn.. Retired US Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 JamesT. Maxwell, 65, of Belleville, Ill., born Oct. 13, 1946,in San Diego, Calif., died Wednesday, July 25, 2012,at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville, Ill. Chief Warrant Officer Maxwell was a veteran ofthe US Army. He served during the Vietnam Waras a combat assault helicopter pilot and after his ser-vice in the Armed Forces he enjoyed antiquing andrefinishing furniture. He was also active with severalvarious veterans' organizations.Surviving are his present wife, Sue Maxwell; two sons,four grandchildren, one step-son, one step-daughter,five step-grandchildren, his brother, a nephew and aniece. Memorials may be given to Hospice of Southern Illi-nois or the Veterans Administration. Internetvisitors may register online atwww.KalmerMemorialServices.com.

MMAAXXWWEELLLL,, JJoohhnn TTuurrnneerr,, UUSSMMCCMajor John Turner Maxwell, Jr., USMC (Ret)Major John Turner "RedMax" Maxwell, Jr., 80, ofMarietta, Georgia, passed from this life on 07 August2012 at Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, Georgia.Major Maxwell was born 15 March 1932 in Brad-dock, Pennsylvania, to parents John Turner Maxwell,Sr. and Miriam Estella (Hays) Maxwell. MajorMaxwell grew up in Swissvale, Pennsylvania, andNew Smyrna Beach, Florida. In May 1952, at age 20,Major Maxwell enlisted in the United States MarineCorp as an Intelligence Clerk. During his enlistedtime, he served in the Korean Conflict. In 1955, heentered Naval Aviator Cadet (NAVCAD) trainingin Pensacola, Florida, and upon graduation inNovember 1956, he was commissioned as a secondlieutenant. During his NAVCAD training, Major

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Major Maxwell met and fell in love with Miss BarbaraAnn "Bobbie" Gaston, of nearby Union Church, AL.John and Bobbie were married the day after his gradua-tion,21November1956,andremainedadevotedcouplefor over 55 years. They had two children, John TurnerMaxwellIII,andJulieAnnMaxwell.MajorMaxwell's22years of service in the USMC included stateside assign-ments inFlorida,California,Texas,Virginia,NorthCar-olina, Hawai'i, and Georgia, and overseas duty in Japan,the Mediterranean Sea, Korea, and Vietnam. Thoughinitiallytrainedasafixed-wingpilot,MajorMaxwelltran-sitioned to become a helicopter pilot in 1963. As a heli-copter pilot, he served selflessly and with distinction inthe Vietnam War, performing many heroic acts whichsavedcountless lives.Forhisactions,hewaspresentedtheDistinguished Flying Cross and other medals for valor.MajorMaxwell retiredfromtheUSMCinMarch1974.afterhisretirement,heremainedinMarietta,Georgiafol-lowinghis final assignmentwith theMarineAirReserveTraining Detachment (MARTD) at Naval Air StationAtlanta. He entered college at Georgia State Universityand, in 1977, earned a Bachelor of Science in CriminalJustice. His post-military employment included CobbCounty Parks and Recreation and the Cobb CountyDepartmentofCorrections.MajorMaxwellwasknownfor his quick wit and engaging smile. He was an adeptstory-tellerandhadaparticularfondnessforcookies,ducttape,andthecoloryellow.Aboveall,hisdevotiontofami-ly was unsurpassed. Major Maxwell is survived by hiswife,Barbara, son JohnMaxwell III andhiswife JenniferBrothersMaxwell, daughter JulieNorman and her hus-band Lt Col Kenneth E. Norman, grandchildren JohnT. Maxwell IV, Timothy I. Maxwell, Kenneth E. Nor-man II, Scott J. Maxwell, Andrew P. Maxwell, Grace E.Maxwell, and Christie E. Maxwell, sister Lois Strompand her husband John G. Stromp, and nephews Johnand Michael Stromp. Viewing will be Thursday, 09August 2012, 6:30-900 PM at Winkenhofer FuneralHome, 2950 Cobb Pkwy, Kennesaw, Georgia, 30152.Funeral is Friday morning, 9:30 AM, same location.Interment is 11:30 AM Georgia National Cemetery,Canton,Georgia.

MMccNNEEWW,, RRaayy RR.. GGrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhtt ttrraaiinniinngg wwiitthhCCllaassss 6633--22WWRay T. McNew, age 76, died July 27, 2012 in Mt. Joli-

et, Tennessee. Ray initially spent nine years in the US Air Force and

then served in the Army for an additional eleven yearsbefore he retired as a CW3. After leaving active duty,Ray served for 20 years at the FAA’s Flight Service Sta-tionat Nashville International Airport.He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Doris and four

children.

MMccPPHHEERRSSOONN,, MMaarrvviinn DD.. ““DDaavvee”” GGrraadduuaatteeddfflliigghhtt ttrraaiinniinngg wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 7722--1133,, hhee fflleeww iinnVViieettnnaamm wwiitthh CC TTrroooopp,, 77//1177tthh CCaavv.. Marvin D. (Dave) McPherson, age 60, of Scottsdale, Ari-

zona died on September 15, 2012 after a battle with cancer. Dave retired from the US Army after 20 years as a

helicopter pilot. He continued to pursue his love offlight as a Defense Analyst with Boeing. He is survivedby his wife Donna and two daughters.The family requests that donations be made to theWounded Warrior Program.

MMUURRPPHHYY,, WWiilllliiaamm RReeeess GGrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhttsscchhooooll wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6677--1199 aanndd 6677--2211..

William Rees Murphy passed away on August 27,2012, in Springfield, Missouri, of heart failure follow-ing surgery. Bill was born on March 9, 1940, heattended South High School prior to joining theUnited States Army, and made the military his careerfor the next 20 years.Bill graduated from flight school training at the Uni-

versity of Southern California. He served three toursof duty in Viet Nam as a helicopter pilot, flying 27combat missions. Among the medals he receivedwere: three purple hearts, two silver stars, one bronzestar, and two distinguished flying crosses. After retir-ing from the military, he was employed by Exxon Oilin New Jersey as a Safety Engineer. He also lived inBogota, Columbia for several years while employedwith Exxon.

He was preceded in death by two infant sons,Michael and Jeffrey Murphy. He married Patri-cia McClendon on May 7, 1960, while based inFt. Leonard Wood, Missouri. Together they hadsix children.He married Madeline Rogers on May 24, 2011. He

is survived by his wife Madeline, his four children, hiseight grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Heis also survived by his twin sister and several nieces andnephews.

RREEDDEELL,, DDaavviidd AA.. GGrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhtt ttrraaiinniinnggwwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6666--2233 && 6677--11,, hhee fflleeww iinn VViieett--nnaamm wwiitthh FF TTrroooopp,, 88tthh CCaavv.. TThhee BBlluueeGGhhoossttss..

David A. Redel (Bear), 67, of Olathe, KS, passed awayJune 8, 2012 in his home. David was born March 12,1945 in St. Louis, MO and he proudly served his country,during Vietnam, in the U.S. Army for 4 years, as a heli-copter pilot with the F Troop-8th CAV, “Blue Ghost” David wed Felecia (Pat) in 1966. David has been a res-

ident of Olathe since 1970 and he was a parishioner atSacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Shawnee.Survivors include his loving wife, Pat, two sons, three

grandchildren, one brother, three sisters, a sister-in-lawand several nieces and nephews. David is also survivedby his "helicopter brothers," and "Sysco family." He waspreceded in death by his grandson, Joshua.

Memorial contributions may be made in honor ofDavid's struggle with brain cancer to HeadStrong, Inc.,PO Box 25525 Overland Park, KS 66225. Fond mem-ories and condolences for the family may be left atwww.overlandparkchapel.com

His flight school classmates send our deepest condo-lences to Pat and her family.

SSLLAAUUGGHHTTEERR,, PPhhiilllliipp GGaarryy,, ggrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhttsscchhooooll wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 7711--11 aanndd 7711--55,, hhee fflleewwiinn VViieettnnaamm wwiitthh tthhee 117766tthh AAHHCC oouutt ooff CChhuu LLaaiiffrroomm 11997711--11997722 uunnddeerr tthhee ccaallllssiiggnn MMiinnuutteemmaann2222 aanndd aallssoo wwiitthh tthhee 117733rrdd iinn DDaaNNaanngg 11997711--11997722 uunnddeerr tthhee RRoobbiinnhhoooodd 1133 ccaallllssiiggnn..

Gary’s wife Lynn wrote us saying: Gary became amember of VHPA at the 2nd reunion held in Hous-ton, Texas. He loved VHPA. He served as ReunionChairman for the 1st New Orleans reunion and alsoserved as VHPA President from July 1991 to July 1992.Gary's member number was in the 600’s, and althoughI can't remember the exact number, I do remember him

at first thinking that he was late finding VHPA, thenlater on being proud that his number was so low, butfinally, being even prouder of the work VHPA hasdone finding so many fellow pilots. Our family wasinvolved in VHPA early on and our daughter Janie wasone of those "I'm a VHPA Kid" who made manyfriends at the reunions, we were really looking forwardto this year’s Reunion in New Orleans but now thatisn’t to be.Gary was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Laurel,

LA., and is survived by myself, his wife Lynn Slaughter,our son and our two daughters, his one brother, his twosisters and our two grandchildren.

SSTTAARRNNEESS,, BBiillll RRhheeaa GGrraadduuaatteeddfflliigghhtt ttrraaiinniinngg wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaass7711--44.. HHee fflleeww iinn VViieettnnaamm uunnddeerrtthhee WWhhiitteezzeerroo ccaallllssiiggnn wwiitthh CCttrroooopp,, 77//1177tthh CCaavv iinn 11997711--11997722aanndd aallssoo wwiitthh tthhee HH ttrroooopp,, 1100tthhCCaavv iinn 11997722..Bill Rhea Starnes, 64, was killed on Friday, Aug. 24,

2012. The helicopter he was flying had been ferryingpassengers from Bristol Motor Speedway to a homeon South Holston Lake on the Washington County,Virginia, side. Bill had just dropped off his six passen-gers when the aircraft malfunctioned and crashed intothe lake about 100 yards from shore. 2nd Lt. Bill Starnes flight career started at the age of

14 when he was taught how to fly by his father, Rhea.Bill graduated flight school at Fort Rucker, Ala., onMarch 23, 1971 qualified in the UH-1A/B/D/H andthe TH-55 helicopters, he qualified in the AH-1GCobra on May 3, 1971 and was then assigned to CTroop, 7/17 Air Cavalry in Vietnam, where he flewapproximately 800 combat hours. He was transferredto Btry B, 4th BN, 77th FA, 101st Airborne Division,Ft. Campbell, Ky., in June 1972 and in April 1974, hejoined the Tennessee Army National Guard as a 1stLt., assigned to the Army Aviation Flight Facility inSmyrna, Tenn. In October 1978, he qualified in theUH-1M aircraft and was assigned to the AviationFlight Facility #2, in Louisville, Tenn., where he alsoqualified in the OH-58A/C, OH-6, AH-1F, and theOH-58D helicopters, commanding multiple lineunits, and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel. Inaddition to a tour in Vietnam, he also deployed withthe Paladin Troop to Kosovo in 2005 to 2006. Heretired from the military on March 15, 2009, with 39years of service having achieved the following awards:Bronze Star , Meritorious Service Medal , two AirMedal with Valor, Army Commendation Medal,nine Army Achievement Medals, five Army ReserveComponents Achievement Medals, three NationalDefense Service Medals, Global War on TerrorismMedal, Kosovo Campaign Medal with Bronze Star,Armed Forces Reserve Medal, with "M" device, threeArmed Forces Reserve Medals, Army Service Ribbon,Republic Of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm,NATO medal, Republic of Vietnam CampaignMedal w 60 Device, Vietnam Service Medal, withfour campaign stars, two Overseas Service Ribbons,Master Army Aviator Badge, seven TennesseeNational Guard Service Ribbons, Tennessee NationalGuard Unit Commendation Ribbon and TennesseeNational Guard Volunteer Ribbon.

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Bill is survived by his adoring wife of two years, Lisa;two sons, two step-children, three grandchildren, hisfather, as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins andextended family members too numerous to mention.Burialwas held atTri-CitiesMemoryGardenswith fillMilitary honors, visit www.hamlettdobson.com toleaveanon-linecondolenceforthefamily.

SSUULLLLEENNBBEERRGGEERR,, LLoouuiiss EEddwwaarrdd.. GGrraadduuaatteeddfflliigghhtt sscchhooooll wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6600--33 6600--6633.. HHeefflleeww iinn VViieettnnaamm wwiitthh tthhee 22nndd BBddee,, 44tthh IINNFF iinn11996677,, wwiitthh tthhee IIFFFFVV iinn 11996677--11996688 aanndd wwiitthh tthheeAAFFAATT--11 iinn 11997700--11997711..Louis E. Sullenberger Jr., was born in San Diego, CAin 1936 and passed away on 28 July 2012. Lou was amilitary brat who had lived in California, Washington,Utah, Ariz., a, Kansas, Texas (2), Hawaii, Arkansas,Germany, France and New York before he attendedthe Academy. In 1954, he enlisted in the USAF,attended the USMA Prep School at Stewart AFB, andentered the Academy with the Class of 1959. Lou’sfour years at West Point presented the greatest chal-lenge in his life and he believed it provided the founda-tion of his core beliefs for the rest of his life. It representshis place in the Long Grey Line of graduates. Aftergraduation, Lou married Judith A. Lindsay, of Glen-side, PA, his true love, best friend, and companionthrough all these years.After Infantry Basic Course and Airborne school, Louwent through flight training at Fort Rucker, AL. Upongraduation, he remained at the Army Aviation Centeras a fixed-wing instructor in both B and C phases ofinstruction. He left Ft. Rucker for Germany inNovember of 1962 and attended rotary-wing qualifica-tion enroute. In Germany, Lou was assigned groundduty with the 3rd Battalion, 36th Infantry in Kirch-goens, Germany. He commanded a mortar platoon,Headquarters Company, and “A” Company. He thenbecame the Aviation Officer for the 1st Brigade, 3rdArmored Division. In 1965, an automobile accidentcaused Lou to be medavaced back to the United Statesand be grounded for two years. His rehab was at FortBenning, GA, where he was the XO, HeadquartersCommandant and then attended the Infantry OfficersCareer Course. Back on flying status, Lou arrived inViet Nam in July 1967. He was the Aviation Officerfor the 22nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division for sixmonths and then he was in Nha Trang as the AssistantAviation Officer for 1st Field Force Headquarters.Back to Ft. Benning, he took command of the 181stAssault Helicopter Company and then was assistant S-3 in the 10th Aviation Group. Before returning to VietNam, Lou attended the Army Command and GeneralStaff College. Upon graduating in 1970, he wasassigned to MACV and attached to the U.S. Air ForceAdvisory Team at DA Nang. He was an airmobileadvisor to, and flew with, the VNAF (Vietnamese AirForce) helicopter squadrons. Completing a second fulltour in Viet Nam and a combined 615 combat flyinghours. Lou returned to the Army Command and Gen-eral Staff College as an operations officer in the Officeof the Director of Resident Instruction. He completedhis MBA degree from Northwest Missouri State Uni-versity in 1974. Returning to Germany, Lou was theAviation Officer for the 8th Infantry Division in BadKreuznach for three years. His final assignment was as

the Battalion Commander, 5th Bn, 1st Inf Trng Bde atFt Benning. Lou retired as a Lieutenant Colonel on 1June 1979. Lou loved the command time and flyingopportunities that the Army provided, but also lookedforward to the challenge of the civilian world.Lou and family moved to Valrico, FL and in 1980 hewent to work for Western Fuels Inc. in Tampa. West-ern Fuels was a fuel oil and diesel fuel storage terminalthat sold and delivered fuel to land-based and marineusers. Lou was initially in charge of marine operations,which included receipts if fuel by ship/barge into theterminal and bunkering of customer ships in theTampa Bay waters. In 1983, he became OperationsManager of the company, which included the terminal,truck fleet; barge fleet and contract tug company. Loufully retired in 1987 and Judy continued to work untilshe qualified for her retirement from Northwest Air-lines in 2001. Both Lou and Judy have been blessedwith three wonderful daughters; three fine sons-in-lawand five grandchildren. Lou was an active participate ofthe YMCA, loved to travel and enjoy Florida. Heremained interested aviation, and held a commercialpilot’s certificate for fixed and rotor wing aircraft /instruments. He had over 3000 hours flying time.

TTIINNDDOORR,, TThhoommaass ““TToomm”” AA.. GGrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhttttrraaiinniinngg wwiitthh FFlliigghhtt ccllaassss 6699--4455,, fflleeww iinn VViieettnnaammuunnddeerr tthhee PPhhooeenniixx 6688 ccaallllssiiggnn.. Thomas “Tom” Anthony Tindor, 63, of Savannah,

Georgia died Wednesday evening, August 8, 2012, athis home and under the care of Hospice Savannah.Born in Savannah, Georgia, Tom was of the Catholicfaith and a graduate of Benedictine Military School. Hewas a United States Army veteran having served as ahelicopter pilot in the Vietnam War. Tom was an auto-mobile salesman for M and M Motors in Hinesville. Surviving are his wife of 29 years, Diane Tindor of

Savannah, Georgia; one daughter, his father one step-mother, one step-sister and two step-brothers. Pleaseshare your thoughts about Tom and his life atwww.gamblefuneralservice.com.

TTRRUUMMAANN,, DDuuaannee EE.. GGrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhtt ttrraaiinniinnggwwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6688--1133 && 6688--2211,, hhee fflleeww iinnVViieettnnaamm wwiitthh AA//550022 AAvvnn iinn 11996644--11996655 aannddaaggaaiinn wwiitthh BB ttrroooopp.. 11//99tthh CCaavv,, 11sstt CCDD iinn 11996688--11996699 uunnddeerr tthhee SSaabbeerr 2222 ccaallllssiiggnn..Duane Edward Truman, 71, of Cassville, Missouri,

passed away Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011, at his home. Hewas born Sept. 20, 1940, in Diagonal, Iowa, and onDec. 27, 1974, in Cassville, he was united in marriage toJanice "Jan" Jackson. He grew up and received his education in Creston,

Iowa, graduating from Creston High School. He wenton to receive his bachelor's degree in aeronautical engi-neering. In 1963, he joined the United States Army andgraduated from Flight School in Class 68-21 as a heli-copter pilot. He was assigned to the 502nd AviationCompany, then B Company, 1/9 Cav in Vietnamwhere he served for a year.Throughout his Army career he received various

medals, ribbons and badges, including a Bronze StarMedal, Vietnam Service Medal with a Silver and aBronze Star, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm,Aircraft Crewman Badge, Army Aviator Badge, Distin-guished Flying Cross, Armed Forces Expeditionary

Medal, National Defense Service Medal, MeritoriousService Medal and National Defense Service Medal.On Jan. 31, 1983, he retired as a major. He was a mem-ber of the South Missouri Chapter of the VHPA, theMonett VFW and Military Officers Association.Duane is survived by his wiffee JJaanniiccee,, oonnee ssoonn,, oonneeddaauugghhtteerr,, ttwwoo ssiisstteerrss aanndd ttwwoo ggrraannddcchhiillddrreenn..

YYAAGGEERR,, LLaawwrreennccee WW.. ggrraadduuaatteedd fflliigghhtt sscchhoooollwwiitthh FFlliigghhtt CCllaassss 6633--44 Lawrence W. Yager, LTC (Ret) U.S. Army, 72, diedJuly 25th following a battle with kidney disease andcancer. He and his wife Ann, were new residents ofRichmond, Texas, he was originally from Utica, NY.,and a graduate of Niagara University. Larry was a three time highly decorated medevac heli-copter pilot during the Viet Nam Conflict. After retir-ing from the Army he worked for both Emerson Elec-tric And Sikorsky Aircraft Company. Before retiring in2010, Larry taught Math for 14 years at Spring HighSchool in Spring, Texas. Larry is survived by his wife of 22 years Ann Yager,

one sister, eight children, thirteen grandchildren, and 2great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by hisson Andrew Yager, and his brother Robert Yager. Inlieu of flowers, the family would appreciate any type ofcontribution to be made to www.wounded warriorproject.org/

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TAPS

Page 34 The VHPA Aviator

Page 35 The VHPA Aviator

of this bamboo obstacle course, it would be like saying to the commies, 'come andgetit.'at'swhythey'relayingtheirlivesonthelineeveryday….Andtheysaidthankyou….Idon'tthinkanyofuseverhadabetterChristmaspresent."

Forthe1965tour,Hope'stroupeflewfor22hoursinaC-141andspentmuchofthe flight in rehearsal. Stopping at Guam to refuel, the cast put on a full 2_ hourshow.

e American escalation had a direct influence on Hope's shows. Within a year,the number of American military bases had multiplied, troop levels increased eight-fold, to 180,000, and so had the size of Hope's audiences. Two fighter escortsaccompaniedtheentertainerstoTanSonNhutonChristmasEve,andthecastwasrushed to the site of the show. Hope took the stage and announced to the crowd of12,000 that he had to "come to Vietnam to see his congressman," referring to theflood of members of Congress who made frequent jaunts to Vietnam at the time.e troupe flew next to Cam Ranh Bay, where Hope, sauntering across the stagewagging his golf club, scolded the troops: "I don't know what you guys did to gethere, but let that be a lesson to you!" Baking in the hot sun, the troops roared inagreement.

Hope looked relaxed and genuinely enthusiastic—even in the withering heat—when he delivered his monologue at Bien Hoa for the 173rd Airborne Brigade onChristmas Day. His guest star Carroll Baker, hot off the movie Harlow, banteredwith him and Colonna, Kaye Stevens sang for the troops and Joey Heathertondanced the "Watusi" with servicemen who were brave enough to step up to thestage.

On their flight north to entertain the Marines at Chu Lai, Hope's plane lost anengine on the way, and they arrived late. Hope then set the mood, opening with:"Other bases here in South Vietnam invited me; this one dared me!" Later, at DaNang, the monsoons caught up with them, and they performed through a heavydownpour. It was here that Hope had some serious reflections on what he was see-ing among the troops he was meeting. Aer the show, Hope told an interviewer:"e kids here seem more optimistic than those at home. ey have more confi-denceinourleaders."

Bob Hope performed 22 showsand visited five hospitals in 1965. Each show last-ed more than two hours, and typically there were two performances a day. Everytour he made to South Vietnam drew the attention not only of American fightingforces,butoftheenemyaswell. ItwasnotunusualfortheCommuniststofireonorattack a base shortly aer the show ended. Aer each show at Pleiku in the CentralHighlands,theVietCongwouldshellthearea.

ChristmasTour1966:"ecountryisbehindyou50percent"

In 1966, for the first time in many years, Bob Hope's partner and friend since thetours in WWII, Jerry Colonna, was unable to join the troupe aer suffering astroke. Nevertheless, Hope's company, featuring guest stars Phyllis Diller andHeatherton, le Los Angeles on December 16, and by Christmas they were at CuChi. Actress Chris Noel, who was asked by Hope to join the show for this perfor-mance, arrived on a chopper in time to join him and the troops for a traditionalturkey dinner in the mess. Noticing some men precariously perched on tall polesbefore the show began, Hope asked during his opening monologue, "How did yougetupthere?LSD?"

e tenor of the Christmas tour of 1966 reflectedchanging attitudes in the Unit-edStatesregardingthecourseofthewar,andHope'shumordidn'tshyawayfromit.Hereassuredthetroopsthat"thecountryisbehindyou50percent."Hethenadded,"I'mveryhappytobehere;I'mleavingtomorrow!"

While Hope largely kept his personal opinions out of his on-stage performances,he spoke freely with reporters off stage. At one stop, he announced he was definitely"hawkish" and expressed his desire that the "United States would move a little fastertoendthewar."

By Christmas 1967, the number of American military in South Vietnam hadreached almost 500,000, resulting in ever-larger audiences and making Hope'sappearances even more important for boosting morale. Joined on the tour byactressesRaquelWelchandBarbaraMcNair,Hopeperformedfor25,000menandwomenatLongBinhwhosat inabrutal sunwhileorganizersfrettedaboutsecurity.He told the troops at Da Nang that Dow Chemical just got even with student pro-testers: "ey came up with an asbestos dra card." During a visit with the wound-ed,Hopeaskedonesoldier,"Didyouseetheshoworwereyoualreadysick?"

e next year, as audiences swelled, Hope added former Los Angeles Rams playerturned actor Rosie Grier to his entourage, and Ann-Margret, who was a hit in herminidress andgo-go boots.At CuChi, theyhadto travel in a safetypod of threeair-

cratogetin,andHopenoted,"Everytimewecomehere,thereisaction!"AtCamRanhBay,whereitpouredrain,theensembledonnedhatsandremained

on stage. "We're not going to let this little rain shower bother us are we?" askedHope. "Where's Billy Graham when you need him?" When a stagehand came totakeAnn-Margret's furoutoftherain,Hoperemarked, "Lookatthis…nothinggetssaved but Ann-Margret's fur." ey finished the show with "Silent Night," and theaudience sat there in the rain and sang with them. "It was the only Christmas theyhad,andtheyweren'tgoingtomissit,"saidHopeduringthetelecast.

e 1969 tour le Los Angeles and stopped off in Washington for a state dinnerwith President Richard Nixon and a rehearsal at the White House, where Hopeand guest stars Connie Stevens, e Golddiggers from e Dean Martin Showand astronaut Neil Armstrong—who just a few months before had become thefirstmanonthemoon—triedouttheirmaterialbeforetakingittoVietnam.

As with all great comedians, dissecting contemporary culture, politics and chang-ing societal mores was a Hope staple. Widespread recreational drug use in Americaand among troops in Vietnam had become a comedic target by 1970 and a part ofHope's routine. With all-star Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench as his foil,Hope chimed: "Where else can you spend eight months on grass and not get bust-ed?"

Withsteadytroopwithdrawalsintheearly '70s:"Wonderfultobeworkingwithyouleovers!"

ButevenBobHopecouldn'tescapecriticismin1970whenhemadereferencestodrug use by the troops. NBC removed most of the drug jokes prior to its Januarybroadcast. But, at a show at the 101st Airborne Division's base, Hope got hugelaughs during his opening monologue when he said: "I hear you guys are interestedin gardening here. Our security officers said a lot of you are growing your own grass.IwaswonderinghowyouguysmanagedtobombHanoiwithoutplanes!"

Hope never knew when the brass would show up, but every year GeneralsWilliam Westmoreland, Creighton Abrams and Fred Weyand and Admiral JohnMcCainwouldfindhimonstagesomewheretothankhimandhiscrew.

Decadesremoved,BobHope'smaterialstillholdsitsown,andhis jokesaboutmil-itary life ring as true now as they did then. Perhaps most jarring to today's viewers,however, are his apparent sexist references to women during the shows. Hope was aman of his time, referring to his female performers as "girls," frequently commentingon their measurements—nothing atypical for the era. His jokes were also harsh andsometimesnegativeaboutthecountrieswherethetroopswerestationed.

e Bob Hope Christmas tours continued to go to Vietnam until 1972. On thelast tour, the group spent less time in Vietnam because of the drastic decrease in thenumber of American troops by then. at year Hope greeted the Marines at DaNang with, "Wonderful to be working for you leovers!" But, he quickly added:"You guys are lucky because you get to go home, not like our representatives at theParisPeaceTalks."

While steady troop withdrawals meant smaller audiences, there was no less com-mitment and enthusiasm from the performers. And even though they spent lesstime in Vietnam, the grueling 1972 Christmas tour lasted more than two weekswith shows at bases in the Philippines, Singapore, Guam and a Christmas morningperformancefor1,200SeaBeesatDiegoGarciaintheIndianOcean.

Clearly, aer nine consecutive Christmas trips to Vietnam, Hope was tired, andhe was also suffering from a serious eye condition. In addition, he was increasinglycriticized because of his vocal support for a war that much of the public had turnedagainst. Vietnam tore the nation apart and Hope got caught in the fray. Aer morethan three decades of making troops around the globe laugh during wartime andpeacetime, he found himself defending his commitment. For those who saw himperform in Vietnam, his shows made them feel they were not forgotten in anunpopular war and that their sacrifices—in their war—were as important as the"BigOne"inwhichtheirfathersfought.

During the final montage of photos and film of his last televised Vietnam Christ-mas special in 1972, Hope narrates film footage of Long Binh shot a year earlier,bustling with troops. "Well," he said, showing the new footage of a deserted LongBinh, overgrown with weeds, "this is how [it] looks now…and this is how it shouldbe…all those happy, smiling, beautiful faces are gone. But most of them are reallywheretheybelong,homewiththeirlovedones."

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Bob Hope, continued from page 21

Page 36 The VHPA Aviator

BOOK REVIEWS

SSOOLLDDIIEERR BBOOYY-- TTHHEE DDIIAARRYY OOFF AA SSOOLL--DDIIEERR IINN WWAARR is the memoir of VHPA MemberChristopher R. Valentine who served with the118th AHC, 187th AHC, and the 116th AHCin 67-68. It is a well written story familiar toall of us who went off to fly helicopters in Viet-nam all those years ago. Aspects of our servicewere unique in many ways, often dramaticallyaffecting who we are. Like many veteransValentine didn’t talk much about his combatexperience to his friends or family. A con-

versation with his son, letters from long agosaved by a loving wife, and a diagnosis of PTSD in 2005 culmi-

nate in this book.Valentine’s journey to the cockpit of a “Huey” in Vietnam was much

the same as thousands of other Army Aviators. On the ramp at BienHoa he stepped into the heat, humidity, and “distinctive” smells of Viet-nam and became an FNG. He reported briefly to the 116th and then

moved to the 118th for in-country “training” and flew his first combatassault five days later. The soon to be familiar “ping” of bullets hittinghis aircraft and the “chalk” in from of him getting blown up by a com-mand-detonated bomb made him recognize the real possibilities ofdying. Things did not improve, but to continue performing his duties,he learned to shut out his feelings. January 5, 1968 (Tet) Valentine had a premonition. He was shot

down that day, and survived by sheer luck, a heroic medic, and a timelygunship attack on the NVA. With a leg wound and badly burned,Valentine began his journey “home.” His physical injuries would heal,and Valentine would serve another tour in Vietnam and complete acareer in the Army, but he had changed. It took almost 40 years for himto seek help. In 2005 he was diagnosed with PTSD. Many Vietnam vet-erans have suffered far too long from feelings and emotions they couldnot understand. I recommend this emotional reading experience.

Soldier Boy- The Diary of a Soldier in War (238 pages with photos,$15.95) by Christopher R. Valentine, ISBN: 978-1457506437 is avail-able from Barnes and Noble and Amazon in paperback or e-book ($7.95).

VVHHPPAA MMeemmbbeerr TToomm SSmmii tthh hh aa ss wwrr ii tt tt eennFFAACCIINNGG PPTTSSDD:: AA CCOOMMBBAATT VVEETTEERRAANNLLEEAARRNNSS TTOO LLIIVVEE WWIITTHH TTHHEE DDIISSOORR--DDEERR.. Smith, who flew scouts with 1 BDE 1 CAV(call sign Atom Ant, White 24) in 69-70, also publishedEasy Target in 1996 which is a memoir of his intenselow level hunter-killer combat experiences that changedhim forever. Facing PTSD is his very personal memoirof the battles he has fought as a result of those experi-ences. Being shot down during his last mission in Viet-nam brought physical injuries that continue to affect

him, but the worst battle Smith has had was within his ownmind. Like many, Smith felt that blaming the war for the behavior of former combatantswas demeaning of their sacrifice and service. However, he knew he wasn’t the sameperson that went off to Vietnam. He sought release in fast cars, long trips, alcohol,and a relationship that ended badly. He felt detached, as though living in a fog, star-tled excessively at loud noises, flew into rages over small things without really know-ing why, and had nightmares about flying in Vietnam. Moving frequently helpedhim reduce his tensions and he thought he managed to function reasonably well fly-

ing as a civilian helicopter pilot. Luckily, he later married a very understanding woman, who understood his

PTSD better than he ever could have hoped. When he had a vision of harming her,he knew he needed and sought help for his problems. Smith also turned to the VA,beginning more than a decade long protracted battle, snarled within an inscrutablebureaucracy whose main objective appeared to be denial of his earned benefits. Hisbattle eventually required a judgment of the United States Court of VeteransAppeals, before his full benefits were approved.Smith understands that just knowing he has PTSD does not lead to a cure, but

says “I understand my PTSD well enough to live with it.” I highly recommend thisbook. The personal insights are profoundly candid yet easy to read and relate tothose that served in our war, those who are serving now and importantly, all ofthose who love them.

Facing PTSD: A Combat Veteran Learns to Live with the Disorder (194 pages, $14.00, Kindle $9.00)

by Tom Smith, ISBN: 978-0615614809 is available from your local book store, Amazon, or other book suppliers.

TTHHEE AAFFGGHHAANN DDEECCEEPPTTIIOONN,, bbyy VVHHPPAA mmeemm--bbeerr WWiilllliiaamm HHaattoouunniiaannwho served with D/1/4 CAV1 INF (Dark Horse) in 67-68 is a historically based,but fictional story of the deployment of the 4th U.S.Cavalry to India to train with a British cavalry unit onthe Northwest Frontier, in 1879. Both units are wellcommanded by strong willed and experienced offi-cers who, not surprisingly, find themselves in a pre-carious situation that threatens the survival of boththeir units. The U.S. commander finds himselftorn between his sense of duty and his orders to

stay out of any fighting.

Although this story is fiction, Hatounian has done a great job of researching thepublic figures of the day and the military tactics, weapons, and history of the U.S.4th Cavalry and British units that served in India and form the foundation of thestory. He has done a great job of weaving the fictional aspects of his story into thepolitical intrigues of 19th century British ruled India and Russia’s ambitions inAfghanistan at the time. The story speaks to the issues of honor, courage, and doingthe right thing. It is a well written novel which pulls you into a time long ago and iswell worth reading.

The Afghan Deception (304 pages, paperback, $11.55) by W.C. Hatounian, ISBN: 978-1456732691

available from http://bookstore.authorhouse.com/, your local book store, Amazon, or other book suppliers.

WWaayynnee MMuuttzzaa,, aauutthhoorr ooff nnuummeerroouuss bbooookkss oonnmmii ll ii tt aa rr yy aa vv ii aa tt ii oonn ,, hhaa ss jj uu ss tt ppuubbll ii sshh eeddAAEERROOSSCCOOUUTTSS IINN VVIIEETTNNAAMM,, ppaa rr tt oo ffSSqquuaaddrroonn// SS iiggnnaa ll PPuubbll ii cc aa tt ii oonn ’’ ss CCoommbbaa ttCChhrroonniicclleess SSeerriieess.. Mutza knows his subject wellhaving gained an intimate knowledge of theAeroscouts by begging his way into the Scout Sectionof F/4th CAV as an OH-6A crew chief/door gun-ner, at Lai Khe in 1972. Mutza begins the bookwith a gripping “day at the shop” narrative of hispersonal experience. But this merely serves as a

prelude to the stories of many others who strapped infor the low and slow, eyeball to eyeball, close quarter combat that defined therole of the Aeroscouts.Mutza gives the reader over 30 eyewitness stories and interviews of the men who,

in the tradition of cavalry scouts, went out to find the enemy. And find them theydid. The fact that very few of the Aeroscout’s OH-6As survived to their first 300hour check testifies to that. The job favored quick learners, sharp eyes, a gun fight-er’s reflexes, and required a certain “attitude.” The OH-6A, some of which are still flying for civilian agencies today, and its

virtues for the scout mission and crash survivability are thoroughly detailed in thebook. However, the service of those Aeroscouts who flew in the OH-13S “Sioux,”the OH-23G “Raven” and the late comer to the Vietnam War, the OH-58“Kiowa,” are not forgotten. Mutza has woven together the stories of the pilots and crewmembers with his

own narratives, and excellent photographs to make this a first class reading experi-ence. Thanks to his meticulous, first hand research this book is a primary source ofinformation on the Aeroscout mission in Vietnam.

Aeroscouts in Vietnam (136 pages, 160 photos, $24.95) by Wayne Mutza, ISBN: 978-0897476744 is available from Squadron/Signal Publications at www.ssp.com, your

local book store, Amazon, or other book suppliers.

Page 37 The VHPA Aviator

By VHPA Life member:JOHN PENNY

VVHHPPAA MMeemmbbeerr SStteevvee YYuuhhaass,, wwhhoo sseerrvveedd wwiitthhtthhee 22nndd SSIIGG GGRRPP aanndd tthhee119977tthh AAHHCC iinn 6655--6666 aanndd tthhee 223355tthh AAHHCC iinn 7700--7711 hhaass wwrriitttteennCCHHAARRLLIIEE,, II ’’MM SSOORRRRYY II MMIISSSSEEDD YYAA!! ,, amemoir of his Army career. Enlisting in 1959, he joinedthe 101st ABN in 1960 and completed Airborne,Ranger, and Recondo Schools and became a Jumpmasterand Senior Parachutist. While slogging along during afield exercise, an OH-13 passed overhead and he wasinspired to apply for flight school. He soon made hisway to Ft. Wolters to join Class 63-3W. He was ratherimpervious to the harassment dealt out to WOCs after

his previous training experiences and despite the old “time, bananas,and monkey” flight instructor jokes, he excelled and moved on to Ft. Rucker tobecome an Army Aviator. Yuhas was assigned to Korea, flying H-23Ds “learning the ropes” and flying with

senior officers whose limited knowledge of helicopters was sometimes life threaten-ing. Competence as a pilot and “job creep” resulted in all sorts of extra duties farabove his pay grade: a trend for the rest of his career. A stateside tour followed, asVietnam began to heat up. He arrived at Tan San Nhut in June 1965 joining theAviation Section of the 2nd Signal Group, an “ash and trash” unit that was way tootame for Yuhas. Within two months he moved to the 197th AHC (call signRaider 23), formerly designated as UTT, flying a UH-1B gunship providing close-

in tactical support for Special Forces advisors, ARVN infantry, the Air Force,Marines, and Koreans while evolving and putting the gunship mission to the testunder fire, lots of fire.After his first tour, he returned to Ft. Rucker as a civilian contract flight instruc-

tor. Late in 1969, he applied for a commission as a 1st Lt. and completed the FAOfficer Basic Couse at Ft. Sill, followed by a Cobra transition. He returned in-country in April 1970 and joined the 235th AHC (call sign Death Dealer 23) fly-ing in the target-rich environment of the Delta, supporting the Cambodia incur-sion, and sometimes operating off vessels of the “brown water navy.” He was shotdown flying out of Khe San in Lam Son 719 with just 20 days left on his tour andhad to thumb a dust-off ride off of Route 9. He was pretty smug about it untilsomeone pointed out the camouflaged NVA tank in the brush – his lucky day. Yuhas’ combat flying included a lot of lucky days covering both ends of the Viet-

nam War from the early days of developing the tactics and capabilities of armedhelicopters to state of the art helicopter gunships. As his title implies he writes witha certain dry wit and is very clear about his feelings. This is an excellent and detailedmemoir and one brief review does not do it justice. I highly recommend you read it.

Charlie, I’m Sorry I Missed Ya! (429 pages with photos, $19.00 paperback, $35 hardcover, cover art by Joe Kline)

by Steve Yuhas, is available directlyfrom:www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3358609

TThhaannkk YYoouu ffoorr yyoouurr ttrreemmeennddoouuss ssuuppppoorrtttthhrroouugghhoouutt 22001122,, aanndd mmaayy tthhee jjooyyss ooff tthhee HHoolliiddaayy

SSeeaassoonn bbee wwiitthh yyoouu aanndd yyoouurrss ffoorreevveerr..~ The staff of the VHPA Aviator

A significant event happened just after you pulledpitch leaving the Big Easy, a “mere” Tropical Depres-sion that barely became a Category 1 Hurricanedecided to stopby. It carried thenameIsaac and it’s agoodthing ithadaman'snamebecause itwasno lady.Likemost folkswhohave lived their lives inhurricanecountry, my wife Rose and I watched as this stormmove into the Gulf. We checked our supplies ofnon-perishable food, batteries, water, propane andfirst aid items. As the storm track became clearer, wefilled thevehicleswith fuel, filled the ice chestwith ice,filled thebath tubswithwater andgotout the luggageand packed necessities. But it was only a TropicalDepression that only “might” be a Hurricane by thetime it reachedshore. Thenegative thingswere that itwas big, about 400 miles across, and it was slowingdown. Twodaysbefore the stormwedecided to stay.Heck, we had ridden outHurricaneKatrina, a Cate-gory 5 hurricane, so why worry about this little oldTropical Depression/maybe Category 1? In 20-20hindsightwecouldhavebeendeadwrong.It isnotgoodto tryand leave theNewOrleans area

the day before a storm because the few roads out oftownareverycrowded,orveryclosed. Wecouldhavechanged our minds and evacuated that last day buttraffic was terrible. The Lake Pontchartrain Cause-way was closed due to high winds leaving only I-10East and I-10West open plus a few back roads. Oneof those, Route 11 East became closed, then we hadproblems with I-10West and soon there were newsreports of problems with I-10 East. The only “safe”road was River Road, a narrow two lane that windsalong next to the Mississippi River levy all the waynorth toBatonRouge. Fromyears of the river flood-ing before there were levees, it is almost always highand dry but at five miles

an hour, it is a twelve plus hour trip. We decided tostill stayhereandrideitout. Workcontinuedonsecur-ing patio furniture, trash cans, potted plants and other“outside”stuff.Weareready.For days this storm had been pushing water north

into the marshes and bayous southeast of NewOrleans and also through the passes into LakePontchartrain, it was Hurricane Katrina all overagain. Isaacwas giving us super high tides that threat-ened to push its storm surge over the top of the newlevees. Then this storm added an evil directionaltrack that was taking it towards the west side of theMississippi River which meant the counterclockwiserotation of the storm would put the New Orleansarea in the most severe (northeast) quadrant of thestorm's reach. We were getting the high winds andrainway too soon and theywould eventually lastwaytoo long. The stormwas slowing so those conditionswentonandon.As itmade landfall near the southwestmouthof the

Mississippi, it was now aCategory 1Hurricane. Thatwouldhavebeennobigdeal except that the stormhadslowed to a crawl. It just sat there, southwest of thecity, throwing righthookafter righthook forhoursonend, it took days and not hours for it to pass north ofus. And even then the feeder bands of rain were stillbeingpulledoverus.The little goodnews is that thepostKatrina levy sys-

tems and pumping stations in NewOrleans and ourhome Parish (County) of St. Bernard worked fine.Other than some isolated street flooding where dropboxesandculvertshadcloggedwithdebris, allwaswell,I'm talking water here, only water. Within hours ofthe storm finally getting to land (still sixtymiles southof NewOrleans), almost everyone within a hundredmiles of the storm center had lost power. The folkswestof thestormweregettingthecoolwinds fromthenorth, wewere getting the tropical blasts of heated airfilledwithwaterfromthesouth.As the sidewaysmoving rain found every tiny crack

in the brick walls, we started getting water in a hallthat runs along the street side of our house. Beenthere; done that, down go the towels and blankets.Ours is an “upside down” house, the bedrooms aredownstairs and the living/dining rooms are upstairslooking over the levy at the river and the city. Rosewent to check the backdoor and saw a light in the airthat shouldn't be there. She called me and I wentupstairs to be greetedby the bowof a freighter turnedsideways in the river facing straight at us. Rose cameupstairs and she said she had chills up her spine justlookingat thatpointednose, pointedatus. Thewindwas fromthedownriver sideof the shipandeither thewindwas strong enough to keep the ship from goingdown river with the currant, or the ship was usingbow and stern thrusters to hold its up/down riverposition. But it was maneuvering fore and aft and itgotway toclose to the levyonour sideof the river sev-eral times. Weagreedweneeded to leave thehouse. IcalledtheCoastGuardandtheysaidtheyknewaboutthe ship and had OK'd its request to move to that

area, to a stretch of the river called General Anchor-age. I don't think they understood that I was tellingthem that the ship wasn't in the General Anchoragearea.I loaded a few bags into the vehicle in winds being

clockedat60-80MPHaccordingtotheradio, therainstunglikeaswarmofbees. Myworrywasn't therain, itwas something flying by and hitting me. Rose joinedme in the truck andweheaded to our Son's house, sixblocks from the river. While we settled down inside,we watched the outside and were ready to leave ifwaterstartedcomingupthestreet.Therewewere,hot,wet and worried about that freighter punchingthrough the levy. The next morning I fought thewinds and rain and went back to our house for morebags and for the food from the refrigerator. Our Sonhad traded for the use of a generator in return for let-ting a friend leavehisdogathishouse andhis gas stoveworked. Thank you Atmos Energy for keeping thelines pressurized,we at least could cook food. I loadedthetruck inahurrybecausethefreighterwasstill there,sideways intheriverandevencloser toourhouse,bothof her anchor chains were out and grabbing at some-thingjustoffshorefromourlevy.Back at our Son's house wewent through another

hot day and night of heavy rain but this time with afan running off of the generator. Again, we were thelucky ones. The next Parish downriver from us,

Page 38 The VHPA Aviator

RReemmeemmbbeerriinngg NNeeww OOrrlleeaannss,, aafftteerr tthhee RReeuunniioonnBy Victor and Rose Lent

Plaquemines, had their back (marsh side, not riverside), levees over-topped fromthe superhigh tide andstorm surge, they actually had to breach the leveesafterthestormtoletthewaterdrainout.Homeswereup to their roofs inwater for several days down there.Thereweredeaths, therewasalmosttotal lossofprop-erty and therewas anews reports like the one about arancherwholost400headofcattle.Wanttoknowhowpowerful this "little"Category1

stormIsaacwas? My longest running radio sponsor isCampo'sMarina in the commercial and sport fishingcommunity of Shell Beach. I n Category 5 Katrinathey lost theroofonthebaitandboat launchstructureand a small building, the vertical wooden pilings,beams and dock were still there. They rebuilt usingthose pilings and beams and dock and used a steelframe for a new building. Frank Campo called afterIsaac to tellmeeverything isnowgone except thebaresteel frameof thenewbuildingandthenewmetal fueltanks.I'llsayitagain;everythingelsewasgone.

The storm moved so slow as it got close, only 5-6MPH. Then when it barely made landfall it juststopped for 4-5 hours and we were in the NE quad-rant sowehad the strongestwinds, tornadoes and themost rain just hammering away, hour after hour.RememberKatrinawasn't a bad stormuntil theNewOrleans levees failed, there was some over-toppingback then but it was minor compared to what hap-pened when the levees just plain failed. Our St.Bernard back levy was over-topped but that was a lotless water than what we got when the New Orleanslevy at the IndustrialCanal failed. Thatwater initiallyflooded the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans andthen continued south through all of St. BernardParish. The eye of Katrina had already passed beforethe levy failed, there were power outages and somestreet flooding but that was it. So I'll now take a fastmovingCat5overasloworstationaryCat1anytime.

At our home, other than the water that came outfrom under the baseboards we only had minor prob-lems. Heavy potted plants outside turned over (eventhe ones I moved up against fences), and some plantswere uprooted. Therewas a trash can and other stuffin the yard from who knows where upwind from us.On the third day we did leave the Son's powerlesshouse for a nice air conditioned room back at theHiltonRiverside.They are still talking about you guysandgalsoverthere.Whydoweliveundersuchstrongthreatsofdamage

and despair? Hey, we get a week notice of possiblestormsand2-3daysnotice ifa stormis likelytomakeadirecthit.That'splentyof time to leave ifone soelects.With wildfires you are lucky to get a days notice andwithearthquakes,nonotice, I'll takethewater. It's alsoa lot easier to clean up after the storm when you go

homebut even if youdoevacuate fromanemergency,you may have to evacuate again. On our secondevening at the hotel with great air conditioning andfood,wewereflooded.No,notthehotel, justourbath-room. It seems the folks upstairs liked taking showerswithoutcurtainsorbathswhile they fell asleepbecausewater started pouring out of our bathroom light fix-ture and exhaust vent. The hotel “evacuated” us toanother room, the Hilton you stayed in was safe andopenallthroughthestorm.

If youhave friendswho support charities, I've seen alot of help locally from an outfit called OperationBlessing, it's part of the CBN network in VirginiaBeach,VA (thePatRobertson guy). Theymust havestaged close to here because before the rains andwindstopped and before power was even on they were setupinachurchparkinglotnearbywithakitchentrailer,food, beverages and ice. I checked our house andswapped out the towels and blankets on the floodedfloors twice daily while the power was still out and

those volunteers serviced a steady line of folks seekingaid. SalvationArmyvehicleswere also in the areapro-viding aid. With no power and no restaurants, folkscouldonlyeatsomuchfromtheir failedfreezersbeforeit spoiled. And it was bad timing at the end of themonthandattheendofmanypaycycleswhenalotoffolks today live paycheck to paycheck or depend on amonthly government check. Even if they had a vehi-cle,theycouldn'tgoanywheretobuyanythingwithnomoney. ThankyouOperationBlessingandthankyouSalvation Army, you cared for a lot of our neighborswhowerealotlessfortunatethanus.It isn’talwayseasyintheBigEasy.Butthegoodtimes

greatly outnumber the bad. Rose and I will be herewhen the VHPA comes back to once again, “Pass agoodtime”.

VViiccEE--mmaaiill:: ccoollvvlleenntt@@eeaarrtthhlliinnkk..nneett

Page 39 The VHPA Aviator

LLOOOOKKIINNGG FFOORR HHEELLPP RREESSTTOORRIINNGG UUHH--11CC//MM ##6666--0000660088I have acquired Huey UH1C/M helicopter #66-00608 and am in the process of restoring to its correct

military operational appearance. The helicopter has a distinguished military history serving primarily with the92nd, 191st, 176th, and 282nd Aviation in Vietnam. After surviving Vietnam, the helicopter was acquiredby NASA and used in Florida for STS Space Shuttle launch perimeter security. After NASA, the helicopterwas sold to an agricultural aerial spray company and was heavily cannibalized for parts. I am hoping to restore this helicopter to its proper former military appearance and glory for all to enjoy and

am trying to obtain as much historical information as possible on this helicopter and the role it served in Viet-nam. I would greatly appreciate contact from anyone who might have personal knowledge of this helicopterand especially any pictures of this helicopter while in service. I cannot stand to see this piece of history end upin the bone yard and want to save it for future generations. Your assistance is very much appreciated. Pleasefeel free to contact me at vislocky@att.net or 950-539-9856 Home or 850-510-8651 cell.

Thank you, Kevin Vislocky

Havana, FL 32333

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““II ssaavveedd tthhee mmeennuu bbeeccaauussee iitt ffeeaattuurreedd aann OOHH--66 LLooaacchh oofftthhee ffrroonntt ccoovveerr,, aann aaiirrccrraafftt ssttiillll nneeaarr aanndd ddeeaarr ttoo mmyyhheeaarrtt.. NNooww tthhee mmeennuu mmaaiinnllyy jjuusstt rreemmiinnddss mmee tthhaatt iinnlleessss tthhaann 6600 ddaayyss,, wwee iinn CC TTrroooopp,, 22//1177tthh CCaavv wwoouulldd bbeeffiigghhttiinngg ffoorr oouurr lliivveess iinn OOppeerraattiioonn LLaamm SSoonn 771199..””

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