|
A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life".
Anyone interested in purchasing photos from recent events please go to: www.2-hueys.photoreflect.com . Thank You! Kae Walker, photographer, American Huey 369 Inc
====================================================================================================================================== To all new members: Your dogtags will arrive in approximately 30 to 45 days after the event you attended. Data input takes time especially after a large event. Once data is in the computer dogtags will be ordered. When they arrive they have to be packaged to ship to you. Photographs will be on the www.2-hueys.photoreflect.com site within two to three weeks of the event. Please note that a lot of our events run back to back with little time in between. Thank You for your membership and your patience. ===============================================================================
=============================================================================== July 2, 2024 - The museum will be closed for the 4th of July Holiday. Thursday July 4th through Sunday July 7th. We will reopen Monday July 8th at 9 a.m. Have a Great Weekend!! =============================================================================== September 28th, 2023 - The Temporary Museum will close for the season at 3 p.m. Saturday September 30th. We wish to Thank Everyone for your continued Support of American Huey 369 Organization and Thank You for another Great Year! See you in the Spring of 2024! Please remember, the new Museum site is a construction zone and is off limits to visitors. Unless you are on one of the Construction Crews, PLEASE Say Out! ============================================================================================================ May 8th, 2023 - The annuals on 369, 803 and 049 all went well. The new "National American Huey History Museum" is coming along nicely. Our Facebook page photos are current. I'll try to get the website caught up, as soon as possible. The Temporary Museum is open. Monday - Friday - 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. // Saturday - 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. // Closed Sundays, Holidays and when we are at events. Please see the event page for upcoming events. Events are also posted on our Facebook page. ============================================================================================================ September 22, 2022 - The Temporary Museum will close for the season at the end of the day on Saturday October 8th. Thank You for a great year and for supporting American Huey 369 Organization. We appreciate each and every one of you who make the Museum and the Organization such a Huge Success! Thank you to all who have visited the temporary location. We can't wait for the day we no longer have to say "Temporary"! Work continues on the New Museum and we look forward to seeing everyone next year! ============================================================================================================ August 31st, 2022 - The Museum will be closed Labor Day Weekend. Saturday September 3rd thru Monday September 5th. We will reopen Tuesday September 6th. Sorry for any inconvenience. ============================================================================================================ The 16th annual Gathering is coming up quickly!! Please make plans to attend. We will be set up inside the new museum structure! Hope to see YOU there!
2022 - 16th Annual Gathering of Veterans & Patriots SATURDAY August 13th:
SUNDAY August 14th:
Aircraft Cleanup and Gathering teardown
============================================================================================================ APRIL 22, 2022 - The Temporary Museum will open on April 25th at 9a.m. - Sorry for the delay but it was to cold in the building to try and be open. We do ask that you dress for cooler temps inside the building. It is still very chilly. ============================================================================================================ January 2022 - Happy New Year!! We are pleased to say that the work at the New Museum site is moving steadily along. Weather has been a bit of a factor but thankfully we have not had any major snow events yet this winter. Concrete work is nearing completion. The building package arrived in late October and our erector, GCC Steel Erection Company is ready to get started as soon as all the concrete work in finished. ============================================================================================================ October 13, 2021- ATTENTION the American Huey Museum will close for the season on Saturday October 16th, 2021. We will reopen on Monday April 4th, 2022. Thank you for your patronage and your support!! ============================================================================================================ ============================================================================================================
======================================================================================================================================================= JUNE 11TH, 2021 - THE MUSEUM IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC ON SATURDAY JUNE12TH AS WE HOST THE 15TH MEDICAL CO. REUNION. We apologize for any inconvenience. We will reopen Monday June 14th at 9 a.m. ======================================================================================================================================================= APRIL 12, 2021 ATTENTION: DUE TO THE CRAZY FLUCUATING TEMPERATURES OUTSIDE, THE TEMPERATURE INSIDE THE MUSEUM IS ABOUT 45 DEGREES. PLEASE DRESS ACCORDINGLY. AS YOU CAN SEE WE HAVE HAD TO PUT TENTS OVER THE AIRCRAFT TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE DRIPPING CEILING. WE ARE FUNDRAISING FOR A NEW BUILDING. ANY DONATIONS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THE MUSEUM IS OPEN FROM 9 A.M. TO 4 P.M. MONDAY THRU FRIDAY AND 9 A.M. TO 3 P.M. SATURDAY. WE ARE NOT OPEN ON SUNDAY. WE ARE ALSO CLOSED WHEN WE ARE GONE TO EVENTS SO PLEASE CHECK THE EVENT SCHEDULE BEFORE YOU COME TO VISIT.
======================================================================================================================================================= There are a few changes to the Gathering. Lynn Roberts will not be able to be with us. Doctors orders. Rex Gordon, our auctioneer, cannot be with us this year but has found a great replacement. ==================================================================================================================== GATHERING SCHEDULE: Our National Anthem with flyover, Opening Prayer, important recognitions and Future Museum Updates. Veteran "Grunt" Rex Gordon of 20 or so unique items. Veteran Purple Heart Recipient Dust Off Pilot Phil Marshall with the Peter Bales OH-6 Loach. John Steer, survivor of Hill 875, 1967.
======================================================================================================================================================= July 16th - We are chugging along. Annuals on 369, 803 and 049 are finished. The aircraft donated to us by LockHeed Martin will get an annual done on it sometime this year. The storage building on the museum property is up and has already got all the static displays and equipment moved in. Unfortunately, we continue to lose events due to the Covid 19 virus. We hope that we will get to do all of the remaining 5 events. (Please see the event schedule page for updates to the schedule). We also have to announce that Lynn Roberts will not be able to be the Gathering this year. Doctors orders. Onward and upward!! See you at the Gathering!! ======================================================================================================================================================= 2020 started out like any other year with events scheduled, maintenance schedules for 4 aircraft and work on the museum property. Then Covid-19 happened. Our daily lives changed. We were asked to stay home. If we go out it is only for the neccesities in life. Maintain a six foot distance from anyone else. No school, no work. We pray for an end and being able to get back to a "normal" life. But, life goes on. We are staying positive and moving forward as best we can in light of the pandemic and news that our Hangar/Museum building is slated for demolition. They tell us, 6 months to several years. Not good news. We had already set into motion the building this spring of a 60 x 140 foot storage building on the museum property. It was and is meant to hold all of the aircraft, dump truck, wreckers, van & trailer and everything we have stored in 5 other buildings. It was not meant to house the flying aircraft. Should the decision be made to tear down the current museum/hangar before next spring we will be forced to move the museum and flying aircraft into the storage building. We pray that does not happen. Because of the news of tearing down our current hangar/museum we have decided that we will break ground in spring 2021 for the New Museum. We are stepping up fund raising and hoping that we can get where we need to be by next spring. With over 20 thousand members, it would only take an extra $100 from each of us to get there! We know that all of you want to see this Museum built. We are losing our Veterans daily. Let's get this done! The 2020 Renewal Letter will be coming to you soon. Thank You to all of our great members! We know that we can count on all of you! ============================================================================================================= Welcome to 2019!! We have a full schedule again this year. 18 events and annuals on three aircraft. ========================================================================================================================================================
============================================================================================================== July 3,4,5,6 & 7 - Cincinnati Red's 150th Anniversary of Baseball - Cincinnati, OH. ============================================================================================================= June 21, 22 & 23 - Lest we Forget - St. Joseph, MI. ============================================================================================================= May 26 & 27 - 2nd Annual, South Bend Cubs - Honoring Our Veterans - South Bend, IN ============================================================================================================== May 17 & 18 - Armed Forces Day Celebration - Findlay, OH. ======================================================================================================================================================== May 6 - Annuals of 369 are underway. Another great crew working their butts off to get her ready for the flying season. ======================================================================================================================================================== April 17 - Annuals began on 803 Warrior 11 - All went well and the annuals went off without a hitch. Thanks to: John Walker, Rodney Mayfield, Arthur Gray, Tom Spicka, Tom Shields, Wright Hickenlooper and Pat Wing. ======================================================================================================================================================== April 11 to 13 - Spring Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot!! Weather was it's usual self for the spring shoot. 80 degrees when we arrived and a bit cooler with thunderstorms over night. But, it all worked out great and a good time was had by all. The Baber ladies have taken over the meals and everyone is eating very well. (not that they weren't before but sometimes change is good) Friday was a busy day with flights. The shoot has been changed to Friday and Saturday so our Friday was quite busy. Saturday was another busy flight day. Everyone performed like a well oiled machine. (we have practiced alot in 13 years :) ) Thank You to the Sumner Family for always making us feel right at home and welcome anytime. Thank You to all of our Volunteers whom we cannot do without! You are all awesome! Thanks to: John Walker, Ron Paye, Ron Clark, Steve Kerchenfaut, Phil Marshall, Chuck Canfield, Glen Veno, Jody Burnau, Mel Lutgring, Mark Hopkins, Wright Hickenlooper, Tom Klare, Mike & Barb Victor, Joey Victor, Tommy Victor, Tommy & Nicole Fultz, Chasen Fultz, Hunter Fultz, Tyler Freeman, Tom & Cindy Beaty, Ron & Cheryl Baber, Katie Baber, Lexie Baber, Paul Boggs, John Akley, Tom Shields, Rodney Mayfield, Don , Ann Wiechart and Deb Marroni. Greatly missed this year was Howard Modjeski and Bill Flowers. ======================================================================================================================================================== March 9 - Annuals on 049 got started and the guys made good time getting her cleaned and inspected. She will soon be ready to get her flight season underway. Thank you to: John Walker, Mark Hopkins, Mike Adams, Chuck Canfield, Tom Shields, Tim Cahoon, Jim Dickman, Wright Hickenlooper, Tom Spicka, Jody Burnau, Rodney Mayfield, Arthur Gray, Pat Wing and two more gentlemen who's names escape me right now. ( I'll remember them I'm sure). ======================================================================================================================================================== Feb. 9 - We begin the new year with a fly day and Flag Raising on the new museum property in February. We had a good turn out on that cold morning. 25 brave souls came out to raise the flags on the proprty for the first time. Afterwords we headed to the Dutch Cafe to warm up and have breakfast before we went to the hangar to excercise the Hueys. Thank You: Michael Adams, Wright Hickenlooper, Chuck Canfield, Tom Shields, Phil Marshall, Linda Marshall, Caleb Jones, Mark Hopkins, Jon Schmidt, Paul Boggs, Tom Schmidt, Joyce Callaway, Dale Callaway, Katie Baber, Adam Jones, Ron Baber, lexie Baber, Cheryl Baber, Deb Marroni, Tom Spicka, Jody Burnau, John Akley, Kae Walker & John Walker. It was a great day!! ======================================================================================================================================================= We are gearing up for the Gathering!!
************************************************************************************************************************** GATHERING SCHEDULE: Our National Anthem, Openinng Prayer, important recognitions and Future Museum Updates. Veteran "Grunt" Rex Gordon of 20 or so unique items. Veteran Purple Heart Recipient Dust Off Pilot Phil Marshall with the Peter Bales OH-6 Loach. John Steer, survivor of Hill 875, 1967. ********************************************************************************************** July 7 & 8 - Honoring Our Veterans - What a great event!! The weather was perfect, the location was perfect and the people were great!! We hadn't been to Townsend Aviation since 2012. The new runways and building are very nice! What an awesome job everyone at Townsend did putting on their event. Thank You John & Clara and crew!! We had a large number of people come out who were friends and family of Life Member Tommy Fultz. Great job Tommy! And you finally got your Dad to fly with you!! Thank You to all of our crew, including our Favorite Monticello Life Members, Jim & Cathy Steffel. We sure loved getting to spend time with you both! Great job everyone! Next event: Down Syndrome Indiana Benefit, Indy Exec. Airport, Zionsville, IN ================================================================================================================== June 22, 23 & 24 - Lest We Forget - A low ceiling keep the aircrew on the ground a few hours but they finally got in the air and arrived before noon on Friday. Rain continued on and off most of the day. Saturday was a new day and was nice most of the time. Lot's of people came out to the new location in St. Joe. We were down by the concrete plant near the basin. Another good day Sunday. Overall the new location seemed to work for everyone. Great job by the team of Lest We Forget folks. Thank you to all of our Volunteers for making the drive to Michigan and always doing an awesome job! Next event: Honoring Our Veterans, Townsend Aviation, White Co. Airport, Monticello, IN ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ June 1, 2 & 3 - Our second Moving Wall in 7 days! We attended the Fort Benjamin Harrison Moving Wall event in Lawrence, IN. This was our 4th event with VVA Chapter 295 hosting. As always it was a well orchestrated event. Thank You to everyone involved. It isn't easy when you have a location change just a month or so before an event. Especially a Moving Wall! Great job everyone! Next event: Lest We Forget, St. Joseph, MI. , June 22, 23 & 24. =============================================================================================================== May 27 & 28 - Memorial Weekend - Sunday and Monday we were in South Bend, Indiana at the South Bend Cubs , Four Winds Field for their 1st Annual Military Appreciation Days. A huge thank you to Joe Hart and his team for putting together an awesome program! From the ballgame on Sunday evening to the Wreath laying ceremony Monday morning it was a well planned event. Next event: Vietnam Traveling Tribute, Lawrence, IN. June 1, 2 & 3. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ May 26 - Memorial Weekend - We started the weekend off on Saturday the 26th at Brookside Park in Rensselaer, Indiana where they were hosting the Vietnam Traveling Wall. We do so love to be invited to Moving Wall events. They are the best! Lot's of wonderful Veterans and Patriots. Thank You to everyone involved with this event. They did a great job putting it together. Thank You to all of our Member Volunteers for giving up your holiday weekend. And it was a hot one! ================================================================================================================= May 18 & 19 - Armed Forces Day Celebration - Hancock Co. Fairgrounds- Findlay, OH. - Another great event in Findlay! Thank You to everyone involved with putting on this event. Rain or shine they always have a great event. Lot's of Military memorabilia to look at and demonstrations to watch. Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who came out to help. Next event: Rensselaer, In. May 26th and So. Bend, IN. May 27th & 28th. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ May - Annuals on 369 - Annuals got underway on 369 in mid May. Again, we had no surprises. These old aircraft are just awesome! Thank You to all who came in and helped out. =================================================================================================================== April 18 to May 3 - Annuals on 803 / Warrior 11 - Annuals on 803 went well. No surprises. Finished up before our second event, Findlay, Ohio. Thnk you to Mel Lutgring for hanging around after the Knob Creek event and helping with 803. ( Mel is from Louisiana). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2018 is going to be another busy year. I will try to keep up! We have 13 events on the schedule from April to October. See the Event page for more information. Annuals on Gunship 049 were conducted in March and we thank everyone who came in and helped out. Thank You to our Maintenance Director, Dick Hosmer for traveling to Indiana to be with us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ April 12- 15 - We completed our first event of the season, Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot at the Knob Creek Gun Range in West Point, Kentucky. The weather wasn't too bad. We arrived on Thursday afternoon to 80 degree temps. After the long cold winter, that was great! Friday was gorgeous and very busy. Lot's of new members. Saturday was wet on and off but we made the best of it and managed to stay fairly dry with the exception of muddy feet. ================================================================================================================
======================================================================================================================================================= Updates posted by Kae Walker. Busy Busy Busy!!! We are now nearing the end of June! June 28 - On July the fourth we will be hosting the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association day at the Hangar.Over 200 pilots and family members will be bused up to the Museum/Hangar to spend the day. Everyone have a Safe July 4th! ======================================================================================================================================= June 20 - We hosted the Vietnam Helicopter Crew Members Association at the American Huey Museum on June 16th. Everyone had a great time! We got to meet several gentlemen who flew on 049 in Vietnam with the Smiling Tigers. Thank you to all the crew members and their familys for taking the time to come up to the museum to visit and fly with us. Thank You to all of our volunteers for all of your help! John Walker, Ron Paye, Dale & Joyce Calloway, Sandy & Jim Kovach, Chuck Canfield, Paul Boggs, Mike Adams, John Fotia, Jerry Lindquist, Tom Klare, Don Nelson, Tom Shields, Glen Veno, Ann Weichart and Pat Wing. June 9 & 10 - 20th Anniversary Re-dedication of the Veterans Memorial Park, Harrod, Ohio. What a wonderful event! Small town living at it's best! Thank You so much to Steve Kerchenfaut, the Auglaize Twp. Historical Society
quite possibly having to much fun! John Walker, Ron Paye, Don Nelson, Wade Hedinger, Phil MArshall, Glen Veno, Mark Hopkins, Mike & Barb Victor, Tommy Victor, Joey Victor, Ann Wiechart,
Angie Wiechart, Chuck Canfield, John Akley, Matt Kesler, Bill Flowers, Paul Boggs, Art & Barb Gray, Tom Klare, Steve Kerchenfaut, Morgan & Lisa, Tammy Nolen and Jody Burnau.
May 19 & 20 - 30th Ann. Armed Forces DAy Celebration - The Findlay event went very well. Thank You to everyone in Findlay who make this event great every year!! The Hancock County
Fairgrounds is a very nice place to hold this extra special event!
=========================================================================================================================================
April 13 - Spring Knob Creek was a great event! Weather was very nice. Lot's of flights and lot's of new members! Thank You to EVERYONE at the range. Steve and Kenny Sumner
have the best employees! What a great group of people! The Saturday Night shoot was awesome as usual. Everyone had a great time! Thank You to all of our hard working volunteers. We
simply can't do this without each and every one of them. Thank You to Phil Marshall, Tom Klare and Jerry Lindquist for making sure we all got fed during the day and supper each night. Thank You to
Cathy Hickenlooper for making all the delicious cookies and cheesecakes and having Wright deliver them. You are an incredible lady! We miss seeing you! Thank You to all the ladies for working
hard to keep everyone in line and the flights full! Ann Wiechart, Cindy Beaty, Barb Victor and Jane Modjeski. You are all wonderful!! Thanks to all the guys for taking care of 369 and making
certain all the flights went well. Thanks to our pilots,John Walker, Ron Clark, Wade Hedinger, our co-pilots, Tom Beaty, Chuck Canfield, Mo Modjeski, Pat Wing, Olaf Tessarzyk and all the crew,
Paul Boggs, John Fotia, Mark Hopkins, Steve Kerchenfaut, Bill Lister, Rodney Mayfield, Mike Victor, Tommy Victor & Joey Victor. Thanks to our fuel guys, Alan Walker and John Ward. (we can't fly
without these two going for fuel!)
Thank you to our photographer's Tom Klare and Kae Walker. We missed quite a few of our regulars due to illness and injury. Ron Paye, Ernie & Deb Marroni,
Jerry & Linda Conner. And those who were simply working, in school or otherwise engaged, Ron Baber, Katie Baber, Lexie Baber, Jacob Baber, Glen Veno, Whitney Klare, Angie Wiechart,
Tom Schmidt & Bill Flowers. It was great to see Doc Hammonds on Saturday!!
We have annuals to finish on 803 and get started on 369. Our next event isn't until May 19th and 20th in Findlay, OH. Plenty of time to get the annuals wrapped up.
===========================================================================================================================================
April - It's almost time to head to the Creek!! Thursday April 6th we head down to West Point, KY for the annual Spring Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot. What a great time! Dress appropriately.
It could be a bit chilly. Saturday Night is the Machine Gun Night Shoot, IT IS AWESOME!!! You have to see it to believe it! Join us at Knob Creek!
============================================================================================================================================
March - Annuals have been completed on 803 with the exception of her scissors and sleeves. They have not returned from being overhauled. We anticipate they will be back in April. Thank You
to everyone who braved the cold and helped get her done.Thanks to: John Walker, Arthur Gray, John Fotia, Jamie Hicks, Pat Wing, Jerry Lindquist, Tom Klare, Rodney Mayfield, Ryan McBlaine.
============================================================================================================================================
February - We headed out on February 22nd to Texas to FINALLY bring 049 home! We spent Thursday and Friday getting to know her and waiting out the weather passing through Indiana. We
took off Saturday morning and headed for home. We had several fuel stops along the way and had lots of people show up at the airports to look at 049. After an overnight stay in Russellville, AR
we headed out early for home. We arrived at the hangar/museum at 4:20 p.m. Sunday afternoon to a group of well wishers braving the cold weather to watch 049 land at home. She had been gone
for 4 years. She is absolutely beautiful and we can't wait for everyone to see her at the annual Gathering in August.
=========================================================================================================================================
January - We pulled 369 and 803 out and ran them both. We try to do this once a month during our down time to keep the fluids up and everything lubricated.
=========================================================================================================================================
Welcome to 2017!
We are ready to get this year started!
===========================================================================================================
=========================================================================================================================================
The Gathering is less than two weeks away!!! Our tenth annual! Hard to believe! We have gotten some nice auction items again this year. You need to be here on Saturday morning to
get your number and be ready to start bidding at about 11 a.m.! Please see the flyer (above) for information. Hope to see YOU there!!
=========================================================================================================================================
August 1 - All of the Michigan events went very well! Benton Harbor was very busy. Lots of new members and the reenactment on Saturday. Sunday was slow to get started.
Rain in the area Saturday night had our Wolfhounds headed for home so we didn't have them for the reenactment Sunday. Turned put we didn't get to do the reenactment due to
more rain Sunday until about 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon. We did manage to get in quite a few member flights after the rain passed. Thank You to Don Alsbro for putting together another
great event. Thanks to all of our Volunteers/Members for all your support!
Union City Michigan was another small town event that went very well. It was only one day but the Village of Union City packed alot into it! Great job Union City!! Thank You to everyone
involved for putting on a great event!
LZ Michigan held in Oscoda, Michigan was an awesome event! Once the storms rolled through on Friday afternoon it dried out over night and was cloudy but nice Saturday.Held on the
grounds of Wurtsmith Air Museum we had plenty of room for membership flights and a reenactment on Saturday. We welcome lot's of new members from the Oscoda area! Thank You to
Joe & Pam Brinn for all you did to make this event happen! Joe worked out of a golf cart or a wheel chair due to a motorcycle accident the month prior. Never say never to Joe & Pam!!
Thank you to Lee Luck & Wurtsmith Air Museum. Great job! Thank You to all of our Volunteers/Core Members for always going above and beyond to make our Veterans feel Welcome
and appreciated! Thank You: John Walker, Ron Paye, Gary & Pat Moline, Tyler Freeman, Bill Flowers, Rodney Mayfield, Glen & CorrieLyn Veno, Jerry & Linda Conner, Arthur & Barb Gray,
Pat Wing, Dennis Jacoba, Paul Boggs, John Akley, Phil Marshall, Tom Schmidt, Wade & Devin Hedinger, Mo Modjeski, Mike, Barbara, Joe & Tommy Victor and Ann & Angie Wiechart.
=============================================================================================================================================
Join us in Oscoda, Michigan!!
=========================================================================================================================================
July 7 - Sorry for the slow updates.
=========================================================================================================================================
April 21 - The News Letter/Membership renewal went out the first of April. I have received quite a few back that couldn't be delivered as addressed, you were temporarily away or you moved and
left no forwarding address. If you are a member and you haven't received a news letter and would like to, send me an e-mail at ked4659@aol.com with your name and current address. Thank You!
=========================================================================================================================================
April 21 - Spring Knob Creek was hit and miss! Sunny and warm when we arrived Thursday the 7th.. Camp set up went well. 369 showed up at 3:30
after waiting out a low ceiling in Kokomo, IN.
Friday brought in the cool weather with crazy wind, rain and hail and finally some sunshine later in the afternoon. Saturday was the usual busy flying day. Everyone enjoyed the night shoot as always.
Thank You to everyone at Knob Creek Gun Range for always making us feel like family! Steve and Kenny and their entire crew are great!!! Thank You to all of the volunteers. As always, we can't
do it without you!: John Walker, Ron Paye, Ron & Cathy Clark, Rodney Mayfield, Denny & Donny Rogers, Arthur Gray, Casey Eames, Glen Veno, Tom Klare, Whitney Klare, Tom & Cindy Beaty,
Ann & Angie Wiechart, Ron Maxwell, Carol Duncan, Jerry Conner, Jerry Lindquist, Phil Marshall, Bruce Ashworth, Ron Baber, Katie, Lexie & Jacob Baber, Chuck Canfield, Paul Boggs, Troy Brindack
Wade Hedinger, Devon Hedinger, Howard Modjeski, Mike Victor, Tommy & Joe Victor
and Robert Fureigh.
========================================================================================================================================
March 11, 2016
Dear Friends, February 22, 2016 - The New Year is here! The event schedule is full, we accomplished our 1st phase goal (for the museum) by the end of December, 049 is looking more complete everyday
and we are gearing up to go to HAI on Feb.25th.
Our objective is to jump start the donations for the 2nd phase of the museum. The bronze plaque for the first phase will be on
display
for all to see along with 369 and 803. Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers! When we get back it will be time to do the annual maintenance on 803 and roll right into our first event
the following week. It is going to be a busy year!
=========================================================================================================================================
Happy New Year!!! Here's to a new year with great things to come! Bring on 2016!!
=======================================================================================================================================================
December 21 - We had a great time on December the 6th when a group of volunteers met at Gabriels for breakfast and all headed out to the hangar to take the aircraft out for a little "excercise".
Since they hadn't been flown for about 2 months they needed to get everything lubricated. We consider it a good excuse to get together in our off season! Thank You to all who came out: John Walker,
John Akley, Dale Calloway, Don Calloway, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Rick Marroni, Rex Gordon, Olaf Tessarzyk, Ron Baber, Katie Baber, Adam Jones, Caleb Jones, Jerry Lindquist, Dan & Linda Harrell,
Paul Boggs, Chuck Canfield, John Fotia, Casey Eames, Dan & Erica Eames, Art & Barb Gray, Jack Hess, Jim & Sandy Kovach, Tom Klare, Mark Hopkins, Phil Marshall, Elissa Poling, Paul & Alice Oyler,
Denny Rogers, Rodney & Joan Mayfield, Glen Veno, Ron Maxwell & friend Carol. After flying both aircraft we cleaned them up, put them back in the hangar and headed over to The Halfmoon Restaurant
and Brewery in Kokomo and had a great early dinner. Thank You to Chris Roegner, owner of the Halfmoon and life member of American Huey 369, for always taking great care of us. Your staff is
awesome! We will get the aircraft out again in January if weather permits.
Thank You for an incredible year!! We look forward to 2016!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!!
October 20 - Our final event of the year, the Fall Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot, has come and gone! The weather was great, the people were great and the event as a whole was Great! The machine
gun shoot is something everyone should see (of course I'm talking to all the gun enthusiasts out there!) at least once in your life. I guarantee you will have to go back and see it again! Thank You to the
entire Sumner Family and all the guys and gals who work their butts off to make the event a huge success! If you haven't been to West Point in Bullett County, Kentucky to the Knob Creek Gun Range
what are you waiting for!! Thank You to our crew. Without all of our volunteers we couldn't do any of this. Our mission is very important to all of them! Thank You: John Walker, Alan Walker, Ernie & Deb Marroni,
Tom Klare, Whitney Klare, Ron Paye, Olaf Tessarzyk, Glen Veno. Mark Hopkins, Bill Flowers, Ron Clark, Ron Baber, Katie Baber, Jacob Baber, Rodney Mayfield, Casey Eames. Chuck Canfield,
Howard "Mo" Modjeski, Doc Hammonds, Wade Hedinger, Devin Hedinger, Joe Victor, Tommy Victor, Bruce Ashworth, Robert Fureigh, Tom & Cindy Beaty, Art & Scott Jacobs,
John Ward, Rick Marroni and
Phil Marshall.
October 1 - Sorry for getting so far behind with updates. It's been a crazy busy summer!
The trip to Connecticut (July 9-13) for the "Vietnam 50th Anniversary Celebration started out very wet with poor visability a great deal of the way. We left on Thursday July 9th in the rain with a planned
stop in Hubbard Ohio for a meet and great with Veterans, the Mayor of Hubbard and all the wonderful people of Hubbard. We landed in the soccer field as planned to a nice crowd. (and by the way,
the rain had stopped and the sun came out). After visiting with the residents of Hubbard and receiving a very nice donation to the organization for the museum building fund (all donated by the
residents and businesses of Hubbard) we went across the street to the V.F.W. Post 3767 where they had put together a very nice lunch for us. We spent an hour and a half or so in Hubbard.
What a great little town! Thank You so much to our life member, Bill Flowers, for working to get this event pulled together. It was a pleasure and an Honor to meet everyone who came out to see us.
Thank You Tracey Flowers for being our go to person on the ground to help coordinate our arrival. We said our good-byes and headed out of Hubbard with the weather coming in behind us.
We made a fuel stop in Grove City, PA and we were on our way again. The rain caught up with us over the mountains and made for some interesting flying weather. One more fuel stop in
Bradford County, PA and the weather was finally clearing. We arrived at Bradley International Airport / Connecticut Air National Guard, Windsor Locks, Connecticut at about 5 p.m. (About 8 and a half hours after leaving
Grissom.) Poor Indian Charlie(the nose art on 803) didn't fare well in all the rainy weather. The rain beat part of his face and leg off so it was off to find an art supply store on Friday to get him back in
shape. A couple of hours of paint work and he was as good as new!
The Connecticut event went great! We met so many wonderful people. The Guard unit was very kind to us. They are a group of big hearted guys and gals! Saturday morning we started
membership flights and didn't finish until after 5. Sunday was just as busy. So many Veterans and their families came out, it was a great experience! Thank You so much to the State of Connecticut Attorney Generals Office,
Central Connecticut State University and the New England Air Museum for hosting this great event! Also, we need to thank Eileen Hurst, Lt. Col. Walt Levantovich, Col. Fred Miclon (Vice Comm., CT Air National Guard),
Air Traffic Control officer Yaz Taski, and a multitude of volunteers for all of their hard work. What a huge success it was from start to finish. You have alot to be proud of. We are proud to say we were involved in your event!
Thank You Connecticut!! Thank You to all of our ladies and gentlemen who volunteered for this event. It took a sizeable crew to handle this event from the ground crew who drove the van and trailer to the air crew who flew 803 to the event.
A HUGE THANK YOU to: John Walker & Ron Paye for their expertise in piloting 803 in some less than "fun" weather and Tom Klare and Phil Marshall for getting the van and trailer to Connecticut in the same
nasty weather. Thanks also to our great crew of volunteer who we couldn't do without: Gary & Pat Moline, Tom Schmidt, Ron & Cathy Clark, Bill Flowers. Tom Agness, Glen Veno, Dale Callaway, Olaf Tessarzyk,
Ernie & Deb Marroni, Lynn "Doc" Hammonds, Chuck Canfield, Art & Scott Jacobs and Art & Barb Gray.
Our next event, July 17-19, took us to Ottawa, Ohio for the Tri-State Rhythm and Ribs "Supporting Our Troops" event.
Thank You Jeremy Young for working so hard to get everything done for this event. Mother Nature decided you needed
a couple more hurdles to jump but you did great! We ended up moving our location to drier ground but for the most part it was a better location for us. The weather was certainly a factor on Saturday as a nasty storm rolled through in
the late afternoon and shut everything down for a couple hours. But, the sun came back out and so did the people! The Rib Fest was a big success with lots of music and great food! Thank You Jeremy and the town of Ottawa for another
memorable event. Thanks to all our great volunteers for being there and weathering the storm: John Walker, Ron Paye, Glen Veno, Coralynn Veno, Ann Wiechart, Angie Wiechart, Chuck Canfield, Bill & Tracey Flowers, Sydney Flowers,
Claudia Flowers, Gary & Pat Moline, Tom Schmidt, Lynn "Doc" Hammonds, Don Nelson, Phil Marshall and Paul Boggs.
July 25, "Honoring Our Heroes", Ryan & Melissa Long and Triple LLL Trucking had over 80 local companies show their Patriotic Pride by make donations to give over 50 Veterans a flight on Huey 369 and
give a large donation to the National American Huey History Museum building fund! Thank You Ryan & Melissa for being Great Patriots and friends! We had the Honor of flying WWII Air Force Veteran Robert Pulley in to the event.
He said it was great! It was an Honor and a privilage for us to fly over 50 veterans at this event. We hope they all know just how special they are! Thank You again to Ryan & Melissa Long for giving such a wonderful heartfelt tribute
to all the Veterans with this event! Thank You to our volunteers: John Walker, Ron Paye, Rick Marroni, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Ron Baber, Katie Baber, Dale & Joyce Calloway, Dan & Erica Eames, Casey Eames, Gary & Pat Moline,
Adam Jones, Caleb Jones, Jim & Sandy Kovach, Ann & Angie Wiechart, Pat Wing &Tom Agness.
August 1st we were at Indy Exec Airport in Zionsville, Indiana for the "Down Syndrome Indiana" benefit. This is one of our favorite events. The children are a joy to be around and we love watching their faces when
they take off on their flights. Down Syndrome children and one parent fly for free and all the proceeds from all other membership flights are donated to Down Syndrome Indiana. It was our pleasure to be able to
write a check to Down Syndrome Indiana this year for $2500.00! Thank You to all of our new members from this event! You made it possible! Thank You to Dan & Andi Montgomery for inviting us to be part of
this great event. It's always a pleasure working with you both! Thank You to our volunteers: John Walker, John Fotia, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Dale & Joyce Calloway, Ann Wiechart, Angie Wiechart, Rick Marroni,
Tom Klare, Ron, Katie, Lexie & Jacob Baber, Adam & Caleb Jones, Dan & Erica Eames, Casey Eames and Lynn "Doc" Hammonds.
August 8 & 9 was our 9th Annual Gathering. What a great weekend we had! Saturday was a big day. We had another great auction thanks to all the really nice items that were donated.
Thank You to all who
participated in the auction and we hope those of you who won your bids enjoy your purchases. Lunch was provided by Slappy's Barbeque from Rochester, Indiana. Then we moved into the "Bob Hope Show"
with impersonator Lynn Roberts. What an awesome show for everyone! The reenactment went great as usual! It is always a big hit with attendees. Thank You to Peter Bales for bringing his Loach from Wisconsin
to again be part of the reenactment. It just wouldn't be the same with out you. Thank You to all the Wolfhounds for making the reenactment and great success!
A huge thank you goes out to all our volunteers!
We couldn't do this without all of you!: Chuck Canfield, Ted & Sue Buisker, Don Nelson, Jerry Mellick, Wade Hedinger, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Rick Marroni, Jim Crigler, Glen Veno, Jim & Sandy Kovach,
Ron & Cathy Clark, Dick & Carolyn Hosmer, Olaf Tessarzyk, Ryan McBlaine, John Ward, Tom Arendt, Alan & Julie Walker, Ron Baber, Katie, Lexie & Jacob Baber, Cheryl Baber, Mark Hopkins, Bill & Tracey Flowers,
Phil Marshall, Ann Wiechart, Angie Wiechart, John Akley, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Whitney Klare, Hannah Klare, Tom Klare, Marty Stapleton, Gary & Pat Moline, Ron Paye, Joe & Pam Brinn, Arthur & Barb Gray,
Adam & Caleb Jones, Art & Scott Jacobs, Lynn "Doc" Hammonds, Dale & Joyce Calloway, Tom & Marilyn Shields, Steve & Mary Ann Kesler, Matt Kesler, Tom Agness, Bruce Ashworth, Paul Boggs, Tom Schmidt,
Casey Eames, Dan & Erica Eames, Rex Gordon, Rev. Jack Hess, Ed Marsh, John Steer, Kenny Wemer and Pat Wing.
August 14, 15 & 16 we were back in Ft Jennings, Ohio for Ft. Fest. Our home away from home!
Thank You Jerry Siefker, the Fort Jennings Park Board and the town of Fort Jennings for opening your town and your hearts
to
American Huey 369. We have a great time everytime we come there. We have made so many friends in the four years we have been coming to your event it is just incredible! Thank You to the American Legion Post 715
for the great meals you provide, Jim's Restaurant in Delphos for letting us "take over" the restaurant to feed our hungry crew breakfast three days in a row, and the Post Restaurant in downtown Ft. Jennings for giving us the
patio area for dinner. (I think I have figured out why they give us the patio so readily.) The staff at all of these eateries are awesome! They do a great job of taking care of nearly 40 people at a time. So glad to have the Wolfhounds
with us at Ft. Jennings. We miss these guys alot in the off season. They are alot of fun to be around and they make the reenactments much more fun to watch! Thank You so much guys and our favorite nurse, Marcia!! Thank You
to everyone who became a founder of the National American Huey History Museum! We are gaining on our goal for the first phase.
Thank You to our great volunteers: John Walker, Ron Paye, Olaf Tessarzyk, Ron & Cathy Clark, Gary & Pat Moline, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Bill & Tracey Flowers, Sydney Flowers, Claudia Flowers, Glen Veno, Ted & Sue Buisker,
Tom Agness, Paul Boggs, Tom Klare, Joe & Pam Brinn, Jack Hess, Ron Baber, Katie Baber, Phil Marshall, Jerry & Linda Conner, Ann & Angie Wiechart, Rick Marroni, Arthur & Barb Gray, John Fotia, Tom Schmidt, Jon Schmidt,
Bruce Ashworth and Mark Hopkins.
September 5th we participated in the 25th Anniversary Fly/In Cruise/In at the Marion Municiple Airport, Marion, Indiana. Yet another small town with a big event! Congratulations Marion for 25 years of success!! We set up our awnings
on Friday so that we would be ready Saturday morning to get started with membership flights. Unfortunately a strong storm blew through Friday evening and demolished two of the awnings so we were back Friday evening to clean up
the mess. Thank You Mother Nature! Saturday morning was beautiful and the rest of the day went very well. Lot's of people came out to the airport for the car show, airplanes, helicopters and great food! It was a great day! Thank You
Ray Johnson for all you do to make this event special. Thank You to Inge Harte for her very nice video work. Inge does a wonderful job of capturing the event! Thank You to all of our Volunteers for all you do: John Walker, Ron Paye,
Olaf Tessarzyk, Tom Klare, Rick Marroni, Tom Agness, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Mark Hopkins, Gary & Pat Moline, Adam & Caleb Jones, Dan & Erica Eames, Angie & Ann Wiechart, Dale & Joyce Calloway, Jim & Sandy Kovach and
Lynn "Doc" Hammonds.
The Lawrence D Bell Museum, Menton, Indiana, held their annual Helicopter Fly In on September 12th. This little museum puts in alot of time and effort to represent their namesake, Larry Bell, in the best possible way. Congratulations
on a job well done Mentone! Thank You to all the volunteers at the museum for all their tireless efforts. You are doing a great job! Our hope for you is that it just keeps getting bigger every year. Thank You Tim Whetstone, Steve Roger
and all the lovely ladies who brave what ever weather shows up to feed everyone and keep the coffee and hot chocolate ready. Thanks to our volunteers: John Walker, Ron Paye, Gary & Pat Moline, Rex Gordon, Tom Agness, Olaf Tessarzyk,
Ron, Katie, and Jacob Baber, Dale & Joyce Calloway, Dan & Erica Eames, Casey Eames, John Fotia, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Adam & Caleb Jones, Jerry & Linda Conner, Ann & Angie Wiechart and Tom Klare. And it was great to have
Ed Marsh with us!
September 17 to 20th Clay and Nancy York hosted the "Sound of Hope" for the 5th year. We can't thank Clay & Nancy enough for supporting the organization the way they do. They open their horse farm up to us and allow us to camp
and fly membership flights out of the pasture and put up with an awful lot of caos. we love them dearly for all they do! The flight down to Indianapolis for POW/MIA Recognition day was a simple fly over this year due to rainy weather
forcing the event inside this year. But, everyone enjoyed the fly over so it was worth the trip! Thank You to all the new members and everyone who became a founder of the first phase of the new museum. Thanks to the Wolfhounds
for hanging out with us for the last time this year. Everone enjoys seeing you out on patrol. Thank You to all our great volunteers! John Walker, Ron Paye, Bill Flowers, gary & Pat Moline, Ron, Katie, Lexie, Jacob & Cheryl Baber,
Paul Boggs, Dale & Joyce Calloway, Chuck Canfield, Jerry & Linda Conner, Joe & Pam Brinn, Ron & Cathy Clark, Dan & Erica Eames, Olaf Tessarzyk, Arthur Gray, Tom Klare, Jim & Sandy Kovach, Glen Veno, Coralynn Veno,
Ann & Angie Wiechart, Tom Agness, John Akley, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Rick Marroni, Phil Marshall, Howard Modjeski, Mike, Tommy & Joey Victor.
We have one event left for the 2015 season! The Fall Knob Creek event. I don't know where this year went! See you at the Creek!!
======================================================================================================================================
Come out to Wabash Indiana and join us at Triple LLL trucking Saturday July 25th!!!
======================================================================================================================================
July 8 - We leave tomorrow (Thursday) morning for our event in Windsor Lock, Connecticut. Praying for good weather but chances are it will be raining here. The flight out will be 6 to 7 hours including fuel stops. The trailer will be arriving much later in the evening. We have Friday as a set up day and the event starts on Saturday. Membership flights will be Saturday and Sunday and we will depart for home on Monday. We are looking forward to a great event!
======================================================================================================================================
July 7 - Our last two events went very well. Lest We Forget in Benton Harbor, Michigan was another outstanding event! The weather was great and we had a large group of volunteers on hand. Thank You to Don Alsbro for working so hard to get the event together yet again. The poor man worked himself right into the hospital on Saturday. Don spent a few days in the hospital recuperating and is doing fine now. Thank You to the airport and airport staff for being so supportive of the event. We did two reenactments this year. One Saturday & one Sunday. Both went great! Big thank you's to Glen Veno who narrated and Mark Hopkins who got thrown in to be the air boss. Both did an excellent job! Thank You to all the Wolfhounds( including Liberty, she did a great job too!), Johnny Mayo and his dog Luke, all the guys and gals who brought in and drove all the great military equipment, and to all our guys for the awesome job of flying and crewing they did! Thank You: John Walker, Ron Paye, Gary Moline, Phil Marshall, Don Nelson, Tom Shields, Bill Flowers, Ron Baber, Tom Schmidt, Rodney Mayfield, John Fotia, Ernie Marroni, Doc Hammonds, Katie Baber, Lexie Baber, Jacob Baber, Jon Schmidt, Ted Buisker, Dale Calloway, Olaf Tesserzyk, Mick Lannoo, Mark Hopkins, John Akley, Tom Klare, Ken Somes, Ed Marsh, Joe Brinn, Zach Moline, Tyler, Lisa & Angus and the ladies who keep it all together, Pat Moline, Deb Marroni, Tracey Flowers, Joyce Callaway, Ann & Angie Weichart, Sue Buisker and Pam Brinn. Thank You to Clementines and the great staff they have for their hospitality. They do a super job of taking care of a large group of people like us!
The Logansport Airport Awareness Event was the first event (in 137 events) to ever use their raindate. But, Sunday June 28th turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day! Thank You to Tim Dalton, airport manager, Rose Wagoner, event coordinator and Bob Barr of the Logansport EAA chapter. Thank You to all of our volunteers for another great event: John Walker, Gary & Pat Moline, Olaf Tessaryk, Tom Schmidt, Casey Eames, Adam Jones, Caleb Jones, Doc Hammonds, Tom Klare, Rick Marroni, Ernie Marroni, Jon Schmidt, Dale & Joyce Callaway, Jack Hess and Jim & Sandy Kovach.
======================================================================================================================================
June 5 - We had another great small town event over Memorial day Weekend in Kentland, Indiana. Can't say enough about small towns! They really support the Veterans and our Military! Thank You so much to Mike Rowe and everyone involved with this great event! You did a wonderful job! Thank You to our great crew and volunteers for giving up their holiday weekend: John Walker, Ron Paye, Gary & Pat Moline, Mark Hopkins, Tom Klare, Phil Marshall, Tom Schmidt, Ron, Kate, Lexie & Jacob Baber, Tom Agness, Ernie & Debby Marroni, dale & Joyce Calloway, Jon Schmidt, Lynn "Doc" Hammonds, Olaf Tessarzyk, Dawn Lamle, Jim & Sandy Kovach, Pat Wing, Ann & Angie Wiechart, Kenny Wemer, Art & Barb Gray. It was also great to see the Stensrud family from Preston, WI., Dave, Lisa and Mikkel and Bonnie Schmidt from Culver, IN. Our next event is coming up June 19th, 20th and 21st in Benton Harbor Michigan at Southwest Michigan Regional airport. We will offer membership flights and be taking part in the Vietnam air & ground reenactment with both aircraft, the Wolfhounds Living History Group and dog handler Johnny Mayo and his dog Luke. Bring the family out to the airport and have a great time! See you there!
======================================================================================================================================
May 20 - Memorial Weekend (Sunday & Monday) we will be in Kentland Indiana. Membership flights will be available both days. Monday we will fly the parade route during the parade.
=======================================================================================================================================
May 13 - The Lawrence event was beautiful! The weather was perfect and the Wall was beyond words! Being invited to attend a Moving Wall event is our absolute favorite. Thank You to VVA Chapter 295 and Mike Hamm for inviting us to be part of your great event! Thank You to our Volunteers! Without all of you we couldn't do what we do, Bring the Sound of Hope to so many Veterans and Patriots! Thank You to our flight crew: John Walker, Ron Paye, Tom Schmidt and Doc Hammonds. Thank You to our ground crew for all you do: Ernie and Deb Marroni, Phil Marshall, Ann & Angie Wiechart, Kenny Wemer, Joe & Pam Brinn, Don Nelson, Arthur & Barb Gray and Dawn Lamle. Special Thank You to Peter Bales and his brother John for stopping in with Peters OH-6 loach and staying the weekend. Our next event is May 24th and 25th (Memorial weekend) in Kentland, Indiana.
=======================================================================================================================================
2015!
We started the year with a trip to Arkansas and Texas in January to drop off blades at the blade shop (Ark.) and check on the progress of 049 (TX). The restoration is coming along nicely thanks to Benny Hastings (owner), our maintenance director, Dick Hosmer and all the guys at Verticle Lift. They do excellent work! Please look at the 049 pages for updates and photos. We took a side trip to Brown Helicopter in Florida and got to spend a full day with Tom Brown, the owner. We wanted to thank him in person for all the donations he has made towards 049's restoration. He has made and continues to make very generous donations. Thank You Tom Brown, Brown Helicopter and your great employees!
The annual for 803 was finished in March. Everything went very well. She flies as smooth as she ever has. She's ready to head out to events.
We have our first event of the season under our belts. The spring Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot was a little muddy but lots of fun! We welcome over 200 new members and lots of renewing members. Of course we all went down to the night shoot Saturday night. What a thing to see! 369 performed flawlessly as usual. The weather was great friday, saturday and sunday. Thank You to the Sumner Family for giving us a super area to work in. They are such a great family! Thank You to all of our volunteers who make it all possible to continue to bring the Sound of Hope and healing to so many! John Walker, Alan Walker, Ron Paye, Ron Clark, Tom Beaty, Tom Klare, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Doc Hammonds, Glen Veno, Phil Marshall, Arthur Gray, Casey Eames, Jerry & Linda Conner, Rodney Mayfield, Olaf Tessarzyk, Ron Baber and his children Katie, Lexie and Jacob Baber, Ann & Angie Weichart, Chuck Canfield, John Ward, Mark Gehlhausen, Keith Cencelewski and Austin Cencelewski. Thank You to Phil Marshall, Ron Paye and Olaf Tesserzyk for all the great food!
Our next event is in Lawrence Indiana at Ft. Benjamin Harrison the first weekend in May. See you at Ft. Ben!!
==================================================================================================================================
Time to get caught up on all the news, old and new!
The 8th annual Gathering was held August 9th & 10th. We had great weather and great people! Thank You to over 100 core members/volunteers! We could not do this event without all of you! Thank you to John & Donna Steer, the Wolfhounds Living History Group, Jerry & Linda Lindquist (our master modeler), Peter & Janet Bales (Bandit 026 Loach), Rex Gordon (Vietnam Veteran & Auctioneer), Clyde & Tammy Fenton (DJ), Mark Olson & Troy Miller (Mark & Troy Band), Matt Mappin ( Slappy's BBQ), Montgomery Aviation (Walter, Randy, Roy, Dan & Andi), Johnny Mayo, Jerry Paul, Wade Weaver ( 105.9 The Bash radio station), We express a special thanks to everyone who made donations to the auction and to those who purchased those items. The reenactment was a huge success again this year! Thank you to all who participated!
August 13th, 2014 - After nearly eight years of flying, our maintenance director, Dick Hosmer, decided it was a good time for maintenance on 369's turbine engine. Thanks to Dick and John Walker the turbine was removed in about 3 hours. Thanks to Marty Sacks for bringing his wrecker in to pull the turbine ( we also thank Marty for his continued support). Our turbine shop, Nebraska Gas Turbine, came in a couple of days later and picked up the turbine. It is now in their capable hands. We should have it back within 3 to 4 weeks. Just in time for our next two ship event, Bringing the Sound of Hope, Clay York Farm.
August 15, 16 & 17, 2014 - 2014 Fort Fest, Fort Jennings, Ohio. This is becoming an annual event and a home coming to many members and friends! Our third year in a row in Fort Jennings! We Thank the Fort Jennings Park Board (Jerry Siefker & Company), the Fort Jennings American Legion Post for the great food they provided for us, The Fort Restaurant (Jerry & Roger for your continued kindness) for giving us the patio again and for always making us feel welcome, Jim's Restaurant, Delphos, Roger & Bonnie, the Vetters, the Dickmans, and all the great patriots who live in and around the amazing town of Fort Jennings. The duck race and the car show are a big hit with the American Huey group! Thank You to our core member crew: Ron Paye, Glen Veno, Gary & Pat Moline, Mark Hopkins, Don Nelson, Tom Klare, Bill & Tracey Flowers, Sydney, Tom Schmidt, Jon Schmidt, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Rick Marroni, Dennis Jacoba, Chuck Canfield, Rodney Mayfield, Dennis Rogers, Arthur & Barb Gray, Phil Marshall, Tom Agness, Jack Hess, John Fotia, Jerry & Linda Conner and John Walker.
August 22, 23 & 24, 2014 - Sheboygan County Veterans Memorial 20th Anniversary, Vietnam "Wall That Heals". This was our second trip to Wisconsin this year! Allen Nohl and his group did a fine job of coordinating the event! The weather was tempremental. The fog would come in off the lake and swallow everything up and then the next thing you knew, it was clear again! We were in the home of the tallest flagpole in the United States, 400 feet! It waves a 60 foot by 120 foot American Flag, quite impressive. Thanks to Acuity Insurance Group for their true patriotism! We also want to thank VFW Post 9156 for the great fish dinners, desserts and refreshments. It was also our pleasure to meet the Shaw family, Bernie & Benny. Thank You to our great group of core member volunteers: Phil Marshall, Tom Klare, Bill Flowers, Dennis Jacoba, Ron Paye, Gary & Pat Moline, Denny Rogers, Tom Schmidt, Deb Marroni, Ted & Sue Buisker, Tom Schmidt and John Walker.
August 29th to September 1st, 2014- Hamburg, Michigan Moving Wall Event - Thank you H.E.R.O. (Hamburg Enhanced Recreational Organization) President Joanna Hardesty, Glen Veno and dozens of their dedicated staff/volunteers. A huge Thank You to Dale & Donna Bennett for generously offering to allow us to use their property as our landing zone. It was the best ever!! Dale was a generous host and we know Donna was with us in spirit! Thank You Mark Bennet for the great food and comraderie! You are a great family!! Thank You to Livingston City Airport owner Mark Johnson, all the neighbors around the Bennett property, the Wolfhounds Living History Group, the "Moving Wall", Captain Scotty Strane of Chain of Lakes Boat Tours, Lynn "Bob Hope" Roberts and the USO Show, the great people of Hamburg and surrounding communities and ALL of our NEW Members!! We couldn't do these events without our core members/volunteers. Thank You: Glen Veno, Mark & Bobbi Hopkins, Jerry & Linda Conner, Gary & Pat Moline, Arthur & Barb Gray, Phil Marshall, Rodney Mayfield, Tom Schmidt, Ernie & Deb Marroni and John Walker. Thank You Donna & Dale Bennett!!
September 6, 2014 - Rotors Over Mentone, Mentone, Indiana - This was our 5th invitation to attend Rotors Over Mentone! We are happy and proud to be invited to the home of Lawrence D Bell. Thank You to the Lawrence D Bell Museum board and volunteers for putting on another great event. Special thanks to Tim Whetstone, Steve Rogers, Gerald Romine and all the special ladies who always do such an outstanding job preparing great food and desserts! Yet another wonderful event! Thank You to our core member/volunteers who attended this event: Tom Klare, Tom Agness, Olaf Tessarzyk, Gary & Pat Moline, Ron, Katie, Lexie and Jacob Baber, Dale & Joyce Calloway, Adam & Caleb Jones, Jerry Lindquist, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Rick Marroni, Denny Rogers, Bill Lister, Tom & Bonnie Schmidt and John Walker. It was also great to have Ed Marsh join us!
September 9th to 12th, 2014 - Reinstall 369's turbine. - Monday the 8th of September Phil Flagg flew in from Bangor, Maine and our Maintenance Director, Dick Hosmer and member Jerry Mallam flew in from Oregon to oversee the reinstallation of 369's turbine. Nebraska Gas Turbine delivered the turbine Monday evening and Dick, Phil, John Fotia and John Walker would finish putting all the parts back on, reinstall it, do ground checks and perform the appropriate maintenance test flight by noon on friday. A big Thank You to Dick Hosmer and Phil Flagg for traveling so far to help get 369 flying again! Thank you to Marty and Dan Sacks for the repair work and delivery of our 1952 M-62 wrecker, just in time to reinstall 369's turbine engine. As always, Thank You John Fotia for all of your help!
September 18th thru 21st, 2014 - Bringing the Sound of Hope - Clay & Nancy York Farm - Greentown, Indiana - POW/MIA Day Indiana War Memorial - Indianapolis, Indiana - It all starts with setting up the camp/landing zone on Wednesday. Thursday morning we fly both birds in to the LZ where they are on static display for the day. About 12:30 Friday afternoon we lift off with both aircraft and head to Indianapolis for the POW/MIA Recognition Ceremony at the War Memorial. We spend a couple of hours on the ground on static display talking to Veterans and Patriots. We thank the POW/MIA Council for making it possible to Remember and Honor our Veterans by bringing the "Sound of Hope" to downtown Indianapolis and the attending public. Thank You General Goodwin, Linda Jeffrey and volunteers for all your dedication and hardwork!
2014 marks the 5th year in a row that the York Family has invited us to use their farm as our Landing Zone for Bringing the Sound of Hope. The perfect location so that we can be next to the Howard County Vietnam Veterans Reunion area where thousands of Veterans and Patriots can enjoy seeing, hearing and flying in the "sound of hope"! Thank You Clay & Nancy for being such great hosts, members and friends! We are supported at these two events by our second largest group of core member/volunteers (second only to our Gathering in August). Thank You to this great group of people: Al Michaels, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Dennis Jacoba, Sr., Gary & Pat Moline, Tom Agnes, Tom Klare, Doc Hammonds, Ron Baber, Katie, Lexie and Jacob Baber, Rick Marroni, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Arthur & Barb Gray, Phil Marshall, Glen Veno, Paul Boggs, Ted & Sue Buisker, Chuck Canfield, Ron Paye, Bill & Tracey Flowers, dale & Joyce Calloway, Casey Eames, Dan & Erica Eames, Cloey Eames, Adam Jones, Caleb Jones, Don Nelson, Charley Veer, John & Pat DeLucca, Ed Marsh, Jim Ireland, Olaf Tessarzyk, Jerry & Linda Conner, Kenny Wemer, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Bruce & Ann Dagostino, Bruce Ashworth, Alan Walker and John Walker.
September 24th to 27th, 2014 - 369's tailboom received necessary repairs beginning with the removal of over 500 rivets in preparation to remove a 5 1/2' by 16'' piece of aluminum skin. Thank You John Fotia for all the tedious labor involved to carefully and properly remove the tailboom skin.
September 30th to Oct. 4th, 2014 - Chris Backer(A&P, IA) from Vertical Lift Components in Seguin Texas, arrived to remove the tailboom skin from 369. The repair first required Chris and John Walker removing the 42 degree gearbox #6 tailrotor driveshaft, 90 degree gearbox, tailrotor hub and blades, elevators and elevator horns. All these components were removed to "unload" the weight on the tailboom. Thanks to our Maintenance Director, Dick Hosmer, we located and purchased a n.o.s. (new old stock) skin from Heli Tex (Gary Hindman, owner). The skin was crated and shipped next day air. The new skin was cut and fitted using the original skin as a template. The holes for the rivets were carefully marked, drilled and deburred. Installation began, with over 500 rivets installed and bucked! By late Saturday afternoon 369 was ready for ground turn and tail rotor blade balance and tracking. Later a limited test flight was completed and thanks to Chris Backer, John Fotia, Dick Hosmer, Helitex, Ernie Marroni and John Walker, 369's tailboom was like new again!
October 9th thru 12th, 2014 - With this being the last scheduled event of the season we want to first thank our very experienced A&P-IA's: Dick Hosmer, Phil Flagg, Tom Shields, John Fotia, Tom Schmidt, John Townsend, Matt Finke, Chris Backer, Jamie Hicks and John Walker. Without all of you we could not do what we do, preserve the history of our Warriors! THANK YOU!! Fall Knob Creek has become a special event for all the core members and new members attending. Nothing better than ending our flying season with a BANG! Literally!! A special thank you to all those who bring their campers and drive trucks and tow the event trailer year after year. Most of the time it goes off with out any problems! You are quite the convoy and always do a great job of arriving safely! Once we get settled in we all enjoy the fall colors, crisp evening air, cozy campfires and comraderie. And then the fun starts! You have to be there to understand! This fall we had more of our ladies in attendance (Deb Marroni, newbies, Cathy Clark, Pam Brinn & Whitney Klare and Kae York). They all did a great job of running the trailer and helping our camp cookie, Phil Marshall, with the cooking. And thank you Tom Klare for your magnificent gas lantern display! We could actually see to cook at 5 a.m.! As always a huge thank you to the Sumner Family for all their trust and support. Friday was a washout as far as flying(couldn't see the tops of the trees) so we hung out at the campsite or went down to the gun range to look through all the vendors. Saturday was a crazy busy day. 803/Warrior 11 took care of flying members while 369 took care of static duties. Having an aircraft on static display has proven to be very popular. It's a great place for the core member/volunteeres to hang out and popular with the guests at the gun range. We believe that it isn't about flying, it's about people! We need to thank all of our great core member/volunteers for giving of their time all year long and making the last event of the year a great one: Ron & Cathy Clark (Texas), Mark Hopkins (Michigan), John Fotia (Indiana), Ron Paye (Indiana), Bruce Ashworth (Indiana), Ron Baber (Indiana), Bill Flowers (Ohio), Arthur Gray (Indiana), Olaf Tessarzyk (Indiana), Paul Boggs (Michigan), Tom Klare (Indiana), Whitney Klare (Indiana), Dennis Jacoba,Sr. (Minnesota), Ernie & Deb Marroni (Indiana), Rodney Mayfield (Indiana), Denny Rogers (Indiana), Don Rogers (Indiana), Casey Eames (Indiana), Wade Hedinger (Ohio), Phil Marshall (Ohio), Joe & Pam Brinn (Michigan), John Ward (Indiana), Alan Walker (Indiana), John Walker (Indiana), & Kae York (Indiana). A big thank you to BMG Aviation/FBO, Bob & MaryBeth, Monroe Co. Airport, Bloomington, Indiana.
October 20th to 23rd, 2014 - The roadtrip crew was headed out again. Ron Paye, Bruce Ashworth, Tom Klare and John Walker left on Monday morning in two trucks with two empty trailers and a destination of the Sanford Airport, Sanford, Florida. Arriving tuesday afternoon, they picked up two UH-1H hueys and headed back to Indiana. UH-1H 71-16246 is the latest aquisition for the Organization. The other aircraft was being transported to Indiana for pickup later by Down East Emergency Medical Institute. We picked up their aircraft to save them the cost of shipping from Florida. Richard Bowie is the director of D.E.E.M.i. (our good friend and mentor) and it was our way of giving back to a man who has done so much for us in the past 10 years! Of course D.E.E.M.I./Richard Bowie is who we purchased 369 from 10 years ago. Thank You Richard!
October 27th to 29th, 2014 - A slim road crew consisting of John Walker and his 275,000 mile 02 Ford F350, headed out to Kansas City Missouri to pick up our first OH-6 Loach from the Kansas City Sheriffs Department. This loach served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1971 in the 11th armored cav. It also served in the Pennsylvania National Guard before going to the Sheriffs Department in Kansas City. Although the aircraft is not complete, it does have it's dataplate and complete log books beginning with Vietnam. It is corrosion free and still wears it's od green military paint and stencils. We will start accumulating the missing parts and yes, someday, it could fly again.
November 1st, 2014 - Core member work day. Members spent time reorganizing the restoration hanger and old time saver drive thru building so as to hold: 1-UH-1H airframe, 1-UH-1C airframe, blade boxes, 1-OH-6 Loach and parts.. Mission accomplished! Thank You core member/volunteers: John Fotia, Tom Agness, Ron Baber, Adam Jones, Casey Eames, Dam Eames, Tom Klare, Jerry Lindquist, Trevon Johnson and John Walker. Great job!
November 19th, 2014 - Meeting with Grissom Air Museum(commitee) board members to discuss the donation of the land for the National American Huey History Museum.
December 13th, 2014 - "Core Member Day"- 40 core members met at the Dutch Cafe for breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised by a visit from Dale & Mark Bennett from Hamburg, Michigan. It was great to see them again! After breakfast we headed across the highway to the Hangar/Museum and members eagerly participated in a "FOD" walk of the tarmack. Both aircraft were brought out and everyone got to take a short flight. We were blessed with mild weather (upper 30's). We returned the aircraft to the hangar, cleaned them up and swept the hanger. Everyone was having a great time! After changing a tire on Rodneys truck, we all caravaned to Kokomo to the Half Moon Restaurant (owned by life time member Chris Roegner) and had a wonderful meal and great conversation and comraderie! Thank You Dale Bennett for your lifetime membership and the purchase of two large bricks for the museum in honor of your wife Donna. Thank you to all the members who could be with us! And to those of you who couldn't be here, we missed you! John Walker, Kae York, Dale Bennett, Mark Bennett, Glen Veno, Paul Boggs, Phil Marshall, Jerry & Linda Lindquist, Ron Maxwell, Dan Eames, Casey Eames, Jerry Conner, Ron Paye, Ron Baber, Katie Baber, Lexie Baber, Doc Hammonds, Tom Agness, Dale Calloway, Trevon Johnson, Bill Lister, Adam Jones, Caleb Jones, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Rick Marroni, Jim Ireland, Denny Rogers, John Ackley, Rodney & Joan Mayfield, Tom Klare, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Jon Schmidt, Olaf Tessarzyk, John Ward and Jack Hess.
To all our members we Thank You for all your hard work and support throughout the year!! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! SEE YOU IN 2015!!
============================================================================================================================================================================================
Our annual Gathering is just a week away!! We are in need of some really great auction items. Please let us know if you have anything you would like to donate. The auction is always a big hit during the Gathering. Contact us at:info@americanhuey369.com. THANK YOU!!! Below is an approximate time schedule of events:
Saturday August 9th, 2014 8:00 a.m. – Hangar doors open / reveille followed by great 60’s music with DJ Clyde Fenton Sunday August 10th, 2014 8:00a.m. – Hangar doors open / reveille followed by great 60’s music with DJ Clyde Fenton Monday August 11th, 2014
=============================================================================================================================================
Our next big event with a reenactment is coming up July 4th!!
==================================================================================================================================================
July 8, 2014 - The VHPA (Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association) Reunion was a huge hit! We had a great time with all the pilots and their spouses and families. The city of Louisville also did a great job. We had the opportunity to meet and mingle with this great group of people for 4 days. The aircraft (369, 803 and the OH-6) were on static display on the Northlawn of Waterfront Plaza from Wednesday afternoon until Friday afternoon. Friday at 4p.m.. We performed a down pilot re-enactment for a very large crowd of Veterans and Patriots. Thank You Phil Marshall for your great narration of the re-enactment! What a way to celebrate the 4th of July! Thank You to Mike Law, VHPA Reunion chairman and his assistant Sharry Rogers for everything they did to bring the organization to Louisville. The accomodations at the Galt House were incredible! Thank You President Moon Mullen and the executive council for giving us the floor for nearly an hour to discuss your history and it's preservation. Thank You to ALL the VHPA members. You are a unique group of men and women and it was a pleasure to meet all of you! Thanks to Dave Hansen, Phil Marshall and Art Jacobs. The three of you represent American Huey well! Thank You to our life member Don McLaughlin for providing and delivering lunch to us all four days. You made certain no one went hungry! Thank You to Life member Paul Bartlett, owner of Heliplaque. A HUGE Thank You to Peter and Janet Bales for once again joining us with their OH-6, the Wolf Hounds Living History Group (Craig De Feyter, Marcia Van Ess, Travis Lowrie, Terry Giffin, James "Sparky" Yancy, Andrew Freeman, Joseph Shafer, Chris "Gibby" Gibbs & Joe Young) and Vietnam Dog handler Johnny Mayo, Ruthie Player and Luke the German Shepherd from making the re-enactment just that much more fun to watch! You guys are all awesome! We also thank: Louisville Waterfront Development Corp.- Ashley Smith and Catie Nelson, the Louisville Police Dept., Randy Sizemore - FAA-Louisville FSDO & assistant Anita, Chris Younkin-ATC plans & proceedures, W.L. Paris -Owner, Central American Airways located at Bowman Field and all the ladies and gentlemen working in the tower at Bowman Field! Thank You so much to all of our members who chose to spend the 4th of July with their extended family: John Walker, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Arthur & Barb Gray, Bill & Tracey Flowers, Tom Shields, Ron & Cathy Clark, Paul Harpole, Bobby & Kathy Cormack, Mark Hopkins, Phil Marshall, Art & Scott Jacobs, David & Carol Hansen, Ron Paye, Don Nelson, Jerry Lindquist, Tom Agness, Bruce Ashworth, Wade Hedinger, Tom Klare, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Ted & Sue Buisker, Gary Moline, Glen Veno, Al Michaels, Paul Boggs, Jerry Mellick and Chuck Canfield. Needless to say, we had a wonderful time with the VHPA and would be honored to work with them again!
==================================================================================================================================================
June 30, 2014 - The Logansport EAA - Airport Awareness event started out a little iffy. Mother Nature couldn't make up her mind whether she wanted rain or sun shine so she gave us both! We managed to fly rain and shine. They had a decent turnout dispite the weather. Thank You to Rose Wagoner, event coordinator and Tim Dalton, airport manager for putting on another great event. Thank You to all of our new members! Special Thanks to all our core members for being there to help out: John Walker, Gary & Pat Moline, Dale & Joyce Calloway, Casey Eames, Adam Jones, Caleb Jones, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Jerry Lindquist, Rick Marroni, Ernie Marroni, Tom Schmidt, John & Pat DaLucca, Jim Ireland, Ron, Katie, Lexie & Jacob Baber. Everyone did a great job!
==================================================================================================================================================
June 25, 2014 - We had another great event at the Southwest Michigan Regional Airport in Benton Harbor, Michigan this past weekend. The weather cooperated (we had no storms!) and the crowds showed up for all the reenactments. Lot's of new members and old friends came out to fly with us. We were extremely happy to see our good buddy Ed Marsh out and about and attending his first event in quite some time! Glad to have you back Ed! The reenactment was a big hit again this year. We couldn't pull it off with out the help of all of the Wolfhounds and Johnny, Allen and Luke. Thank You to Don Alsbro for inviting us back again this year. Don does a great job with this event! Thank You to all of our Ladies who run/work at the trailer: Pat Moline, Tracey Flowers, Rosanne Graves and Barb Gray.Thanks to all our air crew: John Walker, Ron Paye, Phil Marshall, Don Nelson, Glen Veno, Tom Schmidt, Tom Shields, Gary Moline, Arthur Gray, John Fotia, Denny Rogers, Rodney Mayfield, Bill Flowers, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Tom Klare, Mark Hopkins and Paul Boggs. We will be at the Logansport Cass Municipal Airport this Saturday, June 28th for their annual Fly In/Drive In. Come out and see all the great aircraft!
==================================================================================================================================================
June 9, 2014 - So, four events in three weeks got me behind on everything real quick! Sorry about that! The one day event at Mayflower Mill Elementary on May 9th was a little wet in the beginning but all in all it went very well. The kids were all outside waiting under three large tents for the huey to come in. They were all very excited to have it back at their school again. Thank You to Cheryl Baber, Sandy Waninger and the staff at Mayflower Mill for another excellent program. Getting to spend time talking with the children is always a fun and unique experience. You just never know what a child will ask! Congratulations to Katie and Lexie Baber for getting the opportunity to fly in to your school. Not many kids can say they flew to school in a Huey! Thank You to our crew: John Walker, Phil Marshall, Ron Paye, Denny Rogers, Tom Schmidt, Tom Shields, Tom Agness, Ron Baber, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Charley Veer, John DeLucca, Katie Baber, Lexie Baber and Jacob Baber. Thank You to all the great people at and around Roberts Restaurant in Americus for allowing us to "drop in" on our way home. It was great to see all of you again!
On Saturday May 10th we had a one day event at Matter Park in Marion, Indiana for the 7th annual "Run for Freedom" hosted by Indiana Freedom Memorial Foundation, Inc. Thank You to Shelby M Bowen of Marion for a truly great event. It was an honor to be invited to participate! Thank You to our crew: John Walker, Ron Paye, Jerry Lindquist, Casey Eames, Rick Marroni, Ernie and Deb Marroni, Tom Shields, Tom Schmidt, Tom Agness, Phil Marshall, Charley Veer, John & Pat DeLucca, Dale & Joyce Calloway and Dennis Jacoba Sr.
Friday May 16 and Saturday May 17th we were in Findlay, Ohio for the 27th Annual Armed Forces Day Celebration. The weather was a little iffy at first but the sun came out and so did the Veterans and Patriots! We had a great time flying new members and looking around at all the military vehicles and memorabilia. Thank You Commander Roger Neff of the Findlay Military Organization for inviting us to participate in your event.Thank You to everyone involved with this event! You do a wonderful job! Thank You to our crew: John Walker, Ron Paye, Don Nelson, Tom Agness, Tom Schmidt, Tom Klare, Arthur & Barb Gray, Glen Veno, Phil Marshall, Jon Schmidt, Bill & Tracey Flowers, Sydney Flowers, Gary & Pat Moline, Chuck Canfield, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Ernie & Deb Marroni, Charley Veer and Rodney Mayfield.
Saturday May 24th we were off to Cedarburg, Wisconsin for the three day Memorial Day weekend. What an awesome little town Cedarburg is!! And the people are great! We truly appreciate be invited to Cedarburg to take part in their event. Our friend Peter Bales joined us at the West Bend Airport and flew in to Cedarburg with us in his OH-6 loach. We had a nice group of people waiting for us when we arrived. We made lots of new friends and brought home over two hundred new members! We flew the parade route on monday with Peter and Janet in the OH-6 following us. It was an impressive sight! The sight from 803 was just as impressive! People lined the streets for blocks! What a great town! Thank You to Jerry Smith for all he did to get us there.Thank You to Jerry, Dennis, Keith, George & Dennis for the incredible meals on Saturday and Sunday night. You all went above and beyond your duties to take such great care of us! Thank You Cedarburg for making us feel so welcome in your town. It was an absolute pleasure to spend the weekend with all of you! Thank You to our crew for spending the holiday weekend with your American Huey family!: John Walker, Ron Paye, Tom Schmidt, Tom Klare, Gary & Pat Moline, Mark Hopkins, Denny Rogers, Charley Veer and Arthur & Barb Gray.
==================================================================================================================================================
April 25, 2014 - It is shaping up to be a busy year! 14 events o the schedule. The Spring Knob Creek event went well. The weather was beautiful and there were hundreds of people there enjoying the range and the weather. Thank You to Tom Klare for providing breakfast every morning and dinner in the evening along with doing all of the photography. Thanks to all the guys who brought their trailers in to handle the sleeping arrangements. And a big thank you to ALL the crew, flight and ground, for doing a great job!! John Walker, Ron Paye, Casey Eames, Glen Veno, Wade Hedinger, Chuck Canfield, Troy Brindack, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Donny Rogers, Paul Boggs, Jerry & Linda Conners, Alan Walker, Tom Klare, Keith Cencelewski, Austin Cencelewski, Dennis Jacoba Sr., and Ernie & Deb Marroni for trying their darndest to get there but mechanical problems stopped them. Thank You to Bob & Mary Beth at the Bloomington Airport, Bloomington, Indiana for always giving us a great deal on fuel and letting us hang out in their lounge area. Thank You to Honaker Aviation in Bardstown, Kentucky our go to airport for fuel while at Knob Creek.
The annuals went well. We had a full crew. Thank you to our maintenance director, Dick Hosmer, from Cibolo, Texas and Phil Flagg from Bangor, Maine for being here to overseeing the work on both aircraft. Thanks to Jerry Lindquist for providing lunch for the crew. It is greatly appreciated! Thanks to everyone who came in to lend a hand: Tom Schmidt (Florida snowbird), Tom Shields(East Moline, Illinois), Mark Hopkins(Michigan), Jamie Hicks(Indiana), Ernie Marroni(Indiana), Rick Marroni( Indiana), Adam Jones(Indiana), Paul Boggs(Michigan), Rodney Mayfield(Indiana), Denny Rogers(Indiana), Arthur Gray(Indiana), John Fotia(Indiana), Phil Marshall (Ohio), Pat Lund (Virginia), Doc Hammonds (Indiana), Chuck Canfield(Ohio), Troy Brindack(Ohio), Ron Baber(Indiana), Ron Paye(Indiana), Charlie Veer(Indiana), Tom Klare(Indiana), Casey Eames(Indiana), Jerry Conner(Indiana), Matt Finke(Indiana), Katie, Lexie & Jacob Baber(Indiana), Alan Walker(Indiana) and our fearless leader, John Walker.
We finally had good weather for tracking 369's tail rotor blades on April 22nd. It took several hours of fine tuning but she's good to go! Thank You John Townsend for doing the timing and making adjustments and Thank You to Ernie Marroni and Dennis Jacoba for being here to lend hand.
On February 7th we loaded up 049 and 701 for a road trip to Texas. The restoration on 049 was moving rather slowly so our maintenance director, Dick Hosmer, made us an offer we simply could not refuse. His repair station in Texas would do all the needed repairs on 049 and we would given them 701. When John asked about the time frame and mentioned bring the trailer to pick her up, Dick said mid 2015 and you won't need the trailer. You can fly her home! WHAT! That was great news! After dropping off the B models the boys headed down to Florida to pick up two more Hueys. All photos from the trip are on the first pages of the 2014 gallery. Thank You to our road trip crew: Jerry Conner (his first huey road trip), Dan Eames (another rookie road tripper), Ron Paye (an old hat at road trips!), Glen Veno (not his fIrst rodeo) and John Walker(the road trip mastermind).
HOPE TO SEE LOTS OF FAMILIAR FACES AND NEW ONES AT THE UPCOMING EVENTS!
==================================================================================================================================================
January 9, 2014 - 049 has finally had a little work done on her. It took about a year but the first panel that was removed in 2012 for repair has been reinstalled. John Fotia came down on December 14 and spent two days reinstalling the panel. Lots of rivets!! The weekend after Christmas quite a few of the guys got together to take 369 and 803 out for a little flight time. They were all in need of a huey "fix". All went well and both aircraft performed flawlessly. John Fotia will be back this weekend to work on removing the second panel from 049. Again, lots of rivets to remove. Hopefully it won't take as long to get the second one repaired and back in. The annuals are coming up in March. There is always a flurry of activity in the hangar getting both aircraft ready for another flying season. There are already 10 events on the schedule.
2014 renewal time is coming up. I will try to get those in the mail by mid March. Of course, you don't have to wait you can send them anytime!
==================================================================================================================================================
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HOSTED AN EVENT THIS YEAR. WE CAN ONLY HOPE THAT YOU KNOW WHAT GREAT THINGS YOU ARE DOING FOR OUR VETERANS! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK. WE LOOK FORWARD TO AN AWESOME 2014!!! Thank You to all of our core members for all the time and effort they put into the events. Doing 14 to 18 events a year can be a little stressful for our families at times. Just know that every one of you are greatly appreciated for all you do! Thank You to all the volunteers who help out at events. Our volunteers make the big events much easier to handle. We hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to seeing everyone in the spring! THANK YOU FOR A GREAT 2013!!!
==================================================================================================================================================
October 30, 2013 - Well, here we are at the end of another awesome year! I have failed miserably to keep up with the Huey News. I promise to do better!
We had another great event in Fort Jennings Ohio in August. You just can't help but have a great time when you are there. The people are just so nice! It's a wonderful little all american town! We appreciate each and every one of you for all you do to help the Veterans of not only your community but the surrounding communities. Thank You Jerry Siefker for all your hard work in putting all the details together for us to be part of your event. We thank Jan Vetter and her family for all the kind words. We are extremely happy to know that we are able to bring some healing to you and others in the Ft. Jennings family. Thank You to the town of Ft. Jennings for inviting us to return next year! We can't wait to see everyone again!
On September 7th we went to Mentone Indiana for their annual "Rotors Over Mentone" helicopter fly in at the Lawrence D Bell Museum. They unveiled their recently restored static display Huey with a great ceremony. We are Honored to get to take part in their event. Thank You to Tim whetstone and all of the staff at the museum for all the hard work you do every day to maintain the museum and the legacy of Lawrence D Bell. You are a fine group of Veterans and Patriots!
September 20th we flew both 369 and 803 to Indianapolis to the War Memorial downtown for their annual POW MIA Recognition Day. What an Honor it is to get to land two Hueys in front of this Historic Museum on such an important day. Thank You to the City of Indianapolis for allowing us to be part of this event. We also want to thank the Indianapolis FSDO for the FAA for helping get all the details ironed out to make it possible for us to fly into the city of Indianapolis. We know that it is a special privelage to do such a thing. Thank You!
September 19th to the 22nd we were once again Honored to have a great place to have our annual "Bringing the Sound of Hope" event at the Clay and Nancy York Farm in Greentown, Indiana. We have this event next door to the Vietnam Veterans Reunion so that all of our Veterans have the opportunity to see and hear the Hueys. The event is very popular and we always have a great turnout. Thank You to every one who came out to see us this year! Thank You to Clay and Nancy for being wonderful hosts. There aren't to many people who will open up their property to a group of people with Hueys and Wolfhounds!
September 28th we spent the day with the great people of Laketon, Indiana. The American Legion Riders Chapter 402 hosted the event at the American Legion Sunset Post with some of the best home made soups and desserts in the county. This year they included a band for entertainment. Thank You to Chris Haecker for inviting us back this year. As you know, small towns are our favorites to visit and Laketon is no exception! You are a very special group of Veterans and Patriots!
The weekend of October 5 and 6 we got busy with changing the main rotor blades on 803. The original set had .1 hour left on them. We hated to replace the original set because they were so perfectly balanced but once they hit zero time they have to come off. The new set have proven to be equally as nice as the set we removed. 803 flys so nice! The blade shop in Arkansas did a great job balancing the new set and our Maintenance Director sent his best guy, Chris Baker, to help us with the installation, balancing and tracking. Thank You Chris for helping us get 803 flying smooth again! Thank You to the team of members who came in to help!
This year we decided to take both aircraft back to the Fall Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot. Every one seemed to enjoy having one of the birds as a static diplay. It's nice to be able to sit and talk to people and let the kids (young and old) sit in the aircraft. Thank You to the entire Sumner Family for allowing us to come in and spend the weekend with them and all the great Patriots who attend their event.
Our final event of the year was the USO Cincinnati Tribute held at the Cincinnati Museum Center (the old Union Station) in Cincinnati, Ohio. This year the event hosted a half size replica of the Vietnam Wall and American Huey 369. We are so proud to be included in this event! The dinner Saturday night was wonderful! Every year they Honor several Wounded Warriors. This year for their 10th Anniversary they invited all the past Honorees back. Of the 38 honorees, 27 were able to make the event. How inspiring to spend the evening in the presents of our Wounded Warriors! We had the Honor of taking six of them on a flight Sunday afternoon in 369. They had a great time! First we need to Thank Kay Hatch from Bell Helicopter for all her work getting us to this event. Kay was instrumental in getting us our tours of both Bell plants on our Las Vegas Journey! Kay is a special person and a great Patriot!! Thank You again Kay!!! Thank You to Robert Hastings of Bell Helicopter for all you did to secure the donation that made it possible for us to attend USO Cincinnati. Thank You to Marc Stout and Rachel Steinman for a job well done! Thank You to Patrick Craven and all the staff for the Wall that Heals. It was a pleasure working with you and we look forward to seeing you again in the future. Thank You to everyone involved with this incredible event for allowing us to be a small part of the festivities. We hope to see all of you again in the future. Thank You to the wonderful staff at the Palomino restaurant! We had a blast with Bridgette, our server. What a great young lady! The food was excellent and the staff is awesome!
===============================================================================================================================
August 13, 2013 - August was busy! We had yet another great Down Syndrome event! Thank You to Dan and Andi Montgomery and Down Syndrome of Indiana for putting together another fantastic group of people. From face painting for the kids, to great music and food and huey flights for the Down Syndrome children it was an awesome event!! We are so happy and proud to be included! Thank You everyone!!
The Gathering was one of our best. Lots of great new people. The 15th Medical Bn. had a mini reunion with over 30 gentlemen and their wives. 803 was in their unit in Vietnam so the guys had lots of fun getting to know their old bird again. The reenactments were a big hit. We thank Peter and Janet Bales for being with us again and bringing their Loach. They have become a big part of the reenactment! The Wolfhounds were also with us. Their display is always popular with the everyone. Especially the gun enthusiasts. We couldn't have a proper reenactment without our Hounds! This year we had the pleasure of adding a Vietnam Veteran dog handler and his dogs to the reenactment. Handler, Johnny Mayo, Allan Mathews, Ruthie Player and Luke the dog! You were all just wonderful to have here this year! We hope you will come back next year! Thank You to our favorite Vietnam Veteran auctioneer, Rex Gordon. Rex manages to squeeze a few extra dollars out of everyone during the auction and has a great time doing it! Thank you to Slappy's Barbeque for supplying some of the best barbeque in the county. They ran out on Saturday so we know everyone is enjoying it! Thank you to Jerry & Linda Lindquist and Jon Schmidt for the awesome military displays in the hanger. They are greatly appreciated and always a hit. Thank You to Johnny Mayo, Allan Mathews, Ruthie Player, Jerry Paul and Paul Bartlett for you displays. We hope that you are getting some interest for your projects. You all do great things for the Veterans. Thank You to John an Donna Steer for always giving us great music and a Sunday Morning service that is second to none! Thanks to our D.J., Clyde Fenton and his lovely wife Tammy for all the great music during the day and to Peru's own Mark and Troy Band for jammin' into the night with us on Saturday! You guys rock! Really, you do! Thank You to the Ladies and Gentlemen from the 15th Med. Bn. for making this years Gathering a truely special event. We know we are on the right path when we can be part of getting Veterans back together with the aircraft they flew in combat. You guys are awesome!! Please don't hesitate to come back we would love to see all of you again! Thank You to all of the Core Members and Volunteers who help make the Gathering the great event it is!! John Walker, Alan Walker, Julie Ressett, Gracie, Colton & Aubrie Ressett, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Gary & Pat Moline, Ernie & Deb Marroni, Dan, Erica & Casey Eames, Denny Rogers, Rodney Mayfield, Tom & Marilyn Shields, Dennis & Sharon Hedinger, Steve & Matt Kesler, Troy Brindack, Ron Baber, Katie, Lexie & Jacob Baber, Jerry Mellick, Don Nelson, Ron Paye, Phil Flagg, Phil Marshall, Kenny Wemer, Glen Veno, Dick & Carolyn Hosmer, Jerry & Noreen Mallams, Rex Gordon, Bobby Cormack, Brian Riley, Ron & Cathy Clark, Tom Schmidt, Jon Schmidt, Tom Klare, Marty Stapleton, Tom Agness, Lisa & Angus McTavish, Tyler Freeman, Chuck Canfield, Hannah Klare, John & Donna Steer, Clyde & Tammy Fenton, Peter & Janet Bales, Bill & Tracey Flowers, Mick Lanno, Adam & Caleb Jones, Art & Scott Jacobs, Mark Hopkins, Dale & Joyce Callaway, Gary & Robin Campbell, Al & Nancy Michaels, Carl & Sherry Dewey, Doc Hammonds, Paul Bartlett, Charley Veer, John ward, Jerry Blevins, Jerry & Linda Conner and Ted & Sue Bruisker.
===============================================================================================================================
I guess I forget that not everyone is a facebooker. So, lets get caught up! The Knob Creek event was great as always and we will be returning there in October. "Lest We Forget" in Benton Harbor, Michigan was really fun this year. We did a reenactment that was by far the coolest one we have done to date. 369, 803, the Wolfhounds, Brian Riley in his little bird scouting, tanks, jeeps, Wild Thing, a Vietnam Veteran dog handler and his dog and a flame thrower! It was awesome! I wish we had the space to do one just like it at the Gathering! Thank You Don Alsbro and all the volunteers for planning what for us was the best "Lest we Forget" yet! We attended a "Moving Wall" & Veteran Tribute in Toledo, Ohio. Yet another great event! Situated on the Maumee River with the city as a back drop. Pretty cool! Thanks to Duke Wheeler and everyone in Toledo for putting on a fantastic event! Logansport was a small but fun event. We thank everyone involved for doing a great job! Goshen was a lot of fun again this year. Weather kept a few helicopters away but all in all I think they had a pretty good turnout. Next year Mother Nature needs to give them a break and give them a beautiful day from start to finish! Great job Randy and everyone at the Goshen Airport for doing an outstanding job again this year! We actually have a break in July. But that just gives us time to get ready for the Gathering! The Down Syndrome Benefit will take place August 3rd at Indy Exec Airport, Montgomery Aviation, Zionsville, Indiana. The event starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. Everyone come out and support Down Syndrome of Indiana!!
The Gathering is coming up fast! Anyone who would like to donate items for the annual auction please contact Kae York @ 765-689-7500 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. monday thru friday. We are in need of items! Volunteers have been getting the poster for the Gathering out since May. It has been getting good response and it looks like this could be our biggest event ever! Hope to see YOU there!!!
===============================================================================================================
ITINERARY FOR AMERICAN HUEY 369 Duration of Journey: Crew of 10: Fri. Feb. 22, 2013 – Tentatively depart Grissom Aeroplex, Peru, Indiana and arrive at first destination, Branson, Missouri where a “Welcome 369 Ceremony” will be held by Branson community Veterans/Patriots. Sat, Feb. 23 – Depart Branson and arrive Amarillo, Texas at Bell Helicopter/Tac Air FBO to be greeted by Amarillo Mayor Paul Harpole (Vietnam Veteran Huey Dustoff Crew Chief), Bell Helicopter Officials and other Veterans/Patriots. Sun. Feb. 24 – Spend the day with Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 297 and all the great Veterans and Patriots in Amarillo @ Tac Air from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Mon., Feb. 25 – Meet with Bell Helicopter officials and receive gracious tour of Amarillo Bell Helicopter facility where new UH-1Y Hueys and the V-22 Ospreys are built. Tues, Feb. 26 – Depart Amarillo and arrive Flagstaff, Arizona Wed, Feb 27 – Depart Flagstaff and arrive Las Vegas, Nevada North Airport Fri & Sat, Mar. 1 & 2 – H.A.I. pilot briefing, then fly American Huey 369 to Heli-Expo Convention to display inside with 60 other helicopters. Sun & Mon, Mar. 3 & 4 – Set up Booth #C7122 for American Huey 369 Organization. Tues, Wed, Thurs, Mar. 5, 6, 7 – HAI Heli-Expo 2013 Convention with more than 20 of our Volunteer/Core members/crew on the convention floor with “369” in the Military Heritage Display and at our booth #C7122. Fri, Mar. 8 – (Tentatively) Depart Heli-Expo and arrive near Window Walk, Arizona for event with Navajo Native Americans/Veterans/Patriots Sat, Mar. 9 – (Tentatively) Special event at Window Walk, Arizona with Navajo Veterans/Patriots. Sun, Mar. 10 – (Tentatively) Fly to Mineral Wells, Texas to Ft. Walther and the Vietnam Veterans Museum. Mon, Mar. 11 – (Tentatively) Fly to Bell Helicopter headquarters in Ft. Worth, Texas to meet with Bell officials and employees. Possible tour of Bell facility where all Hueys were built 1956 to the 1970s. Tues, Mar. 12 – (Tentatively) Fly into North West Regional Airport, Roanoke, Texas (owners & Lifetime members, Glen & Candy Hyde) for special event with Veterans/Patriots and former Bell Helicopter employees who built the Hueys. We look forward to thanking them for the wonderful job they did in building an aircraft that saved so many lives. Wed, Mar. 13 – Depart enroute to home destination (not planned at this time). Thurs, Mar. 14 – Depart for final leg home to American Huey 369 hangar at Grissom Aeroplex, Peru, Indiana. ==================================================================================================================== Google: American Huey 369 facebook to see photos of our jouney! ======================================================================================================================== March 2, 2013 - We are in Vegas with 369! She did a great job. Didn't use a drop of oil. Wish I could say the same for fuel but the old girl really likes her Jet A! Had great receptions everywhere we stopped on the journey out. Got in to Branson, MO Friday night (2-22) late due to weather holding us up until 2:45 in the afternon at Grissom. Got to meet a lot of wonderful people at "the Mill" Saturday morning. Thank You so much to Sarah, Julie and LaDonna for all you ladies did to get to your great town! And Thank You for the awesome gift bags we received at the hotel! You girls rock!! We left Branson saturday morning on our way to Amarillo, Texas with a great feeling about our journey. The sights from a helicopter are so different than what we see traveling by car. Just spectacular! We arrived in Amarillo at sunset but still had time for Mayor Paul Harpole ( a Vietnam Veteran ) to take the front seat and fly over his beautiful city. Hardly anything can beat a sunset flight. We were greated by a large number of people at TacAir where we landed. American Legion 297 greated us with American Flags flying! Thank You to everyone who greeted us at the airport! We thank Mayor Paul Harpole for everything he did in the last several months to get us to his great city. Thank You to Donna Hoag for all the beautiful blankets that you lovingly made and presented to everyone of our crew. Thank You to the Coors CowboyClub for the prime rib dinner you served the night we arrived. Best prime rib I have ever had! Thank You to Don Johnson and the local EAA chapter for the great meal we had at Don's house on Sunday night. More great food! I'm sure most people know about the blizzard that hit Amarillo Sunday night and lasted until late Monday night. That was a sight to see. Our tour of the Bell facility was postponed until Tuesday morning because the roads were closed on Monday. Of course we couldn't help but tease Mayor Harpole about that! The tour of the plant was great. The facility is so clean and getting to see the aircraft as they are being assembled was amazing. We saw the Y model Huey, the Cobra and the Osprey. Sorry, no photos. That is prohibited. Thank You JJ & Glen for the tour. It was great! Thank You to our new found Native American brothers and sisters. Sue and Terry presented all the crew with certificates of appreciation and Sue presented very meaningful gifts to all of us. We love you all! We departed Amarillo about 1:30 Tuesday. Unfortunately the van and trailer couldn't leave until Wednesday. We appreciate Mark and Glen for everything they endured while driving from Amarillo. The roads were not great. The scenery was awesome and the flight was great. We spent the night in Gallup, New Mexico. Great Mexican food for dinner! Departed Gallup early and were on the last leg of the journey to Vegas! More incredible scenery! Wild horses, antelope, elk and snow covered mountains! Beautiful! Met Gary & Pat Moline at the Kingman airport and actually had lunch! We never do that! Took off from Kingman and flew by the Hoover Dam on our way in to Vegas. Now that is a sight to see! Arrived at Las Vegas North airport around 3:00 Nevada time. Cleaned 369 and headed for the Riviera hotel. Flew 369 to the convention center on Friday about 12:30. She looked great coming in. Matt Zaccaro, president of HAI, came out for a photo op with the crew. Then we moved her inside. We will go in on Sunday to start setting up our booth. Can't believe we have been gone 9 days already! Wish us luck. We already have a lot of great new contacts! Photos of our journey can be seen on our facebook page. Just google, American Huey 369 facebook. ===================================================================================================================== February 6, 2013 - The screening for Alpha Dogs was great!! I hope everyone can tune in to NatGeoWild Friday night Feb. 8th at 9p.m. to see the first show in the series. This is 803/Warrior 11's television debut! I think everyone will be impressed with Vohne Liche Kennels and the training that goes on to get dogs ready for our military. They are a class act!! Congratulations to Scweet Entertainment and Vohne Liche Kennels for a job incredibly done! ===================================================================================================================== January 9, 2013 - HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!! It's already shaping up to be a very interesting year! We have been invited to take(fly) 369 to the largest helicopter convention in the world. HAI, Helicopter Association International, is being held in Las Vegas, Nevada March 5th, 6th and 7th. Our flight crew and chase vehicle will be leaving our hangar at Grissom on February 22nd. We are scheduled to check into our hotel in Las Vegas February 28th. We are working on scheduled stop overs on the flight out and on the return flight. I will post a schedule of our itenarary as soon as we have conformation from all partys involved. Our purpose for this extreme endeavor is to find the perfect person or persons to help the organization build the National American Huey History Museum. This History Matters!!
At this time we have a flight/chase crew of 10 core members. They are John Walker (pilot), Ron Paye(co-pilot), Glen Veno (co-pilot), Rodney Mayfield(crewchief), Tom Schmidt(A&P), Bill Flowers(gunner), Mark Hopkins(videographer), Kae York(photographer), Lynn "Doc" Hammonds( our in house medic), Marcus & Bruce Ashworth. We have great people meeting us in Las Vegas. They are Paul Fitzsimons(our architect), Dave Hanson, Art Jacobs, Dick & Carolyn Hosmer, Gary & Pat Moline, Wade Hedinger, Al & Nancy Michaels, Brian Riley, Bobby Cormack, Chuck Canfield & Rick Turner.
Please check the event schedule. We have three events on the schedule that include reenactments. At this time we have 9 events with 3 of those 9 pending conformation. Looks like another busy year ahead!
==============================================================================================================
November 14, 2012 - Laketon, Indiana put on a wonderful Veterans Weekend event at the American Legion. The weather was beautiful and they had a large number of Veterans and Patriots come out to enjoy ham and beans and flights on 803. Honoring our Veterans from all wars, we had WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans come together for some great conversations! Thank You all for your service!! It was a pleasure to meet all of you! Thank You to Chris Haecker for putting it all together. Chris and her ladies and gentlemen did an outstanding job! Thank You to all of our new members. We hope to see all of you at the Gathering next August. Thank You to our crew! What a great way to end the year! Thank You: John Walker, Ron Paye, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Dan & Erica Eames, Casey Eames, John DeLucca, Charley Veer, Dennis Roy Jacoba, Sr., Tom Klare, Denny Rogers, Rodney Mayfield, Tom & Bonnie Schmidt, Adam & Caleb Jones, Bruce Ashworth, Rex Gordon, Doc Hammonds, Dale Calloway and Steve Bowyer.
We are gearing up for 369's Journey in March. We have been invited to join the elite in Helicopter aviation at HAI, Helicopter Association International. This is the largest Helicopter convention in the world. We will have a booth and 369 will be on display inside the convention center with 60 other helicopters! How awesome is that! This journey is entirely about creating awareness of the history of the Huey and the Veterans and the much needed museum that needs to/will be built to house all the models of the Huey and their history. The convention is being held in Las Vegas, Nevada. It should be an interesting journey.
==============================================================================================================
November 6, 2012 - We kicked off Veteran Appreciation Week in Kokomo, Indiana Saturday November 3rd with a flyover to start the 5 K run/walk. It was cold and a bit windy but they had a decent turn out. All proceeds went to Veterans in need. We gained 15 new members with half the proceeds going to PFC Anthony Walton. Anthony was wounded in Afghanistan(he was shot 37 times and will lose his arm due to his severe injuries) and recently came back home to Kokomo. His home is currently undergoing maintenance to make it liveable for his family again. Thank You Anthony for your service! Thanks to our members for coming out is less than spectacular weather: Ron Paye, John Walker, Dan & Erica Eames, Casey Eames, Dennis Roy Jacoba, Sr., Tom Klare, Jim Steffel, Gary Moline, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers and John DeLucca.
============================================================================================================
October 20, 2012 - Knob Creek was a great success! Almost 300 new members!! Thank You everyone!! I have all the new members in the database, ordered their dogtags and photos are on the photoreflect site.(added 10/23) All the new members are now listed on the Members page and Mark will be posting the Knob Creek photos on pages 283 and 284 of the 2012 photo pages. We are starting to get calls for events for 2013 so make sure you check the events page often. ============================================================================================================
October 20, 2012- Thank You to the Sumner Family for another spectacular event!! It was my first Knob Creek. The night shoot was awesome!!! Thank you to all of our core members and family who came down to help out and have some fun!!! Our pilots: John Walker, Ron Paye, Wade Hedinger & Glen Veno, thanks for a safe flight to and from Knob Creek. Our Flight Crew: Tom Shields, Bill Flowers, Jim Shields, Jerry Lindquist, Ron Baber, Tom Schmidt, Bruce Ashworth, Ed Marsh & Charley Veer. Thank You to our advance party ground crew: Alan Walker(fuel & trailer man!!), Rodney Mayfield(home away from home), Dennis Rogers(home away from home), Dennis Jacoba, Sr. (home away from home), Doc & Brenda Jenkins (our firewood consultants!!), Tom Klare (event trailer & photographer), Chuck Canfield, Phil Marshall (our cook!!), Mark & Bobbi Hopkins (Lz Coordinator, memberships and my travel companions @ the Creek!), Gary & Zach Moline, John Ward, Oly, Doc Hammonds, Keith, Jimmy Steffel &Ed Halcomb. Did I miss anyone?? Thank You Everyone!!!!!! Great Job!!!
============================================================================================================
October 2, 2012 - Next up, Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot, October 12, 13 and 14. Hoping for more great weather!!!! See you in West Point!!
We are making changes to the membership page. It is being broken down into years and will look like the Photo Gallery pages. This should help the pages load faster as it will not be trying to load over 4000 names. The 2012 page is up to date and will be added to the website soon. 2005 to 2011 will take some time but I will try to have it completed by the end of the year.
============================================================================================================
September 18, 2012 - Bringing the Sound of Hope. We had a great turnout at the Clay York Farm. It's our third year at this location and it just keeps getting better! Thank You so much to Clay and Nancy for giving us the use of their farm for 4 days. They are such great people!! We always have a wonderful time during this event because it is right next door to one of the largest gatherings of Vietnam Veterans you will ever find! Thank You to all of our Brothers and Sisters who come over to visit and become members. We do this for all of you!! Thank You to all of the new members(over 200 of you)!! Thank You to the Wolf Hounds for being with us all weekend! We wish this wasn't your last event of the year with us!! We miss you already!! Thank You to all of our Core Members who came out to help at the event: Pilots & Copilots: John Walker, Wade Hedinger, Phil Marshall, Ron Paye, Don Nelson. Chuck Canfield, Gary Moline & Glen Veno. Ground & Flight Crew members: Bill & Tracey Flowers, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Tom Shields, Arthur Gray, Tom Schmidt, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Mark Hopkins, Ed Marsh, Casey Eames, Ron Baber, Dale & Joyce Callaway, Pat Moline, Paul Boggs, Adam & Caleb Jones, Tom Klare, Dan & Erica Eames.
============================================================================================================
September 10, 2012 - Finally!! We had nice weather for the Rotors Over Mentone event. Mother Nature finally decided to bless this event with good weather.The Lawrence D Bell Museum puts on a nice little event that should become a nice "big" event in the future. Quite a few helicopters turned out to make it interesting for everyone who attended. Thank You to Tim Whetstone and all the staff at the museum for doing a great job! Thank You to our crew: John Walker, Ron Paye, John Fotia, Casey Eames, Dan & Erica Eames, Dale & Joyce Callaway, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Denny Rogers, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Ed Marsh, Tom Schmidt, Adam Jones, Tom Klare and Ron Baber.
============================================================================================================
August 29, 2012 - The crew had a great time in Canada. Everyone at the border was very nice. No hassles. The Southern Ontario Military Muster went well. Everyone in attendance seemed to be having a great time. 803/Warrior 11 was a big hit. Thank you to event coordinator Mickey Moulder and the Canadian Transportation Museum and Heritage Village for putting on an outstanding event. Thank You everyone who helped get us to this event: Keith Baxter, Mike Skoczen, Glen Veno and Rick Turner. Thank you to Brian McMahon and McMahon Helicopter Service for your generous donation! Thank You to all of our new members and a special thank you to Keith and Teresa Baxter for becoming lifetime members! Thank You to our crew for doing a great job, as always!: John Walker, Wade Hedinger, Ron Paye, Rodney Mayfield, Dennis Rogers, Arthur & Barb Gray, Ed Marsh, Gary & Pat Moline, Mark Hopkins, Ed Halcomb, Glen Veno, Dennis Jacoba,Sr., Bill Flowers and Tom Klare.
============================================================================================================
August 22, 2012 - Fort Jennings, Ohio. Wow! I wish every small town was like Fort Jennings. This little town of less than 500 residents put on a bicentennial event that anyone would be proud of!! Thank You so much for allowing us to be part of it. We met so many great people! It may be our most memorable event yet (and we have had a lot of memorable events). The healing power of 369 was tremendous. You had to be there. Thank You so much to Jim & Nancy Dickman, Mayor Jim Smith, the Fort Jennings Police Dept., and the ENTIRE TOWN of Fort Jennings for making us feel welcome and like family! I'm at a loss for words right now so I'll have to finish this one later!
============================================================================================================
August 14, 2012 - Well, another Gathering is in the books! Can't believe it's come and gone already. We had a great turnout this year! Our biggest event yet! The weather was warm and beautiful. Thank You to everyone who attended this year. It's great to see familiar faces and lots of new ones! The organization just continues to grow with lots of big plans in the future.
Thank You so much to everyone who participated in the auction. We had our best one yet! 60 items brought nearly $8000.00! Congratulations to Art Jacobs for being the winning bidder of the custom painted helmet signed by Robert Duvall. It was the highest selling helmet we have ever had. Thank You to artist Don Mong of Rhode Island for donating yet another beautiful helmet! Al Michaels walked away with the winning bid on another unique auction item. Pat Lund of Virginia, hand crafted an ambulance with pieces from the Huey. You had to see this piece to believe it. It was beautiful! Thank You and congratulations to all the winning bidders and to everyone who donated items. Lots of talent in this organization! Thank You to: Joe Kline for donating his beautiful helicopter prints, Arnies Ace Hardware, Green Oaks Antiques, Larry Ford, Big R, Bob Courtney, Doc Hammonds, Gary Campbell, Bill & Tracey Flowers, Jerry Paul, Phil Marshall, Pat Lund, Nathaniel Lund, Tom Schmidt, John & Donna Steer, Rick Turner, Shirley Farkas, Jim Bledsoe, Greg & Donna Morehead, Kae York, Gary Scwartz and Bruce Ashworth for all the great items. Thank You to our auctioneer, Rex Gordon, who always makes sure everyone makes the highest bid possible(even if he has to do it for you!) lol. He's great and we love him!
Thank You to Jerry Paul for donating proceeds from his t-shirt sales to American Huey. It is greatly appreciated! Thank You to Jerry & Linda Lindquist for again setting up his awesome diorama and clothing displays. If you missed Jerrys dioramas you missed alot. He is quite the artist! Thank You to Slappys BBQ for all the great food. Not a complaint on the tarmack!
Thank You to Peter & Janet Bales for traveling from Janesville, Wisconsin to be part of our Gathering. They are the proud owners of the OH-6 Loach that participated in the reenactment. This was the second year Peter and Janet joined us and we hope they will continue to be here with us! Thank You to all the Wolf Hounds for being with us again! A fun group of guys and one awesome Nurse!!! Thanks Marcia for trying to keep them in line! Thank You to our flight crews for doing an incredible job with the reenactment as well as membership flights.
Thank You to our awesome team of ladies running the trailer this year! You girls rock!!! Thank You Cathy Steffel, Marilyn Shields, Pat Moline, Erica Eames, Joyce Calloway, Elaine Curvin, Tracey Flowers and Jo Hedinger. Oh, and Kenny Wemer!
Thank You to everyone at the front tables, concession and setup crew: Carolyn & Dick Hosmer, Ed Marsh, Barb Gray, Alan Walker, Casey Eames, Chuck Canfield, Charley Veer, Tom Klare, Doc Hammonds, Paul Fitzsimons, Tom Schmidt, Phil Marshall, Arthur Gray, Dale Calloway, Gary & Robin Campbell, Clayton, Dennis & Sharon Hedinger, Carl & Sherry Dewey, John Daluca, Dan & Erica Eames.
Thank You to our aircrew: Ron Paye, Wade Hedinger, Phil Marshall, John Walker, Gary Moline, Glen Veno, Chuck Canfield, Mark Hopkins, Tom Schmidt, Tom Shields, Arthur Gray, John Fotia, Jamie Hicks, Jim Steffel, Bill Flowers, Ron Baber, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers and special guest co-pilots, Jim Harvey, Al Michaels, Tom Agness and Art Jacobs.
Thank You to Tom Klare for helping me with the membership photographs. He did a fine job! Hope you are available again.
Thank You to Pepsico for providing the fountain head and Cole Bros. for the bottled water.
If I have missed anyone, I apologize. We have had quite few events in a row and I'm losing track of where I was! lol
============================================================================================================
Schedule for the 2012 Gathering:
============================================================================================================
August 7, 2012 - Another incredible Down Syndrome Benefit! The rainy weather held off until late in the afternoon so we got to fly quite a few of the children. Smiles all around! We just love doing this event! Thank You so much to Dan and Andie Montgomery for hosting the event and for inviting us. We look forward to this event every year. Thank You to all the staff at Montgomery Aviation for all the extra work you do to make the event a success. Thank You to all the sponsors and people behind the scene. We Thank our crew for always stepping up: John Walker, Alan Walker, Mark Hopkins, Denny Rogers, Casey Eames, Ron Paye, Adam Jones, Ed Marsh, Dennis Roy Jacoba, Sr., John Fotia, Matt Kesler and Mary Ann Kesler. A special Thank You to all the parents of these wonderful children who brought them out so we could spend time with them!
============================================================================================================
July 31, 2012 - The Triple LLL Trucking event was a great success! Lot's of wonderful people turned out to support the Veterans. Great people, great food and great weather combined for an awesome event! Thank You Ryan & Melissa Long for inviting us! Thank You to everyone who participated. Thank You to our crew: John Walker, Alan Walker, Gary & Pat Moline, Ron Paye, Denny Rogers, Rodney Mayfield, Ed Marsh, Dennis Roy Jacoba, Sr., Jerry Lindquist, Tom Klare, Arthur & Barb Gray, Jim Steffel, Casey Eames, Dan & Erica Eames, Adam Jones and Steve Bowyer. Thank You to everyone who joined the organization as a new member!
============================================================================================================
July 23, 2012 -
Had great weather and a great turnout for the Fly-In. Several vintage airplanes in attendance. Pancakes and sausage for breakfast and burgers for lunch! Good eats! Thank you Frank Ladd for doing the cooking. You did a great job. Thank You Dan and Andi Montgomery for letting us be part of your event. It is always a pleasure to volunteer for your Benefit events! Thank You to our members for coming out to volunteer: Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Ron Paye, John Walker, Kae York, Alan Walker, Gary Moline, Mark Hopkins, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Tom Schmidt, Dale Calloway, Ed Marsh, Dan Eames, Casey Eames, Arthur & Barb Gray and Steve Bowyer. Next Event: July 28th, Triple LLL Trucking Veteran & Customer Appreciation Day.
July 9, 2012 - We had a great time at Benton Harbor! As usual, the storms rolled through Friday afternoon but by 5 or so everything had cleared.Friday evening we were invited to ride in the parade with all the Military vehicles. 369 flew over the parade route along with the convoy/parade. It was a fun evening.
More stormy weather overnight but clear, beautiful and hot was the order of the day for Saturday. We were very busy with memberships and flights. Thank You so much to everyone who came out and especially those who became members! Thank You to Don Alsbro for inviting us back again and for always putting on a great event! We know how hard Don works along with so many other volunteers to make this event happen. Thank You to all of our members who attended and volunteered: John Walker, Kae York, Ron Paye, Gary & Pat Moline, Mark & Bobbi Hopkins, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Tom Shields, Tom Schmidt, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Bill Flowers, Arthur & Barb Gray, Glen Veno, John Fotia, Ed Marsh, Don Nelson, Paul Boggs, Dennis Hedinger and Wade Hedinger. Thanks to Chuck Canfield and Dave Seabright for coming out also. Photos are on pages 269 & 270. Next event: Fly In to Benefit Down Syndrome, Montgomery Aviation, Grissom Aeroplex, July 21st. June 28
, 2012 - We will be headed to Benton Harbor tomorrow morning to attend "Lest We Forget" at Southwest Michigan Regional Airport. We will be offering memberships and flights Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Come out and join us!
We received word yesterday of the passing of a wonderful lady, Sharon Fitzsimons. Sharon is the wife of Paul Fitzsimons, our architect from Traverse City, Michigan.
We met Sharon at the Gathering last year and had hoped to see her again this year. Rest in Peace Sharon, you will be missed. Paul and his family will be in our thoughts and prayers.
============================================================================================================
June 21, 2012- The first Ribs and Rotors fly-in turned out to be a great event! Although the weather was a little warm, we had plenty of breeze coming from the 30 to 40 helicopters in attendance!
Congratulations to the Goshen Airport staff for their successful event! Thank You Randy Sharkey for inviting American Huey to be there. We had a great time! Thank You to all of our volunteers who came out to help: John Walker, Ron Paye, Phil Marshall, Tom Schmidt, Jon Schmidt, Gary & Pat Moline, Rosanne Graves, Arthur & Barb Gray, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Dennis Roy Jacoba, Sr., Dale & Joyce Calloway, Casey Eames(our youngest life member and his first time to fly to an event), John Fotia, Ed Marsh and Paul Boggs.
On a sad note, we have lost two more important people. Bill Neighbors passed away May 29th after a short bout with cancer. We also lost Randall "Rosey" Rosasco. Rosey passed away on June 5th. A memorial service will be held Saturday June 23rd.
============================================================================================================
June 12, 2012 - The work weekend has come and gone already! Had a great group of people at the restoration hangar for two days. Everyone had a hand in stripping & sanding parts, removing fuel cells and lots of other parts. Unfortunately our maintenance director, Dick Hosmer, was under the weather (we hope for a speedy recovery for Dick) but we still managed to get a lot done. Pictures will be on the website soon (page 267). Thank You to everyone who participated this past weekend: John Walker, Alan Walker, Dick Hosmer, Tom Shields, John Fotia, Matt Finke, Tom Schmidt, Al Michaels, Tom Klare, Charley Veer, Jerry Lindquist, Ron Paye, Chuck Canfield, Bill Flowers, Ed Marsh, Phil Marshall, Kenny Wemer, Matt Kesler, Casey Eames, Dan Eames, Adam Jones, Jaimieson Hicks, Gary Moline, Mark Hopkins, Rodney Mayfield, Paul Boggs, Brad Dorn, John Boyer & Paul Oyler. Thank You to Ken Watson, crewchief on 049 in Vietnam, for coming up to see how things were going on his old bird. Ken told me this morning that he was pretty much speechless while he was here, which is not normal for him! Hang around with us Ken and will get much easier! Special Thanks to Charley Veer for cleaning up the hanger before the event and having plenty of fresh coffee and donuts for the guys! Also, a special Thank You to Jerry Lindquist for providing lunch during both days. Jerry never lets us go hungry! Thank You!!
The helicopter fly-in at Goshen Airport is this saturday. Hope to see you there!
June 1, 2012 - The work weekend for 049 is coming up! Saturday June 9th and Sunday June 10th at the restoration hangar. Please call John @ 765-469-2727 if you are interested in helping.
============================================================================================================
May 26 & 27, 2012 -
Townsend Aviation has put on another great event this year! Honoring Our Veterans, Past & Present, was held at the White County Airport in Monticello, Indiana. Lots of Veterans, Patriots and children came out to see all the vintage aircraft on display. The weather was great and everyone had lots of fun flying in Huey 369. Thank You to John & Clara Townsend, Brian Townsend, Derek Shannon and all the staff at Townsend Aviation for your continued support of American Huey 369. Thank You to our members who volunteered for the event: John Walker, Alan Walker, Dennis Roy Jacoba, Sr., Gary & Pat Moline, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Arthur & Barb Gray, Rodney Mayfield, Ron Baber, Ed Marsh, Charley Veer, Tom Klare, Tom Schmidt, Tom Shields, Dale & Joyce Callaway and John Fotia. Also, it was great to see the Wolf Hounds again!
============================================================================================================
May 22, 2012 - We had the opportunity to be involved in a very special event. Vohne Liche Kennels in Denver Indiana, one of the largest police and military dog training facilities in the country, invited us to do some training with them. It was a thrill to see these dogs and trainers in action. These are some well trained animals. I can't tell you much about this event except that you should watch the Huey News often for the next several months. There is a documentary in the making. Release is tentatively set for January 2013. I promise you will not be disappointed! There will be a small number of photos on the website. I hope it is enough to keep everyone interested! What I saw was awesome! Thank You to Kenny Licklider, owner of Vohne Liche Kennels, Ron, Dan, Bobby, Luther, K.C., trainers, handlers and facility personel. You guys are all at the head of your class! With 5,000 law enforcement agencies in 20 countries using your dogs what more is their to say! Thank You to John Walker, Brian Riley, Rodney Mayfield, Jim Steffel, Mark & Bobbi Hopkins, Denny Rogers, Alan Walker, Dennis Roy Jacoba, Sr and Sue Kane for supporting our efforts.
============================================================================================================
May 17-20, 2012 - Our first event of 2012! The Vietnam Veterans Moving Memorial Wall at Ft. Benjamin Harrison in Lawrence, Indiana. This was our third trip to Ft. Ben since 2007. We always have a great time at a Wall event, especially one sponsored by VVA chapter #295. We need to Thank everyone at chapter 295 for their continued support of American Huey 369 Org. President Mike Hamm, Steve Mabrey and Rick Wilson for their fund raising efforts, our life member Ron Paye for everything he does, Young Marine Cody Hardman for "popping smoke" so 369 and 803 could spot their LZ, RC Parson for his great aerial photos and each and every one of the Veterans and Patriots who helped put this event together. We hope that it will not be your last! Thanks to all the members of American Huey 369 who volunteered: John Walker, Ron Paye, Phil Marshall, Gary (oops I think I broke it) Moline, Ed Marsh, Dennis Roy Jacoba,Sr., Ron Baber, Arthur & Barb Gray, Jim Steffel, Tom Schmidt, Kenny Wemer and Rodney Mayfield.
============================================================================================================
May 1, 2012 - We will hold an "049" work weekend on June 9 & 10 at the restoration hangar. Anyone interested in attending the work session should call John @ 765-469-2727 to get your name on the work roster.
========================================================================================================
April 12, 2012 - Anyone who has not received their membership renewal and would like to renew please contact Kae
@ 765-689-7500 from 9 til 4 Mon thru Fri. or John @ 765-469-2727. I have over 200 letters that have come back to us due to incorrect addresses or people who have moved and left no forwarding address.
The museum is now open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. monday through friday and saturday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Anyone interested in volunteering to work at the museum can contact Kae at the museum, 765-689-7500 or John, 765-469-2727. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
=======================================================================================================
April 2, 2012 - Annuals are finished, the head is back on 369, her blades have been tracked and requests for events are coming in. A quick trip to Rhode Island the last weekend in April netted us 3 more blades. 2 are timed out so they are only suitable for static display and the other has enough time on it to fly for a couple of years. We did get to chat with Joe Galloway at the viewing of We Were Soldiers. He is a very nice man. We have invited him to come fly with us any time. Joe was friends with our dear friend Jack Zallen who passed away last September. April is going to be a little boring for the guys! The spring Knob Creek event was canceled due to the flooding and the bridge on the property being washed out. Sorry guys! Guess you will have to find something else to do! We continue to add to our schedule so please be sure to look at it often. We will most likely be attending a Moving Wall in May. More to come!
========================================================================================================
March 14, 2012 - The annuals are coming along pretty well. So far, so good. We haven't run into anything unexpected on either aircraft. We got the head back on 369 Sunday night. That was a load of everyones mind. All is well at American Huey! A number of us will be attending the Joe Galloway event in Tipton, Indiana tonight. A viewing of "We were Soldiers" at the Diane Theater with Mr. Galloway in attendance. We hope to have the opportunity to speak with him after the movie.
=======================================================================================================
March 5, 2012 - Spent some time with members of the Ohio River LZ Chapter of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association this past Saturday.
A great group of guys and gals! Several of the pilots and their wives came up to Peru on Saturday morning and the weather was just good enough for 803 to come out of the hangar and allow these gentlemen the opportunity to "shake the stick"! They all had smiles on their faces when they headed back to Indianapolis. John Walker, Kae York & Mark Hopkins joined them at the Crowne Plaza for dinner along with members, Ron Paye, Phil Marshall, Lynn "Doc" Hammonds, Jim Miller and Chuck Canfield. A great time was had by all! Thank You very much for the invitation! We couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday night than with our Veterans!! The magazine article seems to be a hit. We've had lots of positive feedback. Most everyone who finds the magazine purchases more than one copy! We are hoping for sellouts everywhere! If you can't find Warbird Magazine in your area you can go to www.warbirddigest.com and order it directly from the source. Don't forget the special event in Tipton Indiana on March 14 with Joe Gallaway. Information is below the cover photo of the magazine on this page.
========================================================================================================
February 10, 2012 - We are proud to announce (and show you) American Huey 369 Inc. FIRST magazine cover/article!! We are very excited! The main article is well written and the side articles are as well. We can't wait for it to be available! Watch our Facebook page for updates also! Congratulations everyone!!!! Great Job!! Thank You soooo much Greg Morehead!!!
====================================================================================================
January 23, 2012
- We would like to let everyone know about a special two night event featuring Joe Galloway. The event is being held in Tipton, Indiana on March 14th and 15th. The movie "We were Soldiers" will air at the Diana Theater on March 14th at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.00 per person with a special appearance by Joe Galloway. A We Were Soldiers Once...and Young book signing will be held March 15th at the Tipton High School Gymnasium at 7 p.m. This will be a discussion, meet and greet with Joe Galloway. Cost is $15.00 per person. Tickets are available at the Tipton American Legion, Post 46, 765-675-4180 and the Moose Lodge, 765-675-7685. Joe Galloway is the author of the book " We Were Soldiers Once...and Young and is an Ia Drang Valley survivor. This is a great opportunity for our members to meet another Ia Drang survivor who was a friend of our dear friend Jack Zallen.
===================================================================================================
January 4 - 2012 - Hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year!! Membership renewal letters will go out sometime in early March. As always it will include the tentative schedule of events. For anyone interested, the schedule for 2012 is on the event page. We already have 7 scheduled at this time. Keep checking as it changes often. Anyone who has had a change of address in the past 12 months and would like to receive your renewal/news letter please email your information to ked4659@aol.com. It will be greatly appreciated. Due to the rules for mass mailings if the address is wrong it comes back to us. Thank You !!
===================================================================================================
December 28 - Looks like I've gotten behind again.....The month of October concluded with the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot. The guys had a great time as usual! Lots of new members and lots of member flights. Can't Thank everyone at Knob Creek enough for all they do for the Organization.
A wonderful group of people!!! Thank You to Shane Coe for the generous gift to one of our members. Doc was astounded by your generosity!
We lost another great member November 1st. Jim Rentz has been a member of American Huey since September 2006. Jim was always fun to have around and we will miss him. Rest in Peace dear friend.
We held our final work weekend of 2011 on November 4,5 and 6th. We had lots of help getting started on Gunship 049. Thank You everyone for all your hard work! Saturday night we all got together at the Half Moon Restaurant in Kokomo(it's owned by Life Member Chris Roegner). We managed to pull off a surprise roast for our Organizations President, John Walker. Boy was he surprised!! The guys had a great time presenting John with their own "special" awards. Everyone had a great time! Thank You Dick & Carolyn Hosmer for traveling from Texas to be with us! You two are always lots of fun! Thank You Tom Shields for coming from North West Illinois! Thanks to all our members who came for the weekend: Gary Moline, Mark Hopkins, Ed Marsh, Charley Veer, Bill Flowers, Don Nelson, Chuck Canfield, Dennis Roy Jacoba Sr., Bruce Ashworth, Phil &Teresa Marshall, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Jamie Hicks, Ron Baber, Tom Schmidt, Ron Paye, Kenny Wemer, Trevon Johnson, Matt Kesler, Jerry & Linda Lindquist, Alan Walker, Julie Ressett, Arthur & Barb Gray, John Fotia, Clay Bain, Paul Boggs, Matt Finke, Chuck Baker, Dan & Casey Eames & Lynn "Doc" Hammonds.
We would like to Thank everyone who became a member this year. We hope you will renew your membership annually. Membership is the driving force behind American Huey 369. Without our members we can't survive. Thank You to all the incredible people who continue to stand behind us. We hope you know how much you mean to us as individuals. Thank You: Jay & Tracey Bugley(Tamarack Air Service), Kevin, Cody & Tyler Meyer(Nebraska Gas Turbine), John & Susan Gagnan(Pac West Helicopter), Paul & Sharon Fitzsimons(Fitzsimons Architecture), Bill Neighbors(Pacific Air Logistics), Dan & Andi Montgomery(Montgomery Aviation), Mike & Vicki Musselman(Econo Gas), Gene & Lisa(Beloates Aircraft Trim), Ken & Dennis(Tri County Instruments), Shane Coe(Centerfire Systems), Mike Gable(Vickery Tape & Label), Paul Bartlett(Heli Plaque), Kenny, Tracey, Steve & Chad Sumner(Knob Creek Gun Range), Don Mong(Gunfighter Grafix) and everyone who made it possible for the organization to make a "special" purchase this year.
As we close 2011 and ring in 2012 we look forward to all the new adventures. We will be going to Canada in August. Our first flight "over the border"! Keep a close eye on the events page as it is constantly changing. See you next year!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
===================================================================================================
October 12 - The past couple of weeks have been tough. With Jack Zallens sudden death, the Traveling Tribute / Moving Wall Escort and 4 days on static display with the Tribute / Wall and yet another death in our immediate family. We held a Memorial service Saturday Oct 1st at 4:00 ( the same time Jacks funeral started) at Panel E3 at the Wall to Honor Jack. We will miss seeing his smiling face but we know we have to let him go to Fiddlers Green. Denny Rogers father passed away last week. He also was a Veteran. Rest in Peace Gentlemen. The photos from the Tribute / Wall are on the website. The weather sure wasn't cooperating during the escort but everyone got thru it. It wasn't much better the first couple of days at the Wall either, cold and damp. We were pleasantly surprised that the schools in Howard County brought the kids out Friday. We were concerned they might not due to the weather. The kids asked alot of good questions and seemed genuinely interested in the aircraft and the Tribute displays. Teaching the kids all we can about our Veterans and the Vietnam War is a huge part of this Organization. Saturday and Sunday turned out to be pretty nice. Alittle warmer and lots of great speakers on Saturday. The motorcycle parade in front of the Wall on Sunday was a nice tribute. We also took 6 honoree's on a flight Sunday afternoon.Thank You to everyone at the DVA for a great event. They worked very hard putting it all together. Thank You to everyone who became a member during the event. We truely appreciate your interest in helping to keep the Organization going. Thank You to all of our members who came out to help: Bobbi and Mark Hopkins, Cathy and Jim Steffel, Barb and Arthur Gray, Ron Paye, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Charlie Veer, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Tom Schmidt, Tom Klare and John Walker. Thank You to Hillary Hopkins Cassari and Jim Allison for coming on the 28th to shoot video for us from 803/Warrior 11 when we escorted the Traveling Tribute. And Thank you Lisa Schmidt for coming along with your Dad and giving us a hand with you know who!!! Bet we can't top that experience!! At least we won't try!!
ATTENTION ALL MOTORCYCLE RIDERS - VETERANS & PATRIOTS - We will be involved in escorting the American Veterans Traveling Tribute Moving Wall into Kokomo on September 28th along with the bike escort. Anyone interested in joining the escort can get additional information at www.kokomotribute.com. Bikes will pick up the truck carrying the Wall at Brandts Harley Davidson in Wabash. There will also be additional riders, automobiles and Veterans waiting at the Grissom Air Museum to join them. Huey 803/Warrior 11 will act as lead escort from the air from Grissom to Kokomo. A great opportunity for everyone to show their Patriotic Pride for our Veterans!
We will return to Grissom Wednesday afternoon and be back in Kokomo Thursday morning to be on static display with the Wall until 3:00 Sunday afternoon. We hope everyone will make an effort to come and see this beautiful Wall. It is by far one of the nicest touring the country. It is an 80% replica which means it is 8 feet tall at the apex(center).
===================================================================================================
September 26th - It is with a heavy heart that we let everyone know that we lost another great man. Jack Zallen, a survivor of the Ia Drang Valley, LZ Xray cut off platoon, was taken from us Friday September 23rd, 2011. Jack was doing what he loved when he died, riding his BMW motorcycle. The news of his death has hit all of us very hard. We had just spent time with him in Kokomo, IN. the previous weekend. Jack was a wonderful person and we are all proud to have known him. He will be missed by ALL who knew him. He has joined his brothers who passed in the Valley November of 1965. We will pay tribute to Jack at Panel 3E of the Moving Wall this week in Kokomo as that is where his Brothers are located. God Bless You Jack, we love you!!
===================================================================================================
September 26th - Rain, rain go away. Unfortunately mother nature was not kind this past weekend. We were the only aircraft to make it to the Rotors Over Mentone event. How unfortunate for all the hard working people at the Larry Bell Museum. They had some people come out dispite the wet weather but not enough. Thank You to everyone for doing the best you could under the adverse conditions. Thanks to our crew for hanging in there and standing in the rain talking to all the people who did come out. Thank You: John Walker, Alan walker, Ed Marsh, Ed Halcomb, Jaimie Hicks, John Fotia, Jim Steffel, Tom Schmidt, Ron Baber, Tom Klare and Jerry Lindquist. Maybe next year Mentone will be warm and dry.
===================================================================================================
September 20th - The National POW/MIA Recognition Day was nice. We had great weather to fly. We honored Gene Gigli by flying his wife and son into the event. I hear that Gene was actually flying with us. How cool is that! Great event. I hope that more people will attend each year.I would like to see a larger crowd next year.
Bringing the Sound of Hope also went very well. The weather cooperated and we had lots of people come out to the farm. We now have alot of new members. Welcome to each and everyone of you and Thank You for your support! Thank You to the Clay York Family for hosting the event again this year. We can't Thank You enough for your generousity! Thank You to all of our members who supported us by helping out: Our pilots: John Walker, Phil Marshall, Ron Paye, Wade Hedinger & Chuck Canfield. Our crew: Rodney Mayfield, Arthur Gray, Tom Schmidt, Denny Rogers, Ron Baber, Ed Halcomb, Doc Jenkins, Ed Marsh, Dennis Roy Jacoba Sr., Jim Steffel, Alan Walker, Bruce Ashworth, Mark Hopkins, Bill Flowers, Tom Klare, Bobbi Hopkins, Cathy Steffel and Barb Gray. Oh yeah, and our buddies, the Wolfhounds!!
===================================================================================================
September 14th - The Bringing the Sound of Hope Event is this weekend!! Join us at the Clay York Farm, 4272 S 800 E, Greentown, Indiana, south of 26 on 800 just past the Howard County reunion site. We should be landing about 10 a.m. At 12:30 we will take both aircraft to Indianapolis for the National POW/MIA Recognition Day Event (as we did last year). We will be returning to Greentown later in the afternoon. We intend to do membership flights when we return. There will be someone at the trailer while we are gone to sign up new members. Hope to see alot of familiar faces and even more new ones! Saturday we will be flying over to Brians Surplus on St Rd 22 about noon. Had a good response last year from people who just happen to be driving by. They saw the Huey and stopped in. See you Saturday Brian!!
===================================================================================================
September 7th - We had a great time at the Marion Fly/In Cruise/In. We took both 369 and 803/Warrior 11. They always look good flying into an event together!
The turn out for this event was pretty good, even with the temperatures being in the 90's. Lot's of cool cars and airplanes! Great food and great people always make for a fun event. Thank You to Ray and Judy Johnson for inviting us to join them this year. You put on a great event! Thank You for feeding us and taking such good care of us! We really appreciate it! Thanks to all of our crew and volunteers: John Walker, Ron Paye, Gary Moline, Phil Marshall, Rodney Mayfield, Arthur & Barb Gray, Jim Steffel, Mark Hopkins, Alan Walker, Denny Rogers, Ed Halcomb, Bruce Ashworth, Jerry Lindquist, John Fotia, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Tom Klare, David Cole and Ed Marsh.
===================================================================================================
August 29th -
The Richmond Moving Wall event was another great event. 803/Warrior 11 was at this event in 2006 while she was a static display so it seemed only fitting that she be the aircraft to fly in to this event. Thank You to all the great people in Richmond who continue to put on this event. It's an honor for us to be in "The Gorge" with all of your beautiful monuments. Thank You Vicki Meek for inviting us back this year.
Thank You to the Wayne County Veterans Memorial Commitee and the Lions Club for all the great food. Thank You to our members who volunteered for this event: John Walker, Ron Paye, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Barb & Arthur Gray, Bruce Ashworth, Ed Marsh, Dennis Jacoba Sr. and Phil Marshall.
===================================================================================================
August 25th - The temporary museum is now open. We officially opened on Monday August 22nd. Our hours are 9a.m. to 4p.m. Monday through Friday. We are closed on weekdays during events also so please check the event schedule. The phone number is 765-689-7500. We will close for the season sometime in October. Weather will be a factor as we do not heat the hanger where the Museum is set up.
===============================================================================================
August 16th,2011 - The Gathering has come and gone! Seems like it went really fast this year. We had a great turnout. Thank You to everyone who attended. We hope everyone had a good time! Thank You sooo much to everyone who made the Gathering such a success.
We now have a beautiful bronze sculpture for the museum! Donated by bronze artist Paul Burge from Texas. He hand delivered it to us. It's absolutely gorgeous and we can't wait for everyone to see it. We unveiled it at the Gathering and everyone there loved it. Thank You Paul! Thank You David Cole for bringing us Paul! We love you guys!! We also had the Grand Opening of the temporary home of the National American Huey History Museum. It was well received and everyone thought it was great.
Thank Kirby Falkenberg for donating the desk and file cabinet for the museum, it looks great in the hooch!
Thank You Col. Tim Cahoon for taking time to come over and speak to everyone. It's always a pleasure to spend time with our current military.
The auction brought in over 5 thousand dollars! I think that is a new record. So thank you to everyone who donated items: Jerry Paul, Pat Lund, Kylie Ballard, Dick & Carolyn Hosmer, Joe Kline, Tom & Bonnie Schmidt, Don Mung, Kae York, John Walker, Gary Swartz, Doc & Brenda Jenkins and Alan Walker. A HUGE thank you to our bidders and winners: Rex & Karen Gordon, Dave Hansen, Richard Hoffman, William Page, John Steer, Steve Kesler, Jim Shields, David Perry, Jerry Bryant, Nadine Cook, Rodney Mayfield, Darrel Mans, Fred Kreps, Steve Bowyer, Gary Swartz, Greg Morehead, Larry Heithoff, David Cole, Robert Baker & Carolyn Hosmer. We had some extreme bidding this year. Several people were generous beyond belief. I won't say who they were or what they paid but they know who they are and we appreciate all of them!!
A Huge Thank You to Rex Gordon for being here this year to be our auctioneer. Rex just got out of the hospital following back surgery so we really were glad to have him here!!
We had 46 new members sign up and 10 who renewed their memberships. Thank you to all of you. We did quite a few membership flights both Saturday and Sunday and hope that everyone enjoyed their flight. We were very happy to have so many familys this year. It's always great to see the younger generation come to an event and truly enjoy themselves. Great to have the Shields Family with us from Arizona and Marilyns sister from Michigan. We thank all of you for helping out also! Great to see the Steffel family from Monticello again. Thanks to Cathy for taking charge at the trailer and doing a fantastic job! She said she had awesome help!! Thank You Kenny Wemer, Tracey Flowers, Marilyn Shields and Elaine Curvin.Thank you to the Pat Lund family for all your contributions and help. It's always great to see the Lund family. Our DJ, Clyde Fenton, brought his family this year. Thank You Clyde and Tammy!
Our flight crew did a great job from membership flights to the reenactment, which by the way was made even better this year by the addition of the Loach that participated. Thank You Peter and Janet Bales for coming down from Janesville, Wisconsin and making the reenactment even more fun to watch! We hope to have you here next year. Thank You to the Wolfhounds for being with us again this year. We couldn't do this without all of you. You guys are so much fun! We had 2 drawings for a front seat flight. The Honoree for the Saturday flight was Lynn Hammond. Lynn is a member of American Huey 369 Org. and was a medic in Vietnam with the 498th Medical Co., the same company 369 was with. We were pleasantly surprised when his name was drawn. 12 of his family members got to see him take his front seat flight. Congratulations Lynn!! Sundays front seat flight was won by Casey Ames. Caseys Grandfather had made a deal with him last year. If he would maintain Honor Roll for the school year he would buy him a membership to American Huey. Casey did that and Grandpa got him that membership. He also bought a ticket for a chance at a front seat flight and Casey's name was drawn! Casey is 12 years old and wants to be a helicopter pilot. He also wants to be one of American Huey 369's pilots! We think that would be great!! Congratulations Casey! The Grissom Air Museum also had a drawing for an Honor flight. That lucky person was Michael A. Lane of Bunker Hill. Congratulations Michael! We want to thank Bob Ulaberry and all the crew at Grissom for all they do in the tower to keep all of safe when we are flying. Their expertise is greatly appreciated.
We had great entertainment this year. Kelly Trudell was with us Saturday and debuted her song, Sound of Hope. It was great! Everyone wants a copy of it! Very talented young lady. John Steer sang for us and took care of the Sunday morning worship as only John can. What an inspiring man! We love you John & Donna. Hannah Klare sang the National Anthem for us during opening ceremony. What an incredible voice she has. Our DJ, Clyde Fenton, as always, did a fantastic job! Mark & Troy have been with us every year since the Benefit in 2006. They always put on a great show! Thank You to each and everyone of you!!
Thank You to Jerry and Linda Lindquist for your incredible models and dioramas! We hope everyone took the time to look at Jerry's displays, they are truly amazing works of art. We also thank Jerry and Linda for all the great food they provided Saturday night for our after hours party. Thank You!! Thank You Jerry Paul for being here with us and doing all you do for the Veterans. Thank You Paul Bartlett for being here and sharing your beautiful plaques with us. Paul is another great artist.
Thank You to Big John White, his wife Joyce and their family for providing the great barbeque both Saturday and Sunday. John has been with us since 2006 and we hope to keep him around a while longer!
Thank You to our special guests Paul and Sharon Fitzsimons and the Cook family. Paul is our architect for the museum and the Cook family we met in Auburn, Indiana at our first moving wall event in 2008. Nadene's husband Donald was killed in a Huey crash in Vietnam in 1970.
Thank You to Mike Gable (Vickery Tape & label), Mike & Vicki Mussellman (Econo Gas), Jim Price (Director, Grissom Air Museum), Jim Tidd (Miami Co. Economic Development Authority), David & Carol Hansen, Ray & Garda O'Keefe, and Frank Ladd for believing in the organization and helping keep us moving in the right direction.
Thank you to Wade Weaver and Andy McCord from our local radio stations, 101.9 and 105.9. You guys always do such a great job advertising for the Gathering. Maybe one day Wade will get over his fear of flying and come fly with us. Until then, I will continue to call him "Chicken Wade"! Thanks to Chris Keifer of radio station WWKI in Kokomo. Chris also does a great job of advertising for us. Thanks Chris, Semper Fi!! Thank You to the Peru Tribune and staff for the great articles you write about the organization. We can't thank you enough!
Thank You to all the photographers who came out this year. It was our pleasure to have our friend Megan Bearder from Chicago with us. We met Megan in Green Bay last year at LZ Lambeau. She is a fantastic photographer and absolutely loves the veterans. Thanks to Gary Nichols from right here in Peru. He also is a great photographer and has already shared a couple of his photos with us. Great work Gary! Thank You! Greg Morehead of War Bird Magazine was here. Busy, busy man, he finally got his photographs he's been wanting for the past two years! Hope to see Gregs photos soon! Thanks for bringing Donna with you! It was pleasure getting to meet your better half!! The Hansen Family shot video and stills both days. I don't think these guys missed anything! It will be fun to see what they put together. Thank You!! Mark Hopkins and his daughter Hillary were also shooting video. Mark has been our videographer for the organization for several years now and always produces great stuff. I'm sure most of you who attend our events have seen Marks work. Hillary came along this year to help her Dad. She said she had so much fun she's coming back next year! Thank You Mark and Hillary! It was great to have all this artistic talent here this year. I believe great things will come from each and every one of them!
A HUGE Thank You to Dan and Andie Montgomery, owners of Montgomery Aviation, for giving us such a great facility to have our Gathering. We can't thank them enough for everything they do for the organization. Thank you Roy, for staying out at the hanger Friday and Saturday night. I hope you got some much needed and deserved rest this week! Thank You Cody for being here to refuel us when we needed it.
Thank You to all of our members and volunteers who helped get everything ready for the Gathering and who worked during the Gathering. It is a huge undertaking to get ready for this event and we truly appreciate everyones help. Thank you Charlie Veer, Dennis Jacoba Sr. and Denny Rogers for helping get the museum ready and doing alot of dirty work that needed to be done. You guys are great!! Thanks to Alan Walker, John Walker and Ron Paye for getting the hooch built and "decorated". Thank You to all who helped out in many ways: Sherry & Carl Dewey, Doc & Brenda Jenkins, Ed Marsh, Gary & Pat Moline, Arthur & Barb Gray, Benjamin Nail, Gary & Robin Campbell, Clayton Brown, Dennis & Sharon Hedinger, Tom & Marilyn Shields, Jaime & Amanda Hicks, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Don & Susan Nelson, Jerry Mellick, Phil & Teresa Marshall, Glen Veno, Mark Hopkins, Hillary Hopkins, Chuck Canfield, Bill & Tracey Flowers, Kenny Wemer, Tom Klare, Alan Walker & Julie Ressett, Pat & Nathaniel Lund, Kim Lund, David Cole, Paul Burge, John & Donna Steer, Gary Swartz, Wade, Devin & Herman Hedinger, Jerry Paul, Paul Bartlett, Ray & Garda O'Keefe, Dick & Carolyn Hosmer, John Fotia, Ron Baber, Tom Schmidt, Jon Schmidt, Brian Riley, and a host of people I don't even know about! If I have left anyone out please let me know. I want everyone to be recognized.
Thank You to everyone who volunteered and to those who took the time to come out. ALL of YOU made this the BEST GATHERING EVER!! We hope everyone had a good time and we hope to see you next year if not sooner. Thank You again!!
===============================================================================================
Saturday August 13th 2011 9:00 a.m. - Hanger door opens / reveille followed by great 60’s music with our very Patriotic DJ, Clyde Fenton 11:00 a.m. - Opening ceremony: Post colors, Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem sung by Hannah Klare 1. Introduction and prayer with Rev. John Steer and his wife Donna 12:30 p.m. - Lunch is served, featuring “Big Johns” BBQ meals - ribs, pulled pork or chicken w/ slaw and baked beans. 1:15 p.m. - Auction of “Unique” donated items with our own Lifetime Member, Vietnam Combat Veteran and 2:00 p.m. - American Hueys 369 and 803 / Warrior 11 will fly all New and Current* members (current members are 4:00 p.m. - “Flying “ Combat Reenactment featuring the Wolfhounds, Peter Bales and his OH-6 Loach click here (this is the "little bird" Peter flew in Vietnam) and American Huey 369 and 803/ Warrior 11 with American Huey 369 aircrew. 5:00 p.m. - Mark and Troy Band take the stage for their “6th” consecutive year! This after hours party in the hanger is a Patriotic Public Welcome, become a member & receive a complimentary flight in the Huey! Sunday August 14th 2011 9:00 a.m. - Hanger door opens / reveille / great 60’s music with DJ Clyde Fenton 11:00 a.m. - Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem 1:00 p.m. - American Huey 369 and 803 / Warrior 11will fly all New and Current* members (current members are 3:30 p.m. - “Flying” Combat Reenactment featuring the Wolfhounds, Peter Bales and his OH-6 Loach (this is the "little bird" Peter flew in Vietnam) and American Huey 369 and 803 / Warrior 11 with American Huey 369 aircrew. 5:00 p.m. - Retire Colors ALL PATRIOTS AND VETERANS ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND THIS EVENT!! This is a Gathering / Benefit which helps preserve the history of our Veterans and Huey Helicopters 369, Thank You for attending the Gathering. Have a great time and Please Thank the Veterans! Becoming a member of American Huey 369 Organization helps continue the preservation THANK YOU for YOUR SERVICE and WELCOME HOME!!! ==============================================================================================
August 8th, 2011 -
Had a wonderful time at the Down Syndrome Benefit. The kids are great! Thank You Dan and Andie Montgomery for hosting such a great event and inviting us to be part of it. Thanks to our members who participated: John Walker, Alan Walker, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Denny Rogers, Rodney Mayfield, Arthur and Barb Gray, Mark Hopkins, Jim and Cathy Steffel, Tom Schmidt, Bruce Ashworth, Ed Marsh and Ron Paye. July 22nd, 2011 - The temporary museum is coming together. It should be ready for the Gathering in August. Anyone interested in seeing some pictures can go to our facebook page to see them. Just google American Huey 369 and look for the facebook link. It's a public page so you don't have to be on facebook to see it.
June 13th, 2011 - The B's are here!!! The B models that is! 64-14049 arrived by truck today. She sits next to 61-701 in the restoration hanger on ST Rd 124. Great old bird, she's going to need a lot of TLC to get her back in the air. I'll try to get some photos on so everyone can see them.
June12, 2011 - Had a great time at the Autistic Benefit. Tried to help raise as much as we could for the kids by giving a flight for two to the Benefit Organizers to raffle off. Happy to say a couple of kids won the raffle. Thank's Dan and Andi for another great event! Thank You to Montgomery Aviation and the Frankfort Police Department for all you do for Generation Rescue. Thank You to our crew for helping out: John Walker. Alan Walker, Ron Paye, Denny Rogers, Rodney Mayfield, Tom Schmidt, Dennis Jacoba, Barb & Arthur Gray, Ed Marsh & Kenny Wemer.
June 10th, 2011 - John Walker, Alan Walker, Dennis Jacoba and Ron Paye took off for Minnesota Monday and returned late Wednesday night with our first B Model! The second one will be delivered to us Monday the 13th and the one the guys brought home is the 1961 HU-1B.. The 1961 HU-1B may eventually fly, but it's the 1964 UH-1B that will be first in line for restoration. She has a SIX YEAR HISTORY in Vietnam with 3 Units and 3400 flight hours IN Vietnam! Sometime during those 6 years a charlie model tailboom was installed and she carries that tail today. We will be looking for B Model parts so everyone keep your eyes peeled! We do need cowling for the aircraft we brought home this week. Anyone with any information or parts please call John Walker @ 765-469-2727.
This Saturday is the Benefit for Autistic Children. We will be landing at the Frankfort Airport in Frankfort, Indiana about 4 p.m. Please join us for the Montgomery Aviation and Frankfort Police Annual Open House Fish Fry/Fly In. The fish fry benefits Generation Rescue in the Fight against Autism. The benefit is from 4p.m. to 8 p.m. Please come out and show your support!
===========================================================================================
June 1st, 2011 - We hope everyone had a good weekend. We managed to get in two events even though Mother Nature was being a little nasty. Our Monticello Event went well. We got a little wet but everyone came out to Honor the Veterans! Thank so much to the Townsends for putting on another great event! We always have a great time at White County. This year Brian Townsend took us up in their helicopter to that we could shoot aerials of 803/Warrior 11. That was a blast! We Thank ALL of our Veterans who came out and flew with us. You are the reason we formed this organization and it's our Honor to be able to Honor ALL of You!! Thank you to everyone who became a member. It is greatly appreciated. Thank You to the crew of the Blackhawk who was also on display. You guys are great and it was an Honor to meet all of you. Thanks for putting up with us "Old Military" folks. We hope you all got home safely. Thank You to the White County Airport, John & Clara Townsend, Brian Townsend, Derrek and all the staff at the airport. We appreciate being part of your weekend.
We had a great event in Dearborn, Michigan on Memorial Day. This was their 87th Annual Memorial Day Parade. We flew the parade route with several other aircraft. It was a pretty impressive group. We met alot of Vietnam Veterans who hadn't seen the Huey since they came home. Lots of emotions. Thank You for allowing us to be part of your Memorial Day. We have a lot of people to Thank for bringing us to this event. Thank You Glen Veno for everything you do. You spend alot of time getting us coordinated and then trying to keep us coordinated. Which we know is not always an easy task! We love you Glen!! Thank You to Barbara Campbell the events coordinator for the City of Dearborn. Barbara was the contact person who got us to the event and we Thank her for working so hard to make it possible. Thank You to Dearborn Allied War Veterans Council and Commander Craig Tillman. Thank You to our Sponsor, Foundation For American Veterans, Bob McDonald, Program director. Thank You to Ford Motor Company for giving us a great place to land and set up our display. Thank You to McMahon Helicopter Services for giving us a great place to land and leave 803/Warrior 11 for the night. I personally Thank Brian McMahon for the tour of his great facility and the book he gave me. Thank You for your hospitality and Welcome Home. We also Thank the Dearborn Police Department, the Dearborn Fire Department and the Veterans Administration. Thank You to everyone who became a member. We appreciate it greatly. Thank You to all of our members who gave up their holiday weekend to spend it with their "extended family". Thank You Tom & Marilyn Shields, Don Nelson, Bill Flowers, Chuck Canfield, Ed Marsh, Gary & Pat Moline, Mark Hopkins, Ed & Deb Halcomb, Glen Veno, Terry Murray, Barb & Arthur Gray, Rodney Mayfield, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Steve & Debbie Bowyer, Jerry Lindquist, John Fotia, Dennis Jacoba, Alan Walker and John Walker.
We hope to see alot of our Brothers and Sisters at our Gathering in August. Photos from both events are on the Photoreflect website and will be on this website soon.
===================================================================================
May 22nd, 2011 - We have a busy weekend coming up. Saturday and Sunday at Monticello Indiana and then late Sunday afternoon we will head up to Dearborn Michigan to take part in the 87th Annual Memorial Day Parade on Monday morning.
===================================================================================
May 21st, 2011 - Armed Forces Day!! Thank You to all branches of our Military!! Another Great Event!! Van Wert is always a fun place to go. The weather was near perfect and the people are always friendly. They had a good turnout. Lots of people, cars and aircraft. Thank You so much Tom Dunno for inviting us to be part of your event! We Thank Everyone in Van Wert for everything you do for us while we are there.Thank You to all the Cadets who stood guard around 803! You guys and girls are awsome! We Thank everyone who became a member. We can't do this without ALL of YOU!! Thank You to all of our members who flew in or drove in to help out. Mark Jackson, Wade Hedinger, Don Nelson, Phil Marshall, Alan Walker, Ron Baber, Tom Schmidt, Arthur & Barb Gray, Tom & Marilyn Shields, Ed Marsh, Ron Paye, Dennis Jacoba and John Walker. Thank You Marilyn for being here. It's always good to see you!! Hope to see everyone from Van Wert at the Gathering in August!!!! You are all invited to attend!!
===================================================================================
May 12, 2011 - We had a GREAT DAY yesterday with the kids at Mayflower Mill Elementary in Lafayette, Indiana! All the kids got to sit in 803/Warrior 11 and ask questions. They had a lot of questions about everything, as most kids do! The National Guard Unit (in Lafayette) talked to the kids about Honoring Our Fallen Heroes, posting colors and watched the Unit properly fold a flag during ceremony.
I can only imagine what school was like today! Lots to talk about. We thank everyone involved with the event. They did a fantastic job getting everything together. Thank You to Cheryl Baber for inviting us to be part of their day. Thank You to the school system for letting us take part. We hope that this will be a stepping stone to visiting more schools. It is a big part of our mission to educate the public, especially our children, to the history of the Huey and all the men and women who relied so heavily on it during the Vietnam War. They will learn more in a conversation with an actual Veteran than they will ever learn in a book, magazine, movie or television show. We hope to see alot of the student and faculty at the Gathering in August. I have posted 180 photographs of the students, faculty and parents on the photoreflect website. Click on the link above and it will take you to the site. Thank You again to everyone at Mayflower Mill Elementary. Thank You to the crew for making the trip. It was a hot one!! Thanks to John Walker, Alan Walker, Gary Moline, Ron Paye, Jim Steffel, Ron Baber, Tom Schmidt, Arthur Gray, Barb Gray, Mark Hopkins and Dennis Jacoba.
===================================================================================
May 5, 2011 - Several of the guys got together last weekend and cleaned up the hanger on Broadway. They moved alot of things out to the Hanger at Grissom. We are starting to put together our temporary museum. It will be inside Hanger 11 where 369 and 803 are housed. The Huey we obtained from Illinois has been moved into place in the museum area along with the wrecker, a head stand, a set of rotor blades and a transmission. We will build a small office/hooch on the north wall. We intend to have it finished and have a Grand Opening during the Gathering in August. Photos will be posted on the website with updates so that everyone can watch the museum come together.
===================================================================================
April 15, 2011 - Knob Creek went well. Bad weather was only a factor for a short amount of time.
We had a lot of new members sign up and had a lot of existing members renew at the event. Everyone had a great time. Thank You to all the staff at Knob Creek for all you do for us. It is greatly appreciated. Thank You to everyone who became a member and to those who renewed your memberships. It's great to know that people appreciate what we are trying to accomplish. Thanks to all the members who attend and help out. I know it's a tough job but hey, someone has to do it! Right guys?! Thanks to: Wade Hedinger, Dennis Hedinger, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Ed Marsh, Glen Veno, chief cook and bottle washer Phil Marshall, Tom Shields, Tom Schmidt, Jon Schmidt, Rodney Mayfield, Dennis Rogers, Don Rogers, Arthur Gray, Ron Paye, Chuck Canfield, Bill Flowers, John Walker, Doc Jenkins and a special Thank You to Professional Photographer and friend Megan Bearder for coming down to photograph and check out the event. She said she wants to come back in October! Can't wait to see Megans photographs! Event photographs should be on the website soon. They have already been posted to the Photoreflect site.
===================================================================================
April 8, 2011 - The guys got to Knob Creek Thursday afternoon. The weather must be better in Kentucky than it is in Indiana, they flew new members all day Friday.
They usually do all the flying on Saturday.
===================================================================================
April 8, 2011 - The membership renewal's have been mailed. I seem to be getting alot more back with incorrect addresses or that cannot be forwarded. All mailings are sent with a return service requested stamp which means that anyone who has moved or we have an incorrect address for, that mail will come back to us. So, if you have not received your newsletter/renewal and would like to, please contact Kae @ ked4659@aol.com with your current information and I will be happy to update our computer.
===================================================================================
March 30, 2011 - To our Lifetime Members - There are three questions on your news letter. Some of you may know the answers, some may not. Here are the answers:
Question1: How did the Huey Helicopter get its nickname "Huey"?
Answer:In June 1955 the very 1st three prototypes of the Huey that were built by Bell were designated XH-40's. That was followed by an order by the U.S.Army for 6 test aircraft that were designated as YH-40's and followed by a further order for 9 pre-production aircraft.The XH-40 was redesignated "HU-1" (number 1 in a new series of "Helicopter Utility" aircraft. Production aircraft would be HU-1A's. The original "HU-1 is what led to it's unofficial, but universally popular nickname "Huey". In 1962, the introdution of the "Tri-Service Designation System" changed the "HU-1" into the "UH-1" (utility helicopter vs helicopter utility) but people still called it the "Huey"!
Question 2: How long will it take to find a Benefactor/Corporate help to financially make possible the building of "The National American Huey History Museum"?
Answer: In God's Time! We have to believe that all that has occured in the last 7 years was a greater plan of those Veterans, family, members, friends and the Dear Lord who all "Hover" above us. Some men or women, or both, and the corporations who helped build these great Icon's, will make it possible some day! One thing is for certain, these benefactors will have the same passion for preserving the Huey's History as you, I and millions of Veterans do, for years to come.
Question 3: Is it possible to acquire a B Model Huey Gunship and make it fly?
Answer: Why would we want to do that? Well, I'll tell you why. We have a restored and flying "Dustoff" bird "369". We have a restored and flying "Slick" bird " 803/Warrior 11. We are missing the 3rd type of Huey flown in Vietnam and stateside. That would be a short cabin model "Gunship"! So, yes, we are acquiring not one but two B-models, one of which spent 6 years as a B-model "Gunship" in Vietnam (3488 flight hours in country). Her tail number is 64-16049. Can she be restored back to flight? Well, thats up to our Maintenance Director, our core member volunteers and the future support of our members. Stay tuned to the Huey News for the latest developements on "The National American Huey History Museum" and the acquisition/restoration of a Huey UH-1B Gunship! FWI- we intend to pickup the B models in April after Knob Creek!
=================================================================================
March 23, 2011 - Annuals are finished! Everthing went well. Both aircraft are ready for action! We Thank EVERONE who took the time to come out to Grissom and help out. Annuals on two aircraft at one time can get a little crazy but you ALL did a GREAT JOB!!! Thank You so much to Phil Flagg for getting here on the 10th and staying to the end(the 21st). We've had Phil here with us 14 times working on these aircraft. I think he must enjoy it! Thank You to Tom Shields for coming in on the 10th also. Tom's a great mechanic / crewchief and a great friend. We wouldn't be here without our Maintenance Director, Dick Hosmer. Dick and his wife Carolyn got here Thursday afternoon (17th) and brought one of Dick's best guys along, Chris Backer. Chris is another great guy. Jumped right in like he'd been here forever. Of course we treated him like he had been here forever! Thank You Dick and Carolyn and Chris. Thank You to ALL our regular A-team of guys and gals!! We couldn't do it without ALL of YOU!!! Mark Hopkins, Gary Moline, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Tom Schmidt, Jerry White, Tom Klare, Pat Lund, Arthur & Barb Gray, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Jerry Lindquist, Ron Paye, John Townsend, Alan Walker, Ron Baber, Matt Finke, Jamie Hicks, Steve Bowyer, Bill Flowers, Kenny Wemer, Bruce Ashworth and John Walker. Thank You to Rodney Mayfield for getting the skid shoe repaired so quickly. You da man Rodney!! And Thank You Denny and Jean Rogers for coming down and picking up the skid and bringing it back when the repair was finished. We greatly appreciate everything you do! Thank You to Mike Musselman for providing propane to heat the work area. Mikes been donating propane for the past 6 years. We especially need to Thank Jerry Lindquist for providing lunch for everyone both weekends. We are so glad Jerry likes to cook because these guys like to eat! We also Thank Cathy Steffel for bringing brownies and pies for everyone. And Carolyn Hosmer for all the food she provided several evenings. We always have a great time even when we're working! Photos from the workweeks will be on the website soon! Thank You to everyone at Montgomery Aviation for all you do for us. Dan and Andi give us a great facility to work from and Roy and Eric keep the guys in fresh coffee. We hope they know how much we appreciate all they do! Congratulations to John Townsends son Brian. Home from 2 tours overseas he has joined his father in the family business, Townsend Aviation. We hope to see more of Brian now that he's home. Well, the guys are ready for Knob Creek hope you are too!
March 9, 2011 - Well here we are in 2011. Things started out a little slow but requests for the Hueys are starting to pick up. Some of the guys got together in January and took both aircraft out for short flights. As usual they performed beautifully. The time has come to do the annuals on both aircraft. We are expecting about 24 (or more) people to be at the hanger for the next couple of weeks to get the job done. Our maintenance director, Dick Hosmer, will be here on the 16th or 17th. His wife Carolyn will be coming with him. It's always a pleasure to have Carolyn here. We don't get to see her as often as we would like. Of course the same is said of Dick. They are such great friends. We also have Phil Flagg (Bangor, Maine) coming in on the 10th. This will be Phil's 14th trip to Indiana since 2005. Phil is our head crewchief/mechanic. Tom Shields (East Moline, IL) will also be here the evening of the 10th. Tom is also a crewchief/mechanic. The rest of the crew consists of: John Walker, Matt Finke, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Arthur Gray, Jaimie Hicks, Bruce Ashworth, Gary Moline, Mark Hopkins, Jerry Lindquist, Tom Schmidt, Tom Klare, Ron Baber, Steve Bowyer, Ron Paye, Bill Flowers, Jim Steffel, John Townsend, Jerry White, Kenny Wemer and Alan Walker.
We have a new life member! Pat Wing is a Vietnam Veteran (67-68) Huey pilot who is currently an EMS pilot for Parkview Hospital In Ft Wayne, Indiana. Pat retired from the Shelbyville National Guard as a Huey pilot.
The architect working on the plan for the "National American Huey History Museum" has finished the floorplan drawings and the exterior design drawings.The artist's at Fitzsimmons Architectual Firm of Traverse City Michigan are doing a fantastic job with the design. They have listened to everything we have asked for. Photos are on the website! I'll get the updated ones on soon.
Our good friend and A&P Jerry White, has left Montgomery Aviation for a job in Indianapolis. We will miss seeing Jerry at the hanger but he will be around to do our 14 day/10 hour inspections. Eric Shupert has taken over the daily operations at Mongomery Aviation on Grissom Aeroplex. Welcome Eric!
Cody Myer from Nebraska Gas Turbine was here from Feb. 28th to March 2nd replacing a part on 803. He's a great guy, lots of fun to have around! Thanks Cody for all you guys do for us. Oh, and Cody got his first flight in a Huey while he was here. All those turbine engine overhauls and never been in a Huey. We took care of that! Come back anytime and bring the rest of your family with you!
We have a few members who passed away in 2010. Doris Avery (our oldest member at the time), Chuck Heater, Thomas St. Hilaire, Lester Robinson and Ken Roland. May they all rest in peace. If anyone has knowledge of any other members passing please let us know. We really want to know when we loose a member. I'm hoping to have a Memorial Page soon.
It's time for Membership Renewals!! As soon as the printer is done we will be stuffing envelopes and getting them in the mail. With 2555 members it's a huge undertaking to get them ready. Hope to see alot of renewals this year!
_______________________________________________________________________________________
December 13, 2010 - Here we are nearing the end of another year. Hard to believe! We start each new year with the hope that we are continuing to help in the healing process for our Veterans. We also hope that we will continue to reach the children (and adults) on an educational level. Our children need to know the history behind these incredible aircraft and the men and women who relied on them. With the help of alot of GREAT people, we have been able to attend over 50 events since 2006 and we have 5 contracted for 2011 at this time. We are looking forward to 2011 and hope that all of you are also! Thank You to all of the people involved with all of the events we attended in 2010. We appreciate your support and confidence in what we are doing as an Organization. We can't Thank You enough! Without the support of everyone who helps us maintain the Hueys, we know for a fact, we wouldn't be flying. We have the best Huey maintenance people in business keeping us safe. It all starts with our Maintenance Director, Dick Hosmer. He is by the book, and so are we! We love him dearly! Our engine man, Kevin Meyer,Owner of Nebraska Gas Turbine, let's just say we wouldn't be flying if it weren't for Kevin. Jay & Tracy Bugley, Owners of Tamarack Air Services, John & Susan Gagnon, Owners of Pac West Helicopter, Gary Ott, Owner of NAV COM Services, Bill Neighbors, Owner of Pacific Air Logistics, Carl Lawrence, Skyline Industries, Bill Reed, Owner of The Wag Aero Group, Gene Beloate & daughter Lisa, Owner of Beloates Aircraft Trim, Ron Luty, CEO of LJ Walch Inc., Chad Lemke, VP of Precision Heliparts Inc., Tom Jones & Kim Schmidt of Teledyne Battery Products, Ken & Dennis, Owners & Dawn,secretary of Tri County Instruments Inc.. All the afore mentioned people help us keep the Hueys in the condition that they are in. We salute ALL of YOU!! and Thank You from the bottom of our hearts for EVERYTHING that you do for this Organization! We also Thank Montgomery Aviation ( hanger space for both aircraft), Riley Aviation (our Chief pilot, Brain Riley)Vickery Tape and Label (American Huey 369 stickers), A&A Screen Printing and Stone Road Concepts (our hats, t-shirts & sweatshirts), Heli Plaque (our plaques)and Modern Graphics ( our flyers and posters). Thank You for all you do for us! Thank You to EVERYONE who does ANYTHING to help make the Organization a success! We wish everyone Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
October 30, 2010 - Well, the guys are off on another adventure. John Walker, Alan Walker and Bruce Ashworth headed out to the east coast thursday morning to pick up a few misc. parts. Thank You Andy Chamaro for donating some great things! October 26, 2010 - Knob Creek was another great event! Great weather and lots of new members. Thank You to everyone who became a member! Thank You to everyone who makes this event such a great time for everyone who attends. Everyone from American Huey 369 Organization who attended would also like to Thank You: John Walker, Alan Walker, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Dennis Jacoba, Tom Shields, Kenny Janowski, Tom Schmidt, Arthur Gray, Bruce Ashworth, Wade Hedinger, Phil Marshall, Doc Jenkins, Brenda Jenkins, Austin Jenkins, Ed Marsh, Glen Veno, Ron Paye and Troy Brindack.
Thank You to Norman Lawson Jr. for his generous donation. It is greatly appreciated! Thank You to Shane Coe for his continued support. Thank You Kenny, Tracy, Steve and all their families for continually supporting us as we support them. Thank You!! See you in the spring! October 10, 2010 - The guys are in West Point, Kentucky for the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot. I hear they are having a great time! And why would'nt they! They flew 803/Warrior 11 down on Thursday afternoon. The weather is incredible. Nothing like last October. Lots of new members coming on board. Hard to believe this is the last event of the year! Where did this year go?!
October 4, 2010 - We had a great day in Mentone, Indiana on Saturday the 2nd. The Great people from the Lawrence D Bell Museum had a terrific event, "Rotors Over Mentone". This was the First Annual and we anticipate it becoming a huge yearly event! Over a dozen helicopters flew in from as far away as Michigan to participate. Thank You so much to Gerald (past president of The Lawrence D Bell Museum), Jerry (A&P & prior A.F.) & Tim (the current president of The Lawrence D Bell Museum)for inviting us. You guys are great! And you have a great group of Ladies backing you up and keeping you in line!! Thank You to all the Ladies for the wonderful food. Everyone loved all the desserts! Thank You Randy Sharkey (owner/FBO) of Goshen Air Center, the event coordinator. Thank You Chuck Surack, owner of Sweet Water Co., for making it possible for us to be at this event (and for your generous donation after the event). Thank You from all of us at American Huey: John Walker, Alan Walker, Barb & Arthur Gray, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Dennis Jacoba, Mark Hopkins, Gary Moline,Jim Steffel, Bruce Ashworth and Kae York.
September 21, 2010 - The weekend went very well. Turned out to be very busy. We rolled 4 events into one weekend. Our "main event" was in Howard County. Clay York and his family hosted the "Honoring Our Veterans" event at their Boarding Stable. That was Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We spent part of the day Friday flying to downtown Indianapolis and landing at the War Memorial. They were having a POW/MIA Recognition Ceremony. It was great to spend time with the wonderful veterans and their families from the Indianapolis area. Thank You to everyone involved with the event. Saturday we spent the day flying new members. Some of the lucky ones got to go to Brians Surplus for a half hour or so. Some of the very lucky were on a fuel flight that went to Grissom. Montgomery Aviation was having a fly in Saturday so we needed to go their for a little while. Both aircraft eventually made their way back to Montgomery during the day. Most of our time was spent at Walnut Hill Boarding Stable. The perfect setting for our two "old war horses". Everyone had a good time. The Wolf Hounds were right there with us all weekend. The weather was near perfect. Made the flying very enjoyable. Thank You to Clay York and his Family for offering their property to us for the weekend. It was a great place to operate from. Thank You to the "hounds" for hanging out with us. You guys and gal are always alot of fun!
Thank You to all our members who came out to volunteer: Alan Walker, Ed Marsh, Barb & Arthur Gray, Tammy, Kenny Wemer, Bruce Ashworth, Kevin Cencelewski, Tom Schmidt, Ron Paye, Wade Hedinger, Herman Hedinger, Dennis Jacoba, Sr., Denny Rogers, Rodney Mayfield, Phil Marshal, Mark Hopkins, Glen Veno, John Walker, Steve Bowyer, John Schmidt. Thanks to Simon and Phil for spending time with us. They came all the way from the U.K. Great guys and owners of a Huey in the U.K. Don't forget to send pics!
August 25, 2010 - We had a wonderful time at Indy Exec. Saturday! The weather was a little questionable at times but the live interviews in the morning really helped get people out to the airport.
We flew about 45 to 50 Down Syndrome children and their families. They all had a great time! The airport was busy with food and entertainment and aircraft displays. We were able donate $1000.00 to the Down Syndrome Foundation of Indiana! What a great feeling! Thank You to everyone who became a member! You helped the cause! Everyone was a winner at this event. The children and their families got to fly. New members got to fly. And all procedes from memberships was donated to Down Syndrome! Thank You Dan & Andi Montgomery for hosting this wonderful event and letting us be part of it! Thank You to all the employees of Montgomery Aviation for making us feel welcome. Thank You to Joe Morris for the great hotel accomodations! Thank You to WISH-TV and Dick Wolfsie for the live interviews. They helped get the word out. And Thank You Ray Rice for all you do!!
August 19, 2010 - We will be heading over to Indianapolis Executive Airport in Zionsville on the 20th. Taking 803 / Warrior 11 over for the Down Syndrome Benefit. We have a live interview Saturday Morning at 7:45 and 8:45 with Dick Wolfsie of WISH-TV(channel 8 in Indianapolis). It was set up by Andi Montgomery. We hope it goes well! And that mother nature behaves herself until after 2:00p.m. I want a good turn out for the kids. We will announce during the interview that all procedes from anyone who comes out and becomes a member of American Huey Saturday the 21st will be donated to the Down Syndrome Foundation of Indiana.
August 17, 2010 - We had a great time at Paul Cauley's Tribute to the 101st Airborne. We welcome Les Sebring as a new lifetime member! Glad to have you with us Les! We spent Friday hanging out at the Marriot talking with the 101st guys and gals. What a wonderful group of people! We Thank the National President of the 101st Airborne Division Association, Tom Sewell, for inviting us into the Marriot and giving us space to tell everyone about our organization. Thank You so much to all the 101st Ladies and Gentlemen for allowing us to be part of your Reunion. Friday evening we took 803/Warrior 11 over to Paul's house.The 101st guys had no idea we were bringing her until they could hear her off in the distance. They had a great time checking her out and getting their pictures taken. The Cauley's put on a wonderful party! Great food, a fantastic fireworks display and GREAT PEOPLE! What more could you ask for! Saturday morning had us back at the Cauley's picking up 803 and taking her out to Mt. Comfort Airport. Some of the 101st came out and we did a little flying. These men love being able to share the experience with their family members. It helps them understand a little better, what they went through during the war. We Thank Paul and his wife for inviting us to their event. Thank You Les Sebring for helping to get us there! Thank You to Bobby Cormack for being our Pilot and his wonderful wife Kathy for being with us at this event. Thank You to Brian Riley and Glen Veno for coming down from Michigan to fly with us. Thank You to all of our members who made the trip: John Walker, Barb & Arthur Gray, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Ed Marsh, Bruce Ashworth, Jim Steffel, Ron Paye, Tom Shields and Chuck Canfield.
Thank You Paul for great accomodations and a vehicle to get around in! Thank You to everyone who became a member!!!
Thank You to Indy Jet and Pat Robinson (owner) at Mt. Comfort Airport for the use of your parking ramp. Thank You to all our new members and new lifetime members, Janet Malouin & Kenneth Roach. We are happy to have all of you! We cannot do what we do without each and every one of you! Thank You!
August 11, 2010 - The reunion was a huge success. Everyone loved being out at Grissom. The 237th Med Det. said it was the best reunion they had ever had! How could you go wrong when you get to fly in a Huey! Our special guest this year was Jack Zallen. Jack is an LZ X-Ray survivor. He did a wonderful job speaking to over 300 people Saturday & Sunday morning. It was great to see people interested in what he had to say. The local paper did a very nice article on Jack and his experience at LZ X-Ray. Jack is a great man and a great friend! We had a great model of the Future Home of the "National American Huey History Museum". It was built by students in Tom Schmidts class in Culver, Indiana. It was very well made and greatly appreciated. Lots of great people showed up this year. The members of the 237th Med. Det. held their reunion in Indianapolis and were bused up to Grissom to be with us to fly 369, our Medevac Huey. We heard everyone had lots to talk about! We had another Gentleman, Richard Anderson, bring his family and spend the day Saturday. Some of you may recognize Richards name. In 1964 he was the co-pilot with Charles Kelly the day Mr. Kelly was fatally wounded. Richard did two tours in Vietnam 1964-1965 and 1968-1969. We were very happy to have him and his family at the reunion. We hope they will make it a yearly trip.Clyde Fenton was back this year having a good time spinning tunes Saturday and Sunday. He was taking requests and entertaining the crowd. Clyde does a great job and will be with us as long as he wants to be! Big John White fed everyone well. He brought his BBQ chicken and ribs and pulled pork. Always great!! Mark & Troy are our lifers! They have been with us since 2006. The Saturday night after party with the core members and friends was a great time! I'm sure Mark & Troy won't forget this reunion anytime soon! They were joined on stage by our great friend, Ray O'Keefe. And guess what?! Ray can sing! Really good! We applaud and loudly Thank, Mark and Troy. These guys stayed on stage from 4:30 until after 11:00. Everyone was having a great time! Thank You Mark and Troy!!! You ROCK!! Thank You to Rex Gordon our auctioneer. Rex knows how to get the most out of everyone! Literally!! We had great items again this year. Thank You to Pat Lund, Joe Kline, Doc & Brenda Jenkins, Jerry Paul, Kae York, Ace Hardware, Larry Ford, John Walker, Beloates Aircraft Trim Shop, Jim Rentz, Jim Bledsoe, Rick Turner and Jerry Hick for donating all the items. The auction made $4160.00! Thank You to everyone who bid and everyone who won, Gary & Jeanette Brink, John Townsend, Bonnie & Tom Schmidt, Christina Niemiec, Hal Stone, Steve Kesler, Francis Moriarty, Kathleen Logan, Daniel Anderson, Gary Schwartz, Danny Kindlesparker, Gary Campbell, William Naragan, Ray O'Keefe, Paul Dolezal, Rex Gordon and David Hansen. David Hansen had the winning bid on a beautiful clock that was made by Pat Lund and donated it back to the organization to put in the museum! Thank You so much Mr. Hansen! Thank You to Jerry Lindquist for bringing out his large dioramas and other military displays! If you haven't seen them you are really missing out. They are so detailed it's incredible! Thank You to our great friends the Wolf Hounds! It wouldn't be a reunion without these guys! They do such a fantastic job and really make the reenactment a success! They put a lot of work into their displays also. A HUGE Thank You to Jerry White! The Hounds were allowed to stay over night on the flight line, so Jerry had to stay too. Sorry about that Jerry! Next year we'll bring you a roll away bed! Jerry's a good sport and a great friend! THANKS JERRY!!! Another HUGE Thank You to Dan & Andi Montgomery, the owners of Montgomery Aviation. We truly appreciate everything they do for us. And they do alot! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Dan & Andi!! Thank You to all off our members for always being ready to help at events. Alan Walker, Julie Resset, Aubrie Resset, Barb & Arthur Gray, Mark & Bobbi Hopkins, Gary & Pat Moline, Wade & Jo Hedinger & all of their children who pitched in and helped!, Tom & Marilyn Shields, Jim & Kathy Steffel, Doc & Brenda Jenkins, Ed Marsh, Ed Halcomb,Denny Rogers, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Jamie & Amanda Hicks & beautiful new daughter Peyton, Pat Lund, Ron Paye, Bruce Ashworth, Sherry & Carl Dewey, Glen Veno, Paul Bartlett, Tom Schmidt, Tom Klare, Brian Riley and Bobby Cormack. Thank You all!! Thank You to Laurie Kiefeiber from the Peru Tribune for all her wonderful articles. Laurie has been doing a great job covering the organization for the past several years. She loves what we are doing and it shows in her articles. Thank You Laurie! Thank You to all the other local papers and radio stations for all you do for us. We really appreciate it. AND, THANK YOU to everyone who came out to the reunion and to those who became members! We hope everyone had a GREAT TIME!!
July 18, 2010 - The Reunion is coming up quickly! We could use some interesting items for the auction. They don't have to be military or Huey related just some nice items. We had the opportunity to meet the new base Commander at Grissom a couple weeks ago. He is Colonel Tim Cahoun. A very nice man, he is impressed with what we are doing. He will be attending the reunion(if nothing comes up to keep him from being there). We have some great aircraft coming in for static displays. A Louch and a KC-135! The KC-135 will be open so that everyone can tour the inside. Jerry Lindquist will have his incredible model display setup. He has a new display that I hear is quite large and has tons of Jerry's signiture detail work. The Grissom Air Museum is hosting a car show on Saturday the 7th. We will have a shuttle going from the Reunion area down the street to the Museum so that anyone interested can go to the car show and tour the museum. Lots of plans are still in the works. It is shaping up to be a great Reunion! Hope to see everyone there!
July 12, 2010 - THANK YOU CELINA!!! Freedom Festival was great! Everyone had a very good time. This years celebration was a tribute to the late Don Howell. A World War II Veteran and a great man, Don passed away this past winter. As our tribute to Don, we flew his wife, children and grandchildren on 369. A small gesture from us to a great Veteran. The weather was warm and breezy and everyone spent alot of time talking and reliving days gone by. Fireworks Saturday night were great, as usual. Freedom Festival does a wonderful job putting on their show. Food was great, the Bands were very entertaining. Lots of fun things for the little kids to do also. We got to meet Aaron Tippen Sunday afternoon. He's a nice man. Barb Gray went up and watched his concert for a little while and took some pictures. We will try to share those with you. We had great weather to fly both days and took advantage of it when we could. Thank You to everyone who became a member, we appreciate it greatly. Thank You to John and Paul for all their hard work and dedication. Glad to see John is healing well! Thank You to Mary for always being able to pick us up and move us around when ever we needed her! Thank You to the American Legion, VFW, Moose Lodge and Eagles Lodge for helping make the event a success. Thank You to our members who continue to give up their weekends to be at events: Ron Paye, John, Walker, Gary & Pat Moline, Phil Marshall, Doc Jenkins, Mark & Bobbi Hopkins, Ed Marsh, Troy Brindack, Arthur & Barb Gray, Denny Rogers, Rodney Mayfield, Dennis Jacoba, Kenny Wemer, Matt Shaffer and Alex! The 4th Annual American Huey 369 Reunion is coming up! Hope you are making plans to attend! We need auction items if anyone would like to donate. SEE YOU AT GRISSOM AIR BASE!!!!
June 29th, 2010 - Fourth of July Weekend is fast approaching. We will be taking both aircraft to Celina, Ohio this year. Everyone is invited to come over and spend the day and watch the fireworks on Saturday night! Aaron Tippen will be headlining the concert on Sunday evening. He takes the stage at 6 o'clock. See you in Celina!!
June 26th, 2010 - Montgomery Aviation and the Frankfort Airport hosted the Benefit for Autistic Children at the airport. As usual they did a great job! Dan and Andi Montgomery have a wonderful group of people working for them and with them. The fish fry looked to be a success again this year. Lots of people came out to feast on the all you can eat meal. The aircraft seemed to be coming in at a steady pace also. It appeared to be another great event. Thank You to Dan & Andi Montgomery, Bobby Beem, FBO Manager, Becky Walker and all the staff. They always work hard to make this event a success. Thank You to our members: Alan Walker, Julie Ressert, Aubrie Ressert, John Walker, Barb Gray, Mark Hopkins, Jim Steffel, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Ron Paye, Tom Schmidt, Matt Shaffer and Kenny Wemer. A special Thank You to Dan and Bobby for coming to the rescue when the truck decided to quit. They came and moved us off the street and took the trailer on to the airport. AND a HUGE THANK YOU to Charlie in the red Dakota for towing our truck out to the airport. The man is proof that their are still good people among us! THANK YOU CHARLIE!!! And Thank You to Kenny for going to Indianapolis to get the flat bed and a pickup so that we could get our trailer AND our truck back to Peru. THANK YOU!!!!!
Thank You to 13 year old Elisha Wainscott for the great video he put together. He did a wonderful job videoing the Huey as she flew in and did interviews with his brothers and added great music. Thank You very much Elisha! Good Job! June 18th to 20th, 2010 - Lest We Forget Our Veterans was held in St. Joseph, Michigan this year. It was held at the local high school. This years event was centered around the Vietnam Veterans Traveling Wall. A very impressive wall, it is the largest of all the Traveling Walls, standing eight feet at the apex. Friday was a beautiful day to fly and 369 performed beautifully. Arrived in St. Joe to sunny skies and smiling faces. Anytime you can make a veteran smile your having a good day! Spent the afternoon Friday conversing with a lot of great people and checking out the other exhibits. Found our friends John & Donna Steer. We haven't seen them since last year so it was very good to reconnect with them. Don Alsbro has done an incredible job again this year. I don't know how he does it year after year but he makes it happen! Friday night mother nature decided to pay a visit to St, Joe. It would seem she has a thing for being a little nasty to us on Friday nights. First Indy now St. Joe. It was a repeat of last year at Benton Harbor. Storms rolled through, made a mess and were gone. Thank goodness the only damage at the school was a lack of electricity. Saturday was beautiful. Nice breeze off of Lake Michigan. Sunny skies and soaring tempertures! A flight in a Huey usually takes care of the heat! We took several local Veterans on flights. Vietnam Veteran Bud Baker (Purple Heart and Distinguished Service Cross recipient), WWII Veteran Franklin Smith(landed in Normandy and participated in the Battle of the Bulge), WWII Veteran Raymond Conrad, Vietnam Veteran Jim Heyn(crewchief on a Huey Assault Helicopter), Vietnam Veteran Denton Kime(Purple Heart recipient), Vietnam Veteran Glenn Openneer, Hershel Williams(Medal of Honor recipient), Vietnam Veteran John Steer and Vietnam Veteran Don Alsbro. What a wonderful group of men they are!! Saturday evening we got to watch the sun set over Lake Michigan and it was beautiful! Sunday was another great day. Fathers Day! We took a young man, Brandon,and his father Chris for a flight. Brandon was grinning from ear to ear after his flight. Happy Fathers Day Chris and to all our Fathers! We need to Thank: Don Alsbro for all his hard work and dedication to this event. Thank You to the Emergancy Physicians Medical Group Lakeland for making it possible for American Huey to attend the event again this year. Thank You to the St. Joe Public School system for helping host the event. Thank You to the City of St. Joe and all the great people of St. Joe.
June 11th to 13th, 2010 - The 14th Annual Indy Airshow was an interesting event. Friday was media day. Probably one of the nicest of the three day event. We had the opportunity to hang out, talk to the public and watch the other aircraft practice. Not much else for us to do that day. We had the pleasure of meeting a group of children from Riley Childrens Hospitals Make A Wish Program. All of the children have been diagnosed with terminal illnesses. The group had chosen a child and parent to fly with us on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunatly,friday night brought terrible storms to the area along with flooding rains. Saturday our area looked more like a wetlands than an airport. The officials canceled Saturdays events and hoped the standing water would deminish by Sunday. By late in the afternoon we decided to take to the air in an effort to let people know we were still there! That brought a few people down to our waterlogged area! It had become quite the mudhole but we didn't care. We were going to make the best of it. Unfortunately, mother nature wasn't done testing us. She dumped more rain and high winds on us again saturday night. Undetered we headed back to the airport to check out the situation. Over cast skys cleared to reveal some very hot and muggy conditions but no one cared. We were finally going to be able to show the audience our two beautiful aircraft. We did our reenactment with the Wolfhounds and with the addition of the other vintage aircraft, put on quite a performance. The pyro that was provided (simulated bomb blasts) was excellent! Thanks to Rich's Incredible Pyro. The bombs really added to the program. We want to thank David Jackson for inviting us to the event. David is Warbirds Chairman and a member of American Huey. Thank You to Dave Rothenanger, the Air Boss of the Indianapolis Air Show. Great job gentlemen! Thank You to Indy Aero, the FBO at Mt. Comfort Airport and thank you Mt. Comfort Airport. Thank You Rob Reider, the airshow announcer. Rob did a great job announcing our program and giving the audience information about the aircraft and what they were seeing. As always, Thank You to our great friends, the Wolfhounds. You guys and gal are great to work with! Thank You to all our members: Alan Walker, Mark Hopkins, Gary & Pat Moline, Barb & Arthur Gray, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Al "Doc" Jenkins, Dennis Jacoba Sr., Ron Paye, Jim Steffel, Glen Veno, Ed Marsh, Jerry Lindquist, Tom Schmidt, Brian Riley, John Walker and Chuck Canfield. We were told that we got a standing ovation after our program. We also heard that it was the first time anyone had received a standing ovation in the 14 years the airshow has been put on. Made us proud! THANK YOU!!
May 25, 2010 - LZ Lambeau is in the books! What a great event. Had some issues with mother nature all day Friday, but both Hueys and the Marine Sikorsky 34 finally reached their destination Saturday morning. Although the weather kept us from flying in with the Motorcycle Riders on Friday, and going to the Oneida Indian Nation afterward, the guys did manage to do the flyover at the cemetary for 7 fallen brothers. They were a little late, but they made it. The fog finally broke and Saturday was beautiful. All three aircraft did a fly over (over the stadium) when they arrived. The Oneida Nation of Indians were performing the Grand Entry Ceremony at Lambeau Field when the aircraft flew over. They loved it! 803/Warrior 11 sat on the corner of Oneida and Armed Forces Way (across from the stadium). She was positioned in front of the Brown County Veterans Memorial. It was a great setting. 369 went to Austin Straubel Airport and flew new members all day. Saturday evening we moved 803 off the corner and flew her out to the airport to join the other aircraft for the fly over at 7:30pm over Lambeau Field. As the OH-6 Loach circled overhead, the aircraft were called in to fly over Lambeau Field during the Tribute Ceremony. Those inside said they were pretty loud as they came over. Nothing compares to the sound of a Huey and they heard them in stereo! Sunday was spent at Austin Straubel flying new members until about 11 a.m. We packed everything up and headed to the Oneida Indian Reservation. We were a formation of 4! American Huey 369, 803 / Warrior 11, the Sikorsky 34 and the OH-6 Loach. After spending all day Friday at the Oneida Memorial waiting for the birds to fly in and everyone being so disappointed that they couldn't get there due to weather, I promised we would be there before we left Green Bay! And we were!! What a great group of people! They gave me a hard time on Friday, but they were loving it on Sunday!!! We love all of you! You made MY weekend! The flight home was great! I personally have to Thank Gary Moline for insisting on taking the truck and trailer home so that I could fly. THANK YOU GARY!!! I got some great photos thanks to you! We Thank Ron Paye for all his hard work and dedication. He worked his butt off for alot of months to get all the aircraft to this event. We are proud to have him as a core member of our organization. And a HUGE Thank You to his family for all of their time and dedication. They were there everyday driving our crew to and from our hotel to the airport and any where else we needed to go. They are a great family and we are proud to have them in our extended family. We Thank the Best Western Staff for their hospitality(and finding my briefcase after I left Green Bay. I think that was my only duh moment all weekend!) Thank You to Jerry, owner of Stadium View Bar & Grille. He allowed us to land 803 / Warrior 11 in the parking lot behind his business so that we could get her where she needed to go. Thank you to John Miskowski at Wisconsin Friends of Public Television, Inc. Thank You to the Green Bay Police Department for blocking the road so that we could safely move 803 / Warrior 11 down Armed Forces Way and into position at the Memorial. We looked like a mini parade with all the people walking with us. Thank You to all the great people at Austin Straubel. Everyone was very nice and helpful. Thank You to the Oneida Nation of Indians. We love you and hope to get the opportunity to spend more time with you! We Thank Stewart McMillan, president of Task Force Tips, Inc.for the generous fuel donation at the Valpo Airport. You are truely generous and we appreciate it more than you know! Thank You to the City of Green Bay, Titletown Brewery and everyone involved with getting this event together. Thank You to all of our crew: John Walker, Tom Shields, Don Nelson, Barb & Arthur Gray, Cathy & Jim Steffel, Gary Moline, Mark Hopkins, Ed Marsh, Jaimie Hicks, Wade Hedinger, Glen Veno, Jerry Mellick, Denny Rogers, Rodney Mayfield, Dennis Jacoba, Sr., Allen (Doc) Jenkins, Phil Marshall and Ron Paye! We can't do this without ALL of YOU! Thank You to Peter Bales, the owner of the OH-6 Loach. They flew in formation with us when we left Green Bay. Thank You to the crew of the Sikorsky 34, John, Allen, Ron and George. They flew from the east coast and joined us at Grissom to fly to and from Green Bay with us. You guys are great to fly with. We hope we can do it again in the future! Check out their website: www.freedomsflyingmemorial.org. I am still going through photos and hope to get them on the website in the next week or so. Thank You for your patience. Flight photos can be seen and purchased on our Photo Reflect site. Click on the link above the reunion poster. Flight photos can be seen on
www.2-hueys.photoreflect.com
May 16, 2010 - LZ Lambeau is just a few short days away! We are taking both 369 and 803/Warrior 11. Hoping for great weather. Barb Gray and I (Kae York) will be leaving early Thursday morning with the truck and trailer and our gear headed for Green Bay. Hoping to arrive early enough to go to the Wall Ceremony at 4:00. The rest of the group will leave Grissom about 8:00 on Friday with a Marine Helicopter from the East Coast along and pick up a Loche along the way. They are to join the Freedom Riders and come into Lambeau at about 2:00. They will do a fly over at the Stadium and then go to the airport. More when I have more info!
April 10, 2010 - The guys are in West Point, Kentucky at Knob Creek. THE largest machine gun shoot known to man!(and woman!) Arrived Thursday evening about 5 o'clock or so. Got themselves settled in for the evening and got right to work talking to all the early arrivals. From what I have been told they are eating quite well! Phil Marshall is chief cook this weekend and it turns out he's quite the cook! They may be eating better on the road than they do at home. They actually had a busy day on Friday. Typically a slow day, they did 15 flights with new members! Today should be extra busy with the beautiful weather! Members helping out at this event include: John Walker/pilot, Wade Hedinger/copilot, Tom Shields/crew chief, Arthur Gray/safety briefing officer, Glen Veno/LZ coordintor, Ed Halcomb/membership & merchandise, Ed Marsh/flight escort, Dennis Jacoba/flight escort, Rodney Mayfield/crew chief, Dennis Rogers, Kevin Cenzelewski, Donald Rogers, Alan "Doc"Jenkins, Brenda Jenkins, Phil Marshall/copilot & chief cook, Paul Cauley and lots of others who arrived via their own transportation. Thanks guys for all your help!
March 13-14, 2010- Work weekend! Getting ready to do the annuals on both aircraft. Lots of great help. Phil Flagg is here from Maine, Tom Shields from Illinois, Gary Moline, Mark Hopkins and Perry Bundy from Michigan, Allen "Doc" Jenkins from Kentucky, Denny Rogers, Rodney Mayfield, Jim Steffel, Tom and Jonathon Schmidt, Ron Paye, Ron Baber, Jaimie Hicks, Barb and Arthur Gray, Tom Klare, Alan and John Walker all from Indiana. Thank You for getting things going! Dick and Carolyn Hosmer will be here Thursday from Texas. Dick is our Maintenance Director. He will oversee all the maintenance work being done. Knob Creek is coming up quick!!!
January 25, 2010 - We
regretfully have lost another member. Doris Avery of Peru, Indiana, passed
away Sunday the 24th. Doris was the oldest member of American Huey 369. She
was 91 years old. Doris flew on 369 during the 2008 reunion and was with us
at the 2009 reunion and flew on 803. Doris was a special lady and we will
miss her. Our condolences to her family and friends.
!!Happy New
Year!!
January 10, 2010 - Look for a big announcement in upcoming
weeks!!
November 12, 2009 - What a way to end the year!! The
Veterans Day event at Harlan Elementary was outstanding!! 450 students,
their teachers, veterans and parents waited on the playground for our
arrival. They were very excited! As were we! We went inside for the Veterans
Day program put on by the teachers, students and honored guests. It was a
very impressive program. The school has been putting on this program for 18
years. We are honored to be a part of it this year. The children at this
school are just incredible. the choir, the Middle School band (you would
have thought they were a high school band), all of the children who had
speaking parts, just blew us away! All schools should have a program like
this! After the program, we went back out to 803 to meet with the students
and teachers. We had 20 to 30 minutes to spend with each class. The kids had
lots of questions. We had lunch with the sixth graders. They were responsible for the
invitation to attend their event and for raising the funds to make it
possible for us to attend with 803. These children had lots of questions. After lunch we went back to the aircraft for more classes and questions. One
of our crew members, Jim Steffel, spent time in several class rooms
answering questions about the Vietnam War. What a great time for Jim! He had
a great time talking to the kids. We are extremely proud of Jim and his
personal accomplishments this year. In May, Jim flew for the first time in
over 35 years. Jim had been shot down 3 times during his tour in Vietnam. He
was reluctant to ever fly in a Huey again. Great Job Jim!! We flew six
Veterans on a courtesy flight. Tom Kurtz, WWII, George Kurtz, Korean War,
Paul Hubbard and Bill Cook, Vietnam War and Candace Jackowski and her
husband, Iraq & Afghanistan. Everyone had a great time. We do want to Thank
Harlan Elementary School, Principle Ed Yoder, Michelle Gibson, the sixth grade
class, the teaching staff, the lunch staff, all of the students, parents and
Veterans for inviting us to share in their special program. We wish all
schools across our great country would Honor their Veterans the way this
school does. You are definitely one in a million! THANK YOU AGAIN!!!
(FYI- This is a small rural school with a significant number of Amish
students). Thank You to our members who attended the event: John Walker,
Alan Walker, Gary Moline, Mark and Bobbi Hopkins, Jim and Cathy Steffel,
Barb and Arthur Gray, Rodney Mayfield, Phil Marshall, Kae York and Ed Marsh.
We would also like to announce Casey Ward, son of John Ward, graduated from
Marine Corp. boot camp this week. Semper Fi Casey!
November 1, 2009 - It has been brought to our attention that
we have lost another member and friend. Don Patnoude, affectionately known
to many as Uncle Don, passed away October 23, 2009. Don was a WWII and Navy
Veteran. He was a regular at Riley Aviation in Sturgis, Michigan. Don will
be greatly missed by everyone who knew him. Our condolences to his family.
October 23, 2009 - The guys had a great time @ Knob Creek
(stomping thru the mud) and finally getting to fly on Saturday. They flew 27
flights Saturday and 5 Sunday. We have quite a few new members! Thank You
everyone!!
October 10, 2009 - The guys got out of Peru about 9 am or
so on Thursday but didn't beat the rain. They got to Bloomington to
refuel and had to hang out for about 4 hours until the weather cleared
enough to take off again. They got to Knob Creek about 5pm. The rain
followed. It's been a soggy couple of days but they are flying today! All
are well and having a great time! I hope my designated photographer is doing
his job! More later.
September 16, 2009 - The guys will be off to Knob Creek in a few weeks. I think
they have an extremely large contingency for this trip!
September 16, 2009 - Lest We Forget Our Vets in Kalamazoo was another great
event. The weather was beautiful and the people were great! TW Lane does
such a great job of getting this event together. We Thank TW for inviting
us. It was a pleasure to get to meet alot of very nice people from the
Kalamazoo area. We Thank Mark Hopkins and Gary and Pat Moline for letting a
bunch of us barge in on them this past weekend. Thank You to everyone who
came over to the Kalamazoo Air Park and visited with all the exhibitors. We
have to Thank Ray and Garda O'Keefe for coming to Michigan. We enjoyed our
time together and hope we will be seeing you more often!! (Ray was
instrumental in getting 803 donated to us.) They are the reason we chose to
take 803 to Michigan instead of 369. It was a great honor for all of us to
be able to Honor them with a flight in 803! THANK YOU RAY & GARDA!!! We Love
You!!
Photos should be posted in the next few days of all
events. Thank You for being patient!!
September 16. 2009 - The Moving Wall in Goodland, Indiana was great. It was the
only one on the schedule this year. We decided to take 803. It was her first
fly in Moving Wall. (She was on static display in 2006 in Richmond, In).
Everyone in Goodland was extremely nice. They took good care of us and
treated us like family. This small town (population of about 1000) put on a
great event. John Meyer and his staff did a fantastic job with everything.
Anyone who thinks a small town can't bring a Moving Wall in, needs to talk
to John Meyer. He can tell you how it's done! Thank You Roxanna. THANK YOU
to EVERYONE in GOODLAND!!
September 16, 2009 - Well I've managed to get 3 events
behind, so lets try to get caught up! The reunion went very well. The
weather was great! Jim and Gail Harvey, Don and Sybil Nelson and a bunch
of the guys from the 336th were here. We are pretty sure they all had a
good time! Jim and Don both got back in the pilots seat of 803 for
the first time since March 8, 1968. (Jim actually sat in her in August of
06, but that hardly compares to flying her again, right Jim?!) Our
buddies, the Wolf Hounds were here with us. We always have great fun with
this group of guys and gal (we can't forget our favorite nurse, Marsha!).
We did two reenactments with the Hounds, using both 369 and 803. Everyone
enjoyed watching both birds in action along with the Hounds! John and
Donna Steer and their son John John were all with us this year. It was
great to see all of them! The auction did pretty good again. We had some
interesting items! We Thank everyone who donated and everyone who bid and
won the items and Rex Gordon for being a great auctioneer. It is greatly
appreciated. Thank You to Mark & Troy for coming out again this year. We
always enjoy have you here! Thanks to Big John White for being here with his barbeque wagon. We missed
him last year( you could tell by the number of people in the food tent!)
Thank You to Dick and Carolyn Hosmer. I think you know what it meant to all
of us to have you both here! Marilyn, we hope you can make it to a few more
events next year! It was great having you here! We have missed you! Thank
You to everyone who took the time to set up and hang out with us. We hope
that you made a few connections. We know how tough it is to come to an event
and not make any sales. We appreciate you being here. Thank You to everyone
who took the time to come to the reunion. We always hope that it is getting
better every year. The number of people coming goes up a little each year.
Thank You to EVERYONE!!! All 1300 members of American Huey 369
will be receiving a copy of the flyer (below) for this years reunion by
mail. We hope to see you there!!
Anyone interested in
purchasing photos from recent events please go to:
www.2-hueys.photoreflect.com
. I will no longer be able to make photos available at events, it's simply to
time consuming. I don't want to miss any opportunity for a photo at any
event. The quality of your photograph will also be much better. I have tried
to make the cost comparable even with shipping. You will notice that the
website is run under the Organizations name. All profits go to the
Organization. Thank You! Kae York, photographer, American Huey 369 Inc.
August 10, 2009 - Another great event! Can't believe we've
done 11 of our scheduled 15! The staff at the Van Wert Airport were
great. They really know how to host an event! To Tom Dunno, we hope you
enjoyed your seat time! It had to feel good to get that stick in your hand
again after so many years! Thank You to everyone for your hospitality!! We regretfully left some information off of the reunion flyer. We will be
doing a reenactment with the Wolf Hounds. Most likely in the early evening
(5 or 6p.m.)on Saturday. Time is not definite as yet. Craig DeFeyter and
Glen Veno are working on all the details. We also want to let everyone know
that the last pilot and copilot 803/Warrior 11 had in Vietnam will be
joining us. Pilot Jim Harvey and his wife Gail will be coming in from Alaska
and CoPilot Don Nelson and his wife will be coming from Ohio. We will also
be joined by other members of the 336th Assault Helicopter Company.
Anyone interested in more information on the Goodland Moving Wall event
August 28, 29 & 30 may call John Meyer @ 219-297-3490.
August 2, 2009 - Sorry for delay with updates! 803 is
flying!! She flew Friday July 17th to Thunder Over Michigan along side 369.
What an awesome sight they are flying together!! They certainly get
everyone's attention. Thunder Over Michigan was great fun! Not only did 803
make her debut, but she and 369 took part in a reenactment that was just
incredible! To real for some. We thank our great friends, the Wolf Hounds
for making it all look so real. These guys do such a great job and we enjoy
working with them. Thanks to everyone involved with the reenactment, we
don't know who all of them are, but everyone did their part beautifully! The
Blue Angels are a sight to see. If you haven't seen these guys and gals
perform you need to. Thanks to member Glen Veno for all his hard work
getting everything together for us up in Michigan. If it weren't for Glen
we'd be lost and we'd have no transportation and no entrance to the event(
for those of us on the ground). Thanks to Hummer of Novi, Michigan again for
the great transportation! It's not to often that you can get Hummer's to
drive at an event!! These folks have done it twice!!! Thanks to everyone
involved with this event. You do such a great job.
The reunion for C Troop, 4th Cav. on Friday the 24th
went well. We had a pretty good crowd. Everyone enjoyed being able to get
back in the Huey. Thanks to Montgomery Aviation for hosting the event and
Andy and the gang from the Museum for cooking lunch for everyone.
Mother nature tried to keep us on the ground again
but she didn't try hard enough! We were alittle late getting to Auburn on
Saturday the 25th but we finally made it by late afternoon. We always enjoy
going to the Military History Center. It is a great facility with great
people running it! Thank You to Jamie for all her hard work and to Bob for
inviting us back. Thank You to Dean Kruse for giving us a great place to
stay. And to cousin's Rod and Linda for transportation.
July 10, 2009 - Alan & John installed the new helmet
cords in 803. They work! Did another ground turn. Dick, Paul and Tom are due
in Tuesday to start flight tests!!
July 8, 2009 - Did another ground turn on 803, everything
is looking pretty good!
July 4 & 5, 2009 - Mother Nature chased us again
this weekend. We managed to get to Celina before she did. The people of
Celina gave us a warm welcome and a beautiful place to land. Right on the
water. John, Jerry, Paul and everyone involved in this event did an
incredible job of putting it together. The light rain Saturday afternoon
didn't seem to bother to many people. They grabbed an umbrella and kept on
going. I like events where we get to be a little more relaxed and spend time
talking to people. The fireworks were great! I haven't seen any that
spectacular in quite a while. Sunday broke to clearing sky's and an
opportunity to fly. It's amazing what just seeing 369 fly does to people. We
got to meet Lee Greenwood and get photos with him! What a great person he
is. We had a good time talking with him and watching him interact with the
crowd. Thank You Lee for spending time with us! And Thank You Mike for
letting us bother you to meet Lee! Thank You to the American Legion, VFW,
Moose Lodge and Eagles Lodge for helping make the picnic a great success and
for helping make it possible for us to be there! You did a great job! Thank You to
all our new members. Thank You to our crew: John Walker, Phil Marshall,
Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Arthur Gray, Gary Moline, Doc Jenkins, Pat
Moline, Austin Jenkins, Ed Marsh, Mark Hopkins, Bobbi Hopkins, Barb Gray,
Kenny Wemer & Mark Jackson.
June 28, 2009 - You can always depend on Montgomery
Aviation to do something great! This years Benefit Fly In was for Autistic
children. What a Great cause! It appeared they had a great turnout. The
weather cooperated, the food was great and the people were outstanding! It
doesn't get better than that. We hope that Dan had a good time in the
Co-Pilots seat! Thank You to Dan's wife Andi and the staff for all their
hard work and for inviting us back this year. Thank You to all who became
members at the event. It is greatly appreciated. Thanks to our crew: John
Walker, Ron Paye, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Barb Gray, Jim & Cathy
Steffel, Mark & Dee Jackson, & Kenny Wemer.
June 23, 2009 - 803 received her airworthiness
certificate today!!
June 22, 2009 - Mother Nature kept us on the ground most
of the day Friday. The storms in Michigan finally passed long enough for us
to get to the airport in Benton Harbor about 5:00. Saturday was a beautiful
day. Lots of people interested in 369 and the organization. We met David
Butler who had recently come home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. What a
great young man! We welcomed him home with a flight on 369 and took him out
to dinner with us later that evening. We should treat our Veterans with high
regard EVERY DAY not just holidays! We had a great time meeting lots of
great Veterans and Patriots. Sunday was another great day. Beautiful weather
and lots of people. We want to Thank everyone involved with this event for
asking us to return this year. Thank You to Don Alsbro and his staff for
putting together such a great event. we can only imagine the man hours it
takes to put it together. Thanks to everyone who became a member during the
event. We can't do this without everyone's help and support. A HUGH Thank
You to the Emergency room staff for making it possible for us to attend this
event. And Thank You to our crew for always being ready to help: John
Walker, Gary Moline, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Arthur & Barb Gray, Doc
Jenkins, Austin Jenkins, Mark Hopkins, Pat Moline, Jim & Cathy Steffel, Wade
& Jo Hedinger, Ed Marsh, Ed Halcomb & Mark & Dee Jackson.
June 10, 2009 - Success!! 803
runs!! We did ground turn on Sunday. Everything went pretty well. We plan to
ground turn again at Grissom. Flight testing will be in July.
June 3, 2009 - ANOTHER GREAT
EVENT!! Thank You so much to John Townsend for inviting us. We had a
great time. The new terminal at White County Airport is very nice. Lots of
wonderful people in attendance. Saturday was very laid back. We had lots of
fun watching all the old war birds and other flying machines. Dave Van Liere
brought his spanish built jet that he restored. You will find several photos
in the gallery of Dave's jet. We flew a few times Saturday with some new
members and some old members too. Phil Marshall was our designated co-pilot
for the flight over to White County but he got ousted once we got there! Al
"Doc" Jenkins was allowed to take the seat (we made him promise not to touch
anything!). John Townsend, the owner of Townsend Aviation and the White Co.
Airport, is a Vietnam Veteran crewchief. John took the co-pilots seat for
several flights. Very emotional for John as he hadn't been in a Huey since
Vietnam. John is a very accomplished helicopter and fixed wing pilot. We had another emotional moment with another of our members. He
also hadn't flown in a Huey since Vietnam (most of you Vietnam Vets understand the
reluctance). He conquered a ghost Sunday afternoon. We are all very proud of
him! Sunday was a busy day. Mr. Townsend pulled the doors off
his Bell Jet Ranger and took Barb Gray, Mark Hopkins and myself (Kae York)
up to take some aerial photos of 369 in flight. That was awsome! We got some
great photos (at least we think their great!). We hope you do too. We need
to Thank John Townsend and all his staff for putting on a great event. His
staff was always willing to help no matter what. We also want to Thank John
and his wife, Clara for becoming lifetime members. We hope to see them
often. It was a pleasure to meet their son Brian, he is currently serving
our country and we Thank him for his service. He is an Apache pilot. Thank You
to everyone who attended the event and became a member. (We are still
looking for volunteers!) Thank You to all our core members who are always
here to help. Thanks to: John Walker, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Arthur
Gray, Phil Marshall, Mark Hopkins, Ed "Top Gun" Marsh, Al "Doc" Jenkins (aka
the ornery one), Barb Gray, Jim Steffel, Cathy Steffel, Kenny Wemer, Mark
Jackson( Mark's brother was a crewchief in Vietnam) and Kae
York. Work on 803 is progressing this week. Dick Hosmer arrived Monday
night and Tom Shields arrived Tuesday afternoon. Others will be arriving
during the week and weekend. Dick, Tom and John got the transmission and
engine shimmed today. Everything looks good. We are hoping to ground turn
this weekend. I will try to keep everyone updated.
May 25, 2009 - WOW, three events
have come and gone already! Time FLYS when your having fun! We had a great
flight up to Sturgis Saturday morning. It was surprisingly warm aloft.
Unlike last week, which was a complete opposite. We were greeted by a yellow
bi-plane as we neared Kirsch Municipal Airport. Ed Halcomb was on the ground
to bring us into our LZ. Great Job Ed! The guys got 369 cleaned up (we
collected a few bugs on the way). The rest of us got the trailer and awnings
set up. Riley Aviation had a great turnout for the pancake breakfast. Over
250 people. That's a lot of pancakes and sausage! Mother Nature tried to put
a damper on the festivities again this weekend. She poured on us for an hour
or so and finally gave up and let the sun shine again. We made a few
flights, signed up a few new members and hopefully helped mend a soul or
two. A Special Thank You to Lori for all her efforts. She did an
outstanding job organizing her first event! Thank You to Riley Aviation for
hosting a great event and to Brian Riley for piloting 369 ( you couldn't pry
his butt off of that pilots seat with a crow bar!). Thank You to the Airport
Management and Board of Directors for all your support (thanks for having a
sense of humor when I was kidding you about Brian's flying!). Thank You to
all the Ladies and Gentlemen who prepared and served breakfast. Great Job by
ALL! Thank You to our crew members, John Walker, Gary Moline, Rodney
Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Arthur Gray, Jamison Hicks, Mark Hopkins, Wade
Hedinger, Glen Veno, Ed Halcomb, Ed Marsh, Barb Gray, Bobbi Hopkins and Pat
Moline for getting us to our destination, keeping everyone safe, spending
time with our great veterans and caring so much about our mission! Hope to
see a great turnout in Monticello next weekend!!
May 19, 2009 - What a great group
of guys the 40/8 are! We were a few hours late due to the weather, but
everyone was great once we arrived. This is truly impressive group of
people. Pilots and Crewchiefs all checking out the work done on 369. I think
we managed to pass inspection! These guys are alot of fun. They told stories
on each other and on them selves. Met alot of great people and got a few new
members (still waiting on the rest of the guys to decide to join us!). We
hope to see all of you again. Hopefully at our reunion in August.
803/Warrior 11 should be flying by then. Smitty, Thank You and everyone who
helped get your first reunion together. You ALL did a great job!
Thanks to our Pilot, John Walker and CoPilot, Gary Moline and our crew, Alan
Walker, Rodney Mayfield, Arthur Gray and Denny Rogers for getting us to our
destination and home again. They always do a great job! And Thanks to Barb
Gray for helping me (Kae) get photos of everyone. We wanted to share an
email we received after the reunion with the 40/8.
To the Walkers and the wonderful volunteers at American Huey 369, a
big thank you for everything you have done and continue to do. I was
privileged to attend the first Indiana National Guard HUEY reunion at
the 40/08 club in Shelbyville, In. on Saturday, May 16th. It was
chilling to hear 369 entering the airspace and watching that beautiful
aircraft land in the LZ. Your restoration efforts are next to none. It's
a beautiful aircraft. Thank you for all your efforts to preserve a very,
very big part of Army aviation. I want you to know that every Huey
crewmember I talked to yesterday commented on how beautiful she looked.
There were alot of very experienced Huey mechanics, Crew Chiefs and
Pilots in attendance who were very impressed. Many of us had not seen
each other in years and were so busy catching up that with each other
that it may have seemed like 369 and her crew were a little left out.
Rest assured that was not the intention and everyone appreciated you all
being there and adding to the experience. I hope that Jon and Charlie
will build on this first reunion and make this a regular event that
includes 369. We are off to Sturgis, Michigan
Saturday morning. Hoping for great flying weather! Will try to keep
the news up to date!
May 13, 2009 - This past weekend
John Walker and Doug Dorn did a little refinishing on the tail of 803.
Doug repaired some unsightly dings in the two drive shaft covers on the tail
and because we replaced the fin spar, the tail needed to be refinished. They
also refinished the trim around both of the chin bubbles. 803 is really
starting to come together! We will be heading to Shelbyville this weekend,
weather permitting. Mother nature has decided to make this weekend a real
challenge. We are going to a reunion of the 40/8 members. This is our first
official event of the year. We have events for the next 3 weekends. We
certainly hope mother nature cooperates! After all that, we will be getting
ready the first week of June to ground turn 803! We can only hope that 803
will be as willing as 369 was two years ago! We will keep everyone informed
of her progress!
April 27, 2009 - We had a visit the
25th & 26th from Kevin & Cathy from Nebraska Gas Turbine. They flew in to
see 369 and 803. Kevin helped put a few important items back on 369 and
brought a couple parts for 803. They didn't get to stay long so we are
hoping they will be able to come back for the reunion this summer. We all
know what wonderful things Kevin and his crew have done for the organization
in the past several years, so it was nice to finally meet him. And Cathy
would be great to have around during our events! We can always use more
people with great personalities! WE HOPE YOU TWO CAN MAKE IT TO THE REUNION
THIS YEAR!!! We did have a few more of the guys in to work on 369 and 803.
On Saturday Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers & Gary Moline came to lend a hand.
And, Mark Hopkins was here doing some videoing. Arthur and Barb Gray came up
Sunday to help on 803. Mark and Gary have been busy for quite a while
working on the troop seats for 803. They completely dismantled them, cleaned
them and are getting them ready for refinishing. The new seat covers are
already here as well as the new seat belts.
We also got word that we have lost another member. Jim Mitchell passed away
just recently after a battle with cancer. We met Jim in Brighton, Michigan
last year. Our condolences go out to Jims wife Kathleen and his family. You
will not be forgotten! April 5,
2009 - The Knob Creek event went pretty well. Had some questionable
weather in the area, but the guys got through it. They didn't fly on
Friday until late afternoon. The weather finally broke and they had quite
a few new members patiently waiting to see 369 fly. Saturday was a busy
day. The weather was great! Arthur signed up a lot of new members (about
200). The guys had to pack up and leave a day early due to more weather
moving into the area. Everyone hated to go, they always have a great time
at Knob Creek. Thanks to Kenny and all his crew for always making us feel
welcome!! Thanks to Arthur Gray for manning the membership table, you did
a great job! Thanks to John Walker and Wade Hedinger for getting everyone
around safely. Thanks to Ed Marsh, Troy Brindack, Tom Shields, Glen Veno,
Phil Marshall, Allen(Doc) Jenkins, Brenda Jenkins, Kevin Cencelewski and
especially Rodney Mayfield and Denny Rogers for providing campers and
food!! March 16, 2009 - ATTENTION!! To anyone
interested: the Outdoor channel will be airing a program at 5:30p.m. and
10:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 18th of March that was shot at Knob Creek
Kentucky last October and includes American Huey 369. March 4, 2009 -
We would like to Thank Doug & Stephanie Frank and Stephanie's mother Liz
for the donation they made in the memory of Russell A. VerNooy. Russ was a
member of the Quiet Birdman Society. The following is a tribute
written by Russ's daughter Suzanne. He is survived by his wife Ann,
children Russell and his wife Pat of Plymouth, MA; Suzanne and her
husband Russell, of East Falmouth, MA; Nancy and her husband James of
Portland, OR; 6 beloved grandchildren, and 4 beloved great-granchildren. Russ wanted to fly from the time he was a child watching the planes
at his local New Jersey airstrip, and spent a lifetime loving the
skies. No one knows exactly how many people he taught to love flying,
or how many total hours he had, but it doesn't matter now, does it?
Russ loved to fly low ( within FAA regulations, of course! ) so he could
enjoy the scenery. He could make a plane dance. Russ will be sorely
missed by many. February 3, 2009 -
The work weekend went well. Lots of things got done. The interior of 803
is now back to the gray color she originally had. Billy finished the
installation of the new finspar and will be returning soon to install the
gear boxes. Lots of cleaning in the hell hole (that was Gary Moline's designated
area). We had a lot of great help again. Thank Goodness for all the people
who just can't seem to get enough of these old birds! A HUGE Thank You to
Mike & Vicky Musselman for providing the propane to keep the heaters
going. The temperature was 17 below during the work weekend! We certainly
could not have done it without them!! I think the paint finally dried
after heating the hanger for a couple of days. Thank You to all the guys
and gals who came to help out: Billy Grantham (Texas), Tom Shields
(Illinois), Gary Moline and Ed Holcomb (Michigan), Rodney Mayfield & Denny
Rogers (New Carlisle, Indiana), Jim & Cathy Steffel (Monticello, Indiana),
Arthur & Barb Gray (Richmond, Indiana), Brad Dorn (New Castle, Indiana),
Ron Paye (Indianapolis, Indiana),
Kenny Wemer ( Indianapolis, Indiana), Tom Klare (Peru, Indiana), Jameson
Hicks (Burns Harbor, Indiana), Jerry Lindquist (Miami, Indiana), Alan Walker
(Peru, Indiana) and John Walker (Peru, Indiana). The photos for this work
weekend are in the 2009 photo folder on the website. Pages 146, 147 & 148.
HEY JOHN FOTIA! we miss you being here with us, hope you can make time to
come down and see us!! You can't work all the time!
January 4, 2009 - We hope everyone had a
safe and Happy Holiday Season. We are getting ready for our first work
weekend of 2009! January 16, 17 & 18 Billy Grantham will be here from
Texas to do the finspar mod on 803. We will also be getting the interior
repainted and finishing a few things on the engine and transmission
installation. We have a few events on the calendar for this year and
hope to have a few more. With trying to get 803 airworthy we will try not
to overload the schedule. As you can see, we left last years schedule so
that you would be able to find photos from the events. The photos from the
work weekend last month are on page 145.
Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukah
and
Happy New Year
to all !!
!!! See you in 2009
!!!
December 13, 2008 - We had a work weekend the 6th and
7th and got a lot accomplished. 803 now has her engine and transmission
back in and her mast assembly and blades back on. There is much more to be
done in the coming months. Photos of the progress are on page 145 in the
gallery. We would like to Thank everyone who took time during the holidays
to help get 803 back to her current condition. THANK YOU Dick Hosmer
(Texas), Phil Flagg (Maine), Tom Shields (Illinois), Gary Moline
(Michigan), Mark Hopkins (Michigan), Wade Hedinger (Michigan), John Fotia
(Indiana), Rodney Mayfield (Indiana), Denny Rogers (Indiana), Arthur &
Barb Gray (Indiana), Jim Steffel ( Indiana), Tom Klare (Indiana), Jerry
Lindquist (Indiana), Carl Dewey (Indiana), Ron Paye (Indiana), Kenny Wemer
( Indiana), Alan Walker (Indiana), John Walker (Indiana), and
Jameson Hicks.
We also need to Thank Nebraska Gas Turbine (Kevin Meyer)
for the overhaul on 803's turbine engine. Tamarack Air Services (Jay &
Tracy Bugley) for the overhaul on the 40 and 90 degree gearboxes for 803
and numerous other donations they have generously made this year. Pac West
Helicopter (John & Susan Gagnon) for the overhaul on the offset generator
quill and hydraulic tach quill and the main rotor head and straps for 803.
John and Susan continue to do great things for us. DEEMI (Richard Bowie)
for continuing to support our efforts to get 803 flying and keep 369
flying. Master Roll Mfg. (Rodney Mayfield) for their continued support of
the organization thru generous donations of equipment. Pacific Air
Logistics ( Bill Neighbors) for the donation of the offset generator quill
for 803 and helping us get a great deal on an expensive bearing for 803.
Vertical Lift Inc. ( Dick Hosmer & crew) for all the overhaul work and for making
sure that everything we do is done to specification and FAA guidelines.
Montgomery Aviation (Dan & Andi Montgomery and Jerry White) for the use of
the hanger at Grissom Aeroplex where 369 is now housed. Econogas ( Mike )
for donating the propane to heat the hanger and keep us warm. Once they were Soldiers....
May God rest his soul..... *************************************************************************************************************
November 11, 2008 - It's Veterans Day. We hope that
everyone has Thanked all the Veterans they know for our Freedom. Without
them, this Country would not be the same.
THANK YOU and WELCOME HOME !!
October 15, 2008 - Knob Creek was a great time for the
guys. They had a good time with all their buddies. The guys tried to
wear poor old 369 out, they made 3 dozen flights in 3 days. Everyone loves
to see her fly! Alan made sure everyone ate very well. They should all be
very thankful that he's a good cook! While they were all having fun, they
guys did sign up 225 new members. We are now over 1000 members strong!!
Not to shabby for a two year old organization! Check out the photos on the
website. Page 144 is Knob Creek. I'm still waiting for photo's from Arthur
Gray. Thanks to all the guys who participated this weekend.
October 7, 2008 - John Walker and Tom Shields took off
last Thursday (the 2nd) and headed out to Nebraska to see our friends at
Nebraska Gas Turbine. Kevin and his crew did a great job on the engine for
803 / Warrior 11. We hope they know how much they mean to the Organization
and that we can hardly wait for all of them to fly! If it were not for
their incredible talent as engine builders we wouldn't be flying!! We know
from experience that the only thing better than a fresh turbine engine in
a can, is a fresh turbine engine in a HUEY!!!! THANK YOU from the bottom
of all of our hearts!!
The guys are getting ready to head down to Knob Creek this coming weekend.
We hope they have great weather and a good time is had by all attending.
At this time we know that these members will be making the trip: John
Walker, Alan Walker, Gary Moline, Mark Hopkins, Rodney Mayfield, Denny
Rogers, Arthur Gray, Troy Brindack, Tom Shields, Bobby Cormack, Wade
Heddinger, Glen Veno, Phil Marshall and Allen Jenkins.
September 29, 2008 - We spent Saturday the 27th at the
Fairmount American Legion in Fairmount, Indiana. Thank You to Member Ed
Trice and the Legion, for inviting us over for the day. The Legion was
showing off their Huey, tail number 504, which had been repainted
recently. (Click on September 27th in the completed events above and see
before and after photos of 504). She looks a lot better now, with
her clean paint and new nose art. We spoke with quite a few people and
signed up a few new members. Took 369 for a couple of flights, but for the
most part we were having a good time talking with people and relaxing.
It's been a busy year. One more event on the calendar and we will be
finished for the year( unless something comes up for Veterans Day in
November!!). Thank You to everyone!!! for making all the events special.
September 23, 2008 - Howard Co. Vietnam
Veterans & Veterans Reunion - Another weekend of great weather!!! Thank
You to "Dollar" Bill Lisby for having us back again this year. We
appreciate everything you do. Thank You to the staff of HCVVO for all your
help, you folks always do such a great job! We had a lot of people in our
area over the four day weekend. The crew talked to alot of people and
welcomed home a lot of Veterans. We were particularly happy to see Jack
Zallen back this year. We certainly missed him last year! We hope that all
of our new members enjoyed their time with 369. She is such a great bird!
Thank You to all of our members for helping out this weekend. It takes
everyone of us to make this organization work and we feel like we have the
best people doing just that. Every one of them has great passion for what
we are doing and we hope to gain more along the way. To two of our newest
volunteers, Cathy and Jim Steffel, you two are great and we hope to keep
you around for a long time! You are such a great fit with everyone. Thank
You to all who travel so far to spend their weekends with 369: Tom
Shields, Rick Harvey, Gary & Pat Moline, Mark & Bobbi Hopkins, Ed Marsh,
Ed Holcomb, Rodney Mayfield, Troy Brindack, Arthur & Barb Gray, Alan
Walker and John Walker. Thank You to all of our NEW MEMBERS! We hope you
will be with us for years to come! We need each and every one of you! We
will be in need of more volunteers next year as we will also have 803 /
Warrior 11 flying. September
22,2008 - Mt. Brighton Moving Wall - Brighton, MI - A HUGE THANK YOU to
member Glen Veno for all his hard work getting the Moving Wall to
Brighton, Michigan and for taking such great care of everyone. Glen
is truly a special individual!! If mother nature had been a little
easier on the state of Michigan it's hard to say what the outcome of this
project would have been. The die hard patriots showed what they were
made of, because they were there come rain or shine and this weekend it
was more rain than shine! The area was well done and the Wall was
beautiful. We feel the event was a success. Everyone had a great time
despite the weather. We had plenty of time to meet and speak with
hundreds of Veterans and their families and that is what is truly the most
important. We hope that when the opportunity arose that all of
our new members enjoyed their flight. We Thank everyone involve with
getting this event together, we know what a huge task it is! Thank
You to the Brighton airport for your hospitality. Thank You and
congratulations on a job well done to Livingston County for hosting the
event. Thank You to the thousands of people who attended the
event and to all who sponsored the event: Griffin Armor, Brighton Airport
Assoc., Fraternal Order of Eagles #3607, Holiday Inn Express, BIG PDQ.
The Brighton House, Pinnacle Pointe Salon, Sign A Rama, Munro Electric,
Paul Mazza, Brighton Masonic Lodge, Robert Higley, Skip Dawsey, Sign
Works, Dave Pilon, Civil Air Patrol, Amy Courter, VVA #110, Corrigan
Oil, Brighton Area Schools- Dept. of Trans., A & H Transmission, Jones
Tech U.S.A., R & L Needham, South Lyon VFW, Accurate Pest Control, Monroe
Rubbish Removal, Kroger Co., Courtyard by Marriott and a Huge Thank You to
Hummer of Novi for the red, white and blue Hummer's! Thank You to all of our NEW MEMBERS!
September 9, 2008 - Liberty Moving Wall
- Liberty , IN - First, let us Thank
Rhonda Alvey for the incredible job she did with the Liberty Moving Wall !
Congratulations Rhonda on a great event and a job well done! And we
have to Thank her right hand woman, our own Barb Gray. Barb can't
help her self. When she hears the words Moving Wall, she jumps in to help
any way she can. She and Rhonda worked very well together. And I'll bet
they do it again! We had a great time meeting everyone from the
area. We were static display only at this event so we had plenty of time
to talk to anyone who had questions or just wanted to talk . We had a lot
of families share their feelings and tell us about their lost loved ones.
We honestly felt that our mission was on the right track while we were in
this small community with all these wonderful people! Sometimes I think
the mission of our organization is realized to a greater extent when we do
very minimal flying. To each and everyone of
you who attended this event, we Thank You from the bottom of our hearts.
We, as an organization, enjoy the Moving Wall events. This was our
4th this year. The 5th is coming up this weekend in Brighton, Michigan.
Thank You to the DNR Staff for doing such a great job. You are all very
nice and we hope you enjoyed working with all of us. I'm sure this
was a little different than anything else you have had to work with. Thank
You to Whitewater for hosting the event. We
hope that they will consider doing it again in the future. The setting was
absolutely beautiful. Thank You to the American Legion, the Dunlapsville
Booster's 4-H Club and the Kitchel Hot Shots Future Homemakers 4-H Club
for their generous donations to our organization. They are greatly
appreciated. Thank You to Paul, Beverly and Melissa Wiwi, owners of
Carriage Lamp Bed & Breakfast. What a beautiful place you have! We will
certainly recommend you to anyone looking for a place to stay in
Liberty! We appreciate your kindness and generosity. Thank You to our members who continue to show their
undying support for their organization. Our ground crew: Jim and Cathy Steffel and John Fotia. And our flight crew: Pilot, John Walker, Co-Pilot,
Gary Moline, Crewchiefs, Rodney Mayfield, Mark Hopkins and Arthur Gray and
our support crew, Pat Moline, Barb Gray and myself, Kae York. THANK YOU
to everyone for all your support and we hope to see you in Brighton,
Michigan.
September 4, 2008 - Our second trip to
Auburn, Indiana to the National Military History Center was great.
What an incredible facility! Everyone should make an effort to go and see
all the great artifacts collected in this Museum. We hope that 369's
presents there was helpful to the Museum. We seemed to stir up a lot of
people when we landed over at the Auction area. Thank You to Pat Moline
and her daughter Lisa and grandson Tyler for hanging out with our friends
from Riley Aviation over in the auction area passing out fliers and
talking to people. They got a lot of people to come over to the other side
of the highway and visit with 369 and the museum. Thank You to everyone at
the History Center for supporting our efforts. Bob Krafft and his
family, Gary, Jennie, Taya, Jon, & Tianna. Thank You to Tianna and her
best friend, Hannah Wineland for helping us out. You two are wonderful and
we enjoy your company. Thank You Tammy Hantz for our great
accommodations and everything you do to keep things going at the History
Center. Thank You Emily Fischer and everyone at the History Center
who work tirelessly to take care of everyone who visits the Center. Thank
You for the all for being such wonderful people! We Thank our
members who helped make the event a success: John Walker, Gary and Pat
Moline, Pats daughter Lisa and grandson Tyler, Mark and Bobbi Hopkins,
Rodney Mayfield, Arthur and Barb Gray, Jim and Cathy Steffel, Glen Veno,
Matt Shipe, Tom Rose, John Fotia and Ed Marsh. We appreciate every
one of you!! We will be heading to Liberty Indiana Saturday morning to
attend a Moving Wall Event. 369 will be on static display. We hope to see
you there!!
=============================================================================
THE FOLLOWING IS
TO THANK EVERYONE WHO TOOK PART IN OUR 2ND ANNUAL REUNION, AUGUST
16TH & 17TH, 2008. ====================================================================================
==================================================================================== August 21, 2008 - WOW, the reunion is
over!! We had another successful event. The reunion went very well. The
weather was perfect, 369 performed flawlessly (as usual) and the
attendance was equal to last year. We had a lot of our current members
here. It was great to meet members who had never been here before and
renew acquaintances with ones we don't see to often. We appreciate
everyone who took the time to come to the event this year. We are
painfully aware of the current economics in our country and cannot Thank
everyone enough for making the reunion an important part of their lives.
We gave 369 a real workout. John didn't realize it, but she flew 23
flights in two days. 25 when you count her flight to and from the event.
She is such a great old bird! We hope that everyone who attended the
reunion has a greater understanding of what we are trying to accomplish. I
think most of you do. The gun range was certainly a hit (no pun
intended)!! The range made over $1400.00 in two days. Thank You to all of
our gun enthusiasts!! The auction did well again this year. This years
quilt brought even more than last years. Mom puts alot of time, effort,
talent and love into her quilts. Thank You Mom!! Joe Klein's prints were
popular again this year also. Thank You to Joe for his great talent and
for sharing it with all of us. Thank You to TNW Firearms, Inc. for their
donation. We have such a long list of people to Thank. Above
you will see everyone who physically took part in making the reunion a
HUGE success. If I left anyone out please let me know. My brain is a
little fried. I will be posting photos soon. I personally shot about 1200
myself ( I have a lot to go thru!) and I'm waiting on some from other
people. If you have photos from events you would like to give to the
organization, please email them to
ked4659@aol.com or send them on a photo disc to Kae York 209 S
Broadway, Peru, IN 46970.
August 12, 2008 - Everything is coming
together for the reunion. Now if mother nature will just behave herself !
I ran across a letter that was sent to us in July that I think we need to
share. It really says exactly what we are trying to convey to everyone we
come in contact with. I hope our friends at the Holland Michigan Chapter
of the VVA don't mind that I posted it on the website. Thank You gentlemen
for the opportunity to give something back. Hope to see you all again at
the reunion!!!
August 6, 2008 - We found out last night
that due to health issues Big John will be unable to cook for us this year.
Our co-founder, Alan Walker, has offered to do the cooking.
Don't worry, Alan is a great cook! He can handle it!!
August 1, 2008 - We do want to let everyone
know that John and Donna Steer will not be able to make the reunion this
year. We spoke to Donna last week and it is just to soon for John to
make the trip. We will miss them, but we want what is best for John. We hope
to see them in Kokomo in September. We are getting things ready for the
reunion. Trying to get things together for the auction. We hope to have a
couple of prints from Joe Kline. A hand made quilt depicting 803 / Warrior
11's nose art (made by Phyllis Dorn) is finished. The bands are set
and we are still working on our DJ. Big John is planning on being here
with his BBQ (Yummy!!). Master Modeler, Jerry Lindquist will
have his Display / Traveling Museum set up for all to see. Jerry does
incredible work. He has the most detailed dioramas we have ever seen.
More details as they come.
August 1, 2008 - LZ Welcome Home is a great
event. This event was our first official flight and event last year.
So we celebrated our first anniversary with all the wonderful people of New
Carlisle, Indiana. We have quite a few members in the area (we gained
several more this year!). Neil Brioli was in charge of the event again
this year. Great job Neil!! Our usual band of characters greeted us (Barb
Gray & I) when we arrived with the truck and trailer, Rodney, Denny,
Perry, Neil and all the guys from the Last Patrol. The guys flew in about 30
minutes later. This years crew included John Walker (Pilot), Gary Moline
(Co-Pilot), Mark Hopkins, Arthur Gray, Ed Marsh and Troy Brindack (Crew Chiefs). We all
had a great time. We need to Thank American Legion Post 297 for inviting us
back this year. Thank you to everyone who feed us for three days. The food
was great! We know how hard everyone works at these events and the heat
makes it especially tough on everyone. Thank You to Bart Bales for
providing all of us with Hotel rooms for three days and for everything you
did during the event. You gave a lot of Veterans a wonderful gift! Thank You
to Bobby Cormack for coming down from Michigan Friday afternoon and flying
with us on Saturday. You are always alot of fun and we appreciate you
being with us. Thank You to New Carlisle for hosting a great event. A few of
us were able to sneak up town and check out the Home Town Days event.
Thank You to all of our members who were able to give us a hand during this
event: Bobbi and Mark Hopkins, Barb & Arthur Gray, Troy Brindack, Ed
Marsh, Jim Denning, Glen Veno, John Walker and Gary Moline. We will see you in a couple
of weeks at our Reunion!!
July 21, 2008- Vietnam Veterans of America
Chapter 295 put on a great event at Fort Ben. They had one of the
Original Moving Walls on display. Everything was very well thought out.
Janet Cummings always does such a great job with this event. She is to be
commended for all her hard work! Janet and her husband Jerry are now members
of our organization and it will be great having them. It was wonderful to
see Sammy Davis and his wife Dixie again. What great people they are! 369
flew Sammy & Dixie, Jim, David McNerney (another Medal of
Honor recipient ) and two other dignitaries into the ceremony. We must
Thank Ron Paye for piloting 369, not many people could hold that hover
behind the wall the way Ron did! Thank You Ron, we know what that meant to
you. Everyone at Chapter 295 are such wonderful people. We enjoy getting to
be part of their event. Thank You !! We also Thank all of our members who
continue to go out of their way to make this organization work. Thank You
Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Arthur and Barb Gray, Ed "Top Gun"Marsh and
Ron Paye. Thank You to Rick Wilson and his wife for showing such interest in
the organization, we hope to see you again this year.
July 9, 2008 - Operation Welcome Home, Auburn,
IN was, again, another great event. Everyone associated with this was
extremely nice! We want to Thank Bob Krafft, Tiffany Miller and the
Kruse Foundation for inviting us to join their 4th of July Celebration. The rededication of the World War II Victory Museum was held on Friday July
4th. It is now The National Military History Center. This is a beautiful
museum! Everyone should take the time to go visit. The Moving Wall was just incredible ! It is the largest Moving Wall in
existence. It is a 4/5 scale. Standing 8 feet at its center. What a
beautiful sight it was. The organization who brought this Wall also has a
tribute to our Iraq soldiers and to the 9-11 attack. Both were very
nice additions to the Wall. We need to Thank our members who are always willing to give of their time. A
lot of our members use their vacation time to help at our events.
Thank You to John Walker, our founder. Without his tireless efforts we would
not be who or where we are today. Thank You to Bobby Cormack for flying for
us and with us. He must like us. He keeps coming back! Thank You to Ron Paye
and Gary Moline for being our co-pilots. This was Ron's first event
and he did a great job!! Gary did a fine job, as usual. Thank You to
all of our crewmembers, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Mark Hopkins, Tom
Shields, Troy Brindack, Ed Holcomb, and Arthur Gray. Another job well done !
Thank You to all the ladies, Bobbi Hopkins, Barb Gray and our new comer, Pat
Moline. This is the first event Gary's wife has been able to join us.
We now have over 440 members.! We feel that is a pretty good number
considering the organization is only a couple of years old and we had less
than 150 members a year ago! THANK YOU !!!
June 30, 2008 - The Lest We Forget event
in Benton Harbor, Michigan was another great event. Don Alsbro and his
staff put countless hours into making this event an absolute success!
The beach landing was a sight to see, very authentic. The event was very
well put together. The military aircraft that flew in were beautiful.
The people were great! We gained quite a few new members
. We also were reminded again just how incredible our members are!! Glen
Veno took care of briefing passengers ( with quite a flare)!! Glen is fairly
new to the organization but has quickly found a new home with us.
Bobby Cormack was our chief pilot. He has spent thousands of hours
piloting Hueys. Gary Moline was our co-pilot. He did a great job, as
usual. Several of our members serve as crew. Tom Shields, Rodney Mayfield,
Arthur Gray, Denny Rogers and Mark Hopkins all took care of those
duties. Thank You to all the guys for a job well done. A big Thank You to
Bobbi Hopkins for brings all the great food and handling our booth and Barb
Gray for always being their to help in any capacity. You can always depend
on Bobbi and Barb!! Thank You again to Don Alsbro and his staff for putting
on a great event!!!
June 16, 2008 - The Downs Syndrome
Benefit went very well. The weather was absolutely beautiful!! All the
families seem to have a wonderful time. 369 was a big hit with both the
children and the adults. Please view the photos from the event on page
107 and 108(click on page 103 and it will take you to additional pages). Thank
You to everyone at Montgomery Aviation !! It is a pleasure working with all
of you ! This was such a rewarding event to take part in.
We will be heading to Benton Harbor, Michigan Friday morning at 9 a.m.
May 27, 2008 - Please be sure to check
the schedule often. It seems to change almost daily. As you can see, there
are a few new events.
We are having trouble locating a few of our
members. If you see your name or know the whereabouts of any one listed
please let us know. I will give their last known city and state.
John Ralston, Logansport, IN, Brandon Bratton, Kokomo, IN, Dan Gruender, Peru, IN, Bruce L. Douglas, Ft Knox, KY, and Douglas Davie, Kingsbury, IN.
We would like to keep everyone's addresses up to date, so if you move or
changed emails or phone numbers, please let us know. THANK YOU!!
**********************************************************************************************
May 20, 2008 - Johns surgery started at 6a.m.
this morning and was done about 1:30 this afternoon. They repaired the
aneurysm and 2 leaky valves. The doctor said he should have a lot more
energy now. Look out Donna!! The next 12 hours will be critical so
keep them both in your prayers. We will keep you informed as we hear from
Donna.
**********************************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************************
May 19, 2008-Our dear friend John Steer in
scheduled to undergo open heart surgery Tuesday May 20th at 10:00 a.m.. He
has an ascending aortic aneurysm measuring 5.2 centimeters and a leaky heart
valve that they will also be repairing. Please keep John and his wife Donna
in your prayers.
**********************************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************************
May 17, 2008 - We want to make everyone aware
that we are attending Fire Base Kokomo with American Huey 369 the
weekend of June 6th, 7th and 8th. She will be on static display beside the
Moving Wall. This event was called the mini reunion but has grown in
size over the years so the Howard County Vietnam Veterans and Veterans
Organization chose to rename it. Please plan to come and visit with us
and hundreds of other Veterans and Patriots. Hope to see you there!!!
**********************************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************************
MAY 15, 2008 - We will not be attending
the Blue Star Salute on May 17th. We have never received confirmation.
*********************************************************************************************************
May 5, 2008 - The Organization has
decided that they will attend Fire Base Kokomo (previously know as the mini
reunion) the weekend of June 6th, 7th and 8th. The Moving Wall will be
at this years event. We have been asked to set Huey 369 somewhere near the
wall display. 369 will not be flying during this event, she is for static
display.
April 5, 2008 - We have lots of news to catch up on!!
American Huey 369 has a new home! Grissom Air Reserve Base recently opened
to civilian aviation and Huey 369 was the first to move in! She was moved
to her new home on Friday March 14th. Dan and Andi Montgomery are the
owners of Montgomery Aviation, the FBO (fixed base operators) at Grissom Air
Reserve Base. Being true Patriots, they are allowing 369 to be housed in one
of their 4 hangers (hanger 11)during our flying season. The managers are
Jerry White and his wife Brooke. They are the parents of darling twin
daughters. Jerry is an A&P and will offer aircraft repair service along with
running the fuel service, which will offer aviation gas and jet A fuel. We
look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with Montgomery Aviation.
Thank You Dan, Andi, Jerry, Brooke and Bobbi. Montgomery Aviation @ Grissom
Air Reserve Base Ph# 765-689-8100.
On Easter Sunday 369 took off for Sturgis Michigan. She was piloted by Brian Riley (Riley Aviation) and John Walker.
John was also going to be undergoing some testing of his own. He worked with
Brian for several days and has now been recertified! Congratulations John!
John and Mark Hopkins had the pleasure of flying 369 home on Wednesday the
2nd of April. This was Johns first flight without an instructor with him and
Marks first as sole Navigator. They had a great flight and 369 performed
beautifully! We would like to Thank EVERYONE at Riley Aviation for everything they
did to help John while he was in Michigan for training. John made alot of
new friends and we gained a few new members plus a write up in the local
paper. Thank You Brian for all the hours spent both on the ground and in the
helicopter. And thank you to all the girls in the office at Riley. John thinks very
highly of all of you! Thank You to the coffee crowd, John also thinks very
highly of all of you. We hope to see all of you at some of our events this
year! A HUGE Thank You to Don Goble for all of your time and talent. Don is
the FAA examiner who gave John his check ride. He is prior Army with
thousands of hours as a pilot in several aircraft including the Huey. And
THANK YOU to our dear friends, Mark and Bobbi Hopkins for letting John stay
with you for 11 days. Bobbi even gave John her new Dodge Charger to drive!
We love you and don't know what we would do without you! We need to let everyone know that there are a few changes
to the schedule. We received a call from the gentleman who puts on the Knob
Creek Machine Gun Shoot and for the first time in over thirty years, the
spring event has been canceled. The area is flooded. We also will not
be attending the Indianapolis Air Show. We have removed it from the
schedule. The spring renewal is going pretty well. We thank everyone for staying with
us. We know that the economy is making it difficult for everyone and money
is a big issue.
January 19, 2008 - We hope everyone had a
wonderful holiday season! Thought we would let everyone know what has
been happening this month. John Fotia has been at the hanger taking
the tail boom from 803 apart. He's going to be installing a new fin spar in
the near future. We received a call from Kevin Myer at Nebraska Gas
Turbine the other day. The engine is due to be completed by the end of
February. Also, on Thursday the 24th, John Walker, Rodney Mayfield and
Gary Moline are taking a 3 day trip to Arizona to attend an auction of
Helicopter parts. Hoping to find a bargain or two on some much needed ( and
expensive) parts.
I'm sure most of you have noticed all the changes that have been made to the
web site. Mark Hopkins has been working lots of hours to get video
clips on, the links to other sites and all of our merchandise displayed.
As you can see by the tentative schedule, we have been receiving calls from
other organizations to attend their events. We have limited our
schedule to one event per month (with the exception of July) due to the fact
that the members who help at these events are all working full time jobs and
come from several states (including 2 of our pilots and 2 of our crewchiefs).
Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year !!
December 22, 2007- The December work weekend went
well. We had lots of help dismantling 803. Members who were at
the work weekend were: Rodney Mayfield, Gary Moline, Kenny Wemer, Mark
Hopkins (with video in hand), Marks son Kyle, Carl & Sherry Dewey, Alan Walker, John Fotia,
Phil Flagg Jr., Charlie & Tracy Morgan, Jerry Lindquist, John Ward,
Arthur & Barb Gray, John Walker, John "Smitty" Smith, Roger
Hamilton, Jeff
Granger and Ryan Marburger. Gary Swartz, Larry Ford and Nancy Leichty sent
monetary donations so that everyone would be fed (Thank You !!). Mike
Musselman furnished the propane to heat the hanger (Thank you Mike for
keeping us warm!). Jerry Lindquist will be coming in next week to do
some cleaning and prep work on the chin bubble area in preparation for
paint.
November 12 & 13, 2007 - John Walker and Rodney
Mayfield are off on another road trip! Out to Hooper, Nebraska to see the
guys at Nebraska Gas Turbine. Kevin and his crew are doing the restoration
on 803/ Warrior 11's turbine engine. We don't know how we will ever thank
these great people enough for all they have done for the organization. They
are absolutely wonderful people! They expect the engine to be ready in late
January 2008.
November 11,2007 - Today is Veterans Day.
Have you Thanked a Veteran today? If you haven't, you should! If you enjoy
your freedom, Thank them and Welcome them home. THANK YOU &
WELCOME HOME !! Also, there
are several organizations who actively send packages to our troops. I am
including 5 of them now so that you may help them get packages to our troops
for the holidays. They are:
www.anysoldier.com,
www.operationshoebox.com ,
www.treatsfortroops.com ,
www.treatanysoldier.com and
www.starsandstripesshop.com
.I hope that you will do what you can to support these organizations.
November 8, 2007 - We regret to inform everyone
that we have lost a member. Don Warden lost his battle with cancer on
October 25th. We send our condolences to his daughter Monique. She knows how
much we loved her dad. Not just for his outstanding ability to work on Hueys,
but for all the time he spent with us during the past several months when he
could have been doing something else. Don was with us at Howard County and
we are so glad that he was. It was the last time we got to see him and spend
time with him. He was truly a wonderful, giving man and we will miss him!
We do need to let everyone know that there is
a work weekend scheduled for the 1st and 2nd of December. We will be
disassembling 803 and getting things ready to send her engine to Nebraska
Gas Turbine.
October 15, 2007 - Well the weekend has come and
gone (again!) Everyone had a great time at Knob Creek. We gained another 35
members! The organization has grown by leaps and bounds this year! It's hard
to believe we are only a year old! Thank You to all our new members! Photos
from Knob Creek will be posted in the gallery. This event was planned as a
treat to our members who have helped at all the events we attended or hosted
this year. Those in attendance were: John Walker, Alan Walker, Paul
"the Duke" Wheeler, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Tom Shields,
John Fotia, Gary
Campbell, Gary Moline, Pat Whitmoore, and Kenny Janowski.
October 3rd to 8th, 2007 - Bruce Ashworth & John
Walker headed out to Stevensville, Montana to Tamarak Helicopter to deliver
our parts bird. Tamarack purchased what was left of 406. She was a giving
bird. She provided lots of parts for 369 and 803 and now Jay is going to use
the fuselage to repair a damaged bird in his possession. 406 was donated to
America Huey 369 Org. in 2005 minus her nose section. This bird was also a
Vietnam Veteran that saw 3 years in country and her history will be
preserved in the hearts and minds of our members. We need to thank Jay and
his wife Tracey for their kindness. They put Bruce and John up in their home
and made sure they were well fed. The 3700 mile trip was well worth it when
you get to spend time with great people like Jay and Tracey and everyone at
Tamarak Helicopter. Thank You for all you have done for the Organization !
The list keeps getting longer: straps for 369, sliding armor for the seats,
donated a main rotor head can and purchased 406. Jay and Tracey and Tamarack
Helicopter are always willing to help in the preservation of our aircraft.
And we have to thank Jays father for donating the steer skull. It looked
great on the front of our truck!
September 18, 2007 - Howard County Vietnam
Veterans Organizations 25th Anniversary Reunion was a HUGE success!! We flew
369 in @ About 10a.m. to cheers from the crowd. Lots of tears and hugs came
along with her arrival. She proved to be very popular. 803 was set up in our
compound along with our big screen t.v. to show our DVD and sell our
t-shirts, sweatshirts and patches. Lots of people viewed the DVD and became
members. 369 flew thursday evening, saturday afternoon and evening and again
on sunday afternoon. Membership grew to 265! Thank You to everyone who
became a member during the weekend. We would also like to Thank everyone at
Howard County Vietnam Veterans Organization for inviting us to be part of
their 25th Anniversary celebration. It was an honor to participate. We also
need to thank all of our members who spent yet another weekend helping to
make this event a success for our organization. Thank You, Tom and Marilyn
Shields, Mark and Bobbi Hopkins, Gary Moline, Brian Riley our pilot, Rodney
Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Carl and Sherry Dewey, Arthur and Barbara Gray, Don
Warden, Rick Harvey, Bruce Ashworth, and Kenny Wemer. Some of the members
will be flying down to Knob Creek Kentucky in October. We will let everyone
know how that goes! For those of you who don't know what that is, it
is a Machine Gun Shoot. Lots of veterans and fun!
September 10,2007 - Howard County Vietnam
Veterans 25th Annual Reunion is THIS WEEKEND! We are in the
process of getting everything set up. Our area has been fenced and we will
be taking 803 / Warrior 11 over Wednesday evening. The plan is to fly 369 in
Thursday morning with our arrival @ 9:00 a.m. At this time our flight
crew is Brian Riley as our pilot, John Walker as our co-pilot, and Tom
Shields as our crew chief.
August 26,2007 - Wow, the reunion has come and gone
(already!!). We hope everyone had a good time. We feel blessed to have had
all of you here. What a great group of people! We don't know where to begin
thanking everyone for their support and their help. We couldn't have done it
without all of you! We experienced more emotion during this event than most
people experience in a life time. We saw a lot of our Veterans let go of
years of bottled up emotions. We hope that it was a good thing for them. It
certainly moved other people around them to tears just watching them. To
those of you who couldn't make the event this year, please make plans to
attend next year. We know how difficult it is for alot of our Veterans to
think about their past experiences, but in seeing the faces and emotions of
those who attended this year, we truly feel that this old bird is doing what
we intended for her to do. Heal.
We certainly gave 369 a workout. I lost count of the number of times she
took to the air. I know every time she came back I saw nothing but smiles
and thumbs up!
What a great old bird she is! The gun range
was a huge hit! Everyone seemed to enjoy shooting the 50 cal. We had a
problem with the 60 unfortunately, but we'll get that taken care of. We gained 29 new members so far. We get a new one in the mail a couple times
a week. It is wonderful to know so many people believe in what we are doing
and want to be part of it. We are now over two hundred members strong and
growing! Thank You all for your support! We want everyone to know that you
helped us raise over $13,000.00 for the Organization. Of course, that is
before we pay for the cost of the reunion, including the fuel bill and
maintenance on 369. Overall, we feel the reunion was a huge success. If
anyone has any suggestions on how we can improve upon this years reunion,
please email them to ked4659@aol.com
and they will be forwarded to the organizers. Thank You to everyone who
donated items for the auction. The auction brought in almost three thousand
dollars. Those items included: a personalized Joe Kline print of 369 that
brought $1025.00, a personalized Joe Kline print of 803 that brought
$350.00, a hand made quilt of 369 by Phyllis Dorn that brought $600.00, a
hand crocheted american flag afghan by Sherry Dewey that brought $40.00, two
steel laser cut signs, one of 803 & one of 369,donated by Mark & Bobbi
Hopkins, each brought $200.00. An old glory companion flag donated by Dale
Hemphill and his wife of Mishawaka, IN brought $50.00, a pair of
Colts tickets donated by Gary Nichols, $175.00, a handmade USA chair donated
by our auctioneer, Rex Gordon and made by his wife, $80.00, an wooden SR-71
model, donated by Ray & Garda O'Keefe,
$65.00, two B-17 Trouble Ahead Posters, $10.00 & $35.00, Wild Thing T-Shirts
donated by Randy,Dar and their wives,
$25.00 & $30.00. The big winner in the treasure hunt was Ariel Edwards of
Peru. She walked away with a .30 carat blue diamond. Also, the winner of the
first ride on 369 was Vicki Meek of Richmond, Indiana. Vicki is one of the
ladies who brings the Moving Wall to Richmond every 5 years. We were
thrilled for her when her named was pulled from the jar! Congratulations to
everyone!! You are all winner!!
We have so many people we need to thank, we hope we
don't forget anyone. Thank You to John and Donna Steer. If you have never
had the pleasure of meeting these wonderful people you don't know what your
missing. Please attend the Howard County event this year and make an effort
to personally meet John and Donna! Richard Bowie, the man who is
responsible for this Organization being formed. His Organization, DEEMI, in
Bangor, Maine owned 369. Had it not been for Richard, we would not have this
incredible aircraft nor would we have started the Organization. Thank You
Richard! Ray and Garda O'Keefe. Ray was instrumental in getting
803/Warrior 11 donated to our Organization. Thank You both for taking the
time to spend the weekend with us. It was truly a pleasure to have you here.
Maybe next year 803 will be ready to take to the sky with 369! Brian Riley
of Riley Aviation, located in Michigan. Thank You Brian for spending the
weekend with us and being our Chief Pilot. Your always here when we need you! Gary Moline, our
co-pilot and member. Thank You for taking on the co-pilot duties. Can't wait
for the day when you and John can fly together. Phil Flagg, our crew chief
and member. Phil travels from Maine anytime we need him. Thank You Phil. We
love you for everything you've done in the past 3 years! Tom Shields, crew
chief and his wife Marilyn, both members. Thank You both for being here as
often as you can. Thank You Tom for all your help over the past few years.
You are a very important part of the Organization. Congratulation to Marilyn
for getting on 369 when she didn't think she could. We knew you could do it!
And loved every minute of it! Barb and Arthur Gray, Thank You both for all
your help and for being such great friends! The same goes for Bobbi and Mark
Hopkins! You two are just incredible people! We love you both for all the
time you have spent doing everything you do. Mark has spent countless hours
on the video presentations that everyone gets to watch on the big screen t.v.
and Bobbi works her magic in sales and anything else she gets her hands on!
Congratulations to Bobbi for conquering her fear of heights at New Carlisle.
She took her first helicopter ride and loved it! Rodney Mayfield and Denny
Rogers. You two have been with us from the beginning and we can't thank you
enough for all you have done for the Organization and for just being great
friends. We love you. Monte Siebern, of Oldies 106 radio. Thank You for
spending the weekend with us and doing a two hour live remote and
for the great sound track you played on your show Friday. That was awesome!
Also, thank you to Wade Weaver for coming out Saturday and hanging out with
us. We hope you had a good time. We also want to thank you both for all the
great advertisement during your radio shows. We hope you will be here with
us next year! Thank You to Gary, Pat and Herm for running the gun range. You
guys did a great job! Thank You Jerry for your incredible model display! Thank You Cheryl, Neil, Charlie, Carl, Sherry, Rex,
and anyone I'm forgetting. I'll be revising this I'm sure! Thank You to our
neighbors for putting up with us. We obviously aren't the quietest people in
the neighborhood! I'll be working on the photo gallery soon. I'm waiting on
photos from other attendees. Thanks for your patience! See you at Howard
County.
***************************************************************************************
Schedule of Events
********************************************************************************
July 29, 2007 - What a great flight
into New Carlisle, IN!!! You just couldn't ask for a smoother flight.
Everyone at the American Legion was very excited to see 369 come in. We love
the time we get to spend with our veterans and let them spend time with 369.
She received a lot of attention from everyone. Our most memorable moments
are when our veterans climbed in and went for a ride for the first time in
years! There were a lot of tears shed on 369 this weekend, for the most
part, they were happy tears. She brings back memories. Some good, some bad.
Our hope is that she is helping to heal. God bless you all! Thank You Neil
for being a driving force at the
New Carlisle American Legion, Rodney Mayfield and Denny Rogers for helping to
get us there and everyone associated with the event for your hospitality. We
hope to come back next year! Thank You to our members who continue to
give up their weekends and countless hours to help keep the Organization
going. Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Alan Walker, John Walker, Gary Moline,
Mark Hopkins, Bobbi Hopkins, John Fotia and Kae York. Also a HUGE Thank You to Brian
Riley of Riley Aviation for being our Pilot this weekend and hopefully
any time we might need him!
********************************************************************************
July 22, 2007 - Everyone is here
and ready to fly! We have powered up 369 and we no longer have a
leak!!! After a few hover tests everyone was ready to see 369 really
take to the air! And she did! We did a couple of short flights Friday
evening. Everyone was at the airport bright and early Saturday morning. I
lost count of the number of times she took to the air, but she sure runs
great. When all the testing was over everyone was invited to go on a
short flight! What a rush! We were back on Sunday morning for more flights. 369 does so well you would never know
she was out of service for over 8 years. Thank You to our Pilots, Paul
Wheeler and Brian Riley, our co-pilot, John Walker, our A&P's, Phil Flagg
(also a crew chief) & John Fotia, our crew chief, Gary Moline, our
electrician, Rick Harvey, our videographer, Mark Hopkins, our members,
Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Alan Walker, Don Warden. Thank You to Peru
Municipal Airport, Ronnie & Terri Jett and Kelly for being so kind to
all of us. The weekend has been a huge success! We are looking forward
to our first official fly in at New Carlisle on the 27th.
********************************************************************************
July 18, 2007 - The quill got back this morning.
Rodney Mayfield came down from New Carlisle, IN and helped get it back in
369. We hope this is the cure to our leak. We will find out this weekend
when Phil Flagg and Paul Wheeler get here from Maine and the rest of the
crew gets here from closer destinations.
********************************************************************************
July 14, 2007 - The organization
was granted 5 minutes on the podium at the American Legion State Conference
today. Thank You to our member, Dick Jewell, for making it happen.
What a great reception we got! Lots of interest in the organization. We
gained 12 new members and sold a few patches and shirts. With 369 getting in
the air soon, the organization will need all the help it can get with fuel
costs. Thank You to everyone who attended the conference for making us
welcome! Also, thank you to our members who were able to give up their
Saturday to help out. Thank You Mark & Bobbi Hopkins, Tom Shields & Ida
Jewell.
********************************************************************************
July,11 2007 - We got the quill out of 369. That
turned out to be our transmission fluid leak. We will send it out to Texas
to have the seal replaced and hope it gets back here by the weekend.
***********************************************************************
June 30, 2007 - The Freedom Festival went very
well. We gained several new members and showed off some video of 369 hovering.
We would like to thank Kathy Ashworth, her daughter Samantha and the Girl
Scout Troop 1221 for inviting us to their event. THANK YOU ! We also want to thank all the members who came to Greenwood and helped
out: John "Smitty" Smith, Rodney Mayfield, Gary Moline, Clayton Walker,
Bruce Ashworth and Alan Walker. We are now looking ahead to another weekend
of hover / flight tests. We have a
commitment to fly in to New Carlisle, IN at the end of this month, so we
have our work cut out for us. We will keep you posted as to our progress.
***********************************************************************
June 25 & 26,2007 - Huey 369 hovered!!! We
have a transmission fluid leak to deal with (very minor), but she has been off the
ground!!! Photos will be on the website soon. I have about 500 plus to go
thru, but I'm making progress. We also have video but I'm not sure if the
website can handle it. I'm working on that also.
***********************************************************************
JUNE 10, 2007: ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS AND VIEWERS:
Our next static display with 803/Warrior 11 will be held at the Greenwood
VFW Post 5864 in Greenwood, Indiana on June 30th from 10am through that
evening. The VFW will host a fish fry (starting @11am) in conjunction
with the famous "Greenwood Freedom Festival". American Huey 369
members have been invited to the VFW to display 803/Warrior 11. We will
perform our mission of educating all generations to the Huey's history and
paying tribute to ALL VETERANS! Girl Scout Troop 1221 headed by Kathy
Ashworth has been instrumental in gaining support and donations from various
organizations, groups, businesses and individuals, to help bring Huey
803/Warrior 11 to this Great Patriotic Event. The Girl Scout Troop
will be conducting their "Tattered Flag" campaign. They encourage Patriots
with tattered flags to bring them to the event to be properly disposed of.
At 10am the Greenwood Freedom Festival Parade will kick-off the days
activities. This is followed by fireworks at dusk in "Craig Park".
The street fair will be in full swing from 9am to 4pm. Come join us and meet
Great Veterans and Patriots who will be glad to tell you about our
organization and the Huey's.
***********************************************************************
We would also like to let everyone know ALL
the bugs in 369 have been resolved and we will be doing the weight and
balance and hover testing from June 20th to June 26th. Everyone is very
excited! It appears our goal to fly into New Carlisle in July is quickly
becoming reality!
********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
MEMBERS: We need volunteers to help with
the reunion. Anyone who can help please let us know asap.
********************************************************************************
May 19th, 2007 - Another successful trip with 803 /
Warrior 11. The Blue Star Salute was a very well organized event. They had
plenty of everything for everyone. The ceremonies were very nice, they
took the time to recognize a large number of men and women, both past and
present, in our military. We hope to be invited back next year. We had a
great time meeting people and gained three new members! Thank You to
everyone involved with putting the event together, you did a great job!
April 23 to 29,2007 - 369 has been
successfully ground turned! The turbine engine was installed the week of the
23rd. Every thing went better than anyone could have imagined! The
engine and transmission went together with no major problems. We
ground turned on Sunday the 29th.
What a rush! It was great to hear her turbine and
feel the wind from her blades!
We have a few minor bugs to work out but we
are sure we will be ready to move to the next step, hovering, soon. We want
to thank everyone who was able to be here for this event, we couldn't do any
of this with out all of you! We also thank everyone who
has been involved in getting us to this point (we know you were here in
spirit), we can't do this without all of you! We hope everyone
takes the time to look at the photos taken during the week. Everyone worked
very hard. We would like to thank Dick Hosmer, Billy Grantham, Phil Flagg,
Tom Shields, Gary Moline, Mark Hopkins, Carl Dewey, Don Dewey, Sherry Dewey,
Austin Dewey, Rick Harvey, Dick Jewell, Rodney Mayfield, Denny Rogers, Bruce
Ashworth and last but certainly not least, Richard Simmons. Mr. Simmons is
with the FAA. 369 is now certified to fly!!
April 16,2007 - We were well received by the Veterans at
the V.A.Center at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis. They seemed to
enjoy 803 / Warrior 11. They have a very nice facility. We hope it will
serve them well! Please see the photos taken during the event. These are
wonderful people who deserve to be treated with great respect as due the
current generation of veterans and soldiers.
March 2007 - 369 has been painted!! Please see the photos in the
gallery. Thank You to Doug and Brad Dorn for the long hours getting
her done! She looks great!
HELLO AND WELCOME TO 2007, the year our ICON -AMERICAN HUEY 369 returns
to the sky! 2007 marks the year she gets professionally painted,
stenciled with her Original Air Ambulance Dust Off Red Crosses, ground
turned and flight tested. WOW!!
Yes she will fly soon and Thanks to all of our 1st
year charter members, donations and sponsors she will be flown to educate
all generations to the History of the Huey, while we pay tribute to ALL
VETERANS, especially Vietnam Veterans and all the men and women who have
given the Ultimate Sacrifice, Never Forgotten, So Help Me God!
IMPORTANT!!!
Right now we need ALL 1st YEAR CHARTER MEMBERS to please
renew your memberships. THANK YOU!!
Every member is so important to the
future success and growth of this Grass Roots- Volunteer / Not for
Profit Organization. Our members, Men, Women, Families and Students
(100 + strong) are from all over this Great Country of Ours, they support
our troops and they love our Flag! They know what the
"Huey" meant to so many service men and women for the last 40+ years and
they know their job is to Preserve It's History! As 1st year charter
members, YOU helped form this Organization and YOU will
help preserve Our Veterans History!
I look forward to talking to each one of you this year!
Hopefully all of our members will mark their calendars for August
18th and 19th for our First Annual Reunion where all can listen
to 369's Turbine spin and her blades go womp, womp, womp!
WOW again!! More info on the Reunion will be upcoming as plans
are still being made.
Speaking of upcoming events, 2007 looks to be a busy year. We have
been contacted by several organizations. Here are a few things we have on
the schedule to date:
MARCH 24 & 25 American Huey 369 is scheduled to be
painted at our hanger. ALL MEMBERS (CURRENT & FUTURE!!) ARE WELCOME.
Come meet our painters, Doug & Brad Dorn from New Castle, IN, Owners of DORN
AUTO CRAFT.
APRIL 15th V. A. Center, Fort Benjamin Harrison, 9450 E 59th Street (corner of 59th and
Lee Rd ), Indianapolis, IN. This is an open house. We hope you will attend.
APRIL 23rd TO 28th 369's Turbine engine is installed and
ground turned!
MAY 19th Hendricks County Blue Star Salute - On Armed Forces
Day, May 19th, the American Legion invites ALL to gather at the
county fairgrounds in Danville in a salute to our men and women in uniform,
their families and the businesses who support them. We have been invited to
attend and hope that YOU will also. The event hours are: 2:00 until
9:00. Please plan to attend. For more information on this event please call
Ralph "Zoc" Zoccolillo @ 317-750-4265 or Paul Morton @ 317-340-8554.
EVERYONE!!
is invited to attend the V. A. Centers "Open House" and take part in this
wonderful event. We will have 803 /Warrior 11 on display for all attendees
to enjoy. Come sit in her and hear about her history in Vietnam. We will
have her 50 cal & M-60 machine guns mounted on the aircraft for
photographs and a big screen t.v. set up to show the history of "The
Huey". If you would like to help with the display and talk to fellow
veterans, call John @765-469-2727.
JULY 27th & 28th American Legion Post
#297, New Carlisle, IN. The post is hosting "L.Z. WELCOME HOME".
The event starts Friday morning at 9a.m. The Legion will serve lunch on both
Friday and Saturday. There will be a car show at the Legion on
Saturday from 9a.m. until 4p.m. There will be a parade in town on
Saturday morning at approx. 11a.m. with the Last Patrol Reenactment in
the parade. Home Town Days will also be going on with vendors set up
around the community. Our Organization will be bringing 803 / Warrior
11 as a static display AND we hope to fly 369 onto the grounds
of the American Legion. If everything goes well, this will be 369's first
official flight. We will be joined by "Wild Thing" , a Vietnam Era Gun
Truck. If you would like more information on the American Legion Event,
please call Rodney Mayfield @219-575-0716. For more info on the car show
please call Tom Lawson @ 574-654-8451 or Butch Luke @574-286-0361.
AUGUST 18TH &19TH OUR FIRST REUNION - 369 FLYS!! and
all will get to here her blades go womp, womp, womp! We hope all our
members will make plans to attend! All current members get first
chance to reserve one of the 100 camp spots available for Saturday night. By
reserving your spot now, it will be yours for as many years as you want to
keep it. We expect and hope that these spots will go fast as we start to
advertise our event. SO, DON'T WAIT! The reunion will feature several
guest speakers (TBA), bands, DJ's playing great 60's & 70's music, food and
lots of campfires. For the gun lovers, you can shoot a real M-2 50 cal
machine gun, M60, M16, 1911 Colt 45, M-1 carbine and other Vietnam era guns.
The firing range is set up in the woods separate from the Reunion area
for everyones safety. This Reunion is open to the "Patriotic" public and
should be a very memorable event. A worship service will be held at
10a.m. Sunday morning for anyone who would like to attend. The event will be
brought to a close with the departure of Huey 369. Please mark your
calendar, Don't Wait! Reserve your campsite today! We will supply more
information about this event as they are finalized. If you have any
questions, suggestions or comments or would like to make your reservation
please call John @ 765-469-2727.
SEPTEMBER 13TH TO 16TH Howard County Vietnam
Veterans Organization Reunion Huey 803 / Warrior 11 will be there
again and what a time we had last year! 50,000 + veterans
and their families! What a great job this organization does of
hosting this huge event. GUESS WHAT, YES AMERICAN HUEY 369
will fly into this event! It's a dream come true for many Veterans and
Patriots alike! It's a dream come true for our members as well!
One thing I've been told a thousand times is " I'd give anything to hear a
Huey in the distance, let alone get to hear her blades go womp, womp, womp,
followed by that jet fuel smell" Well, for years to come
everyone is going to get their wish. Be there and say hi to an old
friend - American Huey 369!
A final note: If anyone would like to volunteer for any of these upcoming
events please call John @ 765-469-2727. You will LOVE IT! The people we have
met at past events are unforgettable and all are Great Americans!
Thank You.
See you this year,
John & Alan Walker and all our members
Huey Team Salute 1
In Korea the Helicopter crew was born a combat birth.
During Vietnam the Air Assault Team proved it's real worth.
It became a living legend, whether in taking or saving life. Those People had guts, short life spans amid constant strife.
Few missions were quiet, none safe, most passed in
madness. When not flying into the unknown, the crews waited in readiness. The first time I went for a ride with them into a really hot L.Z.
I learned quickly what a job they did in supporting grunts like me.
There were no doors on those old Hueys; gunners were
exposed. We saw, felt and heard the hammer of sixties as the gunners hosed the ground where thy were to land. All of us were targets afloat. The pilots and gunners were heroes, warriors of unparalleled note.
How can I describe the sound of chattering guns,
barrels aglow? Between bursts the gunners screamed, almost plaintively lowing,
"C'mon Charlie, I'm gonna give you some, you little bastards! We're gonna give you a gift. These guys are gonna kick your asses!"
The tree lines were wildly splattered with tracers as
we jumped out. The Hueys lifted before we touched down. "Give 'em Hell!"they shouted. We fanned out, there to provide cover for them and our incoming brothers. Those Huey crews had guts. Even if against orders near us they hovered.
Nobody knew for sure how much firey Hell the Gunners
wrought. I can only say that I loved them and my respect they surely bought. There were Gunships covering us and Bumble-Bees were artillery's eyes: All those metal birds filled with blood and guts were stars in our skies.
I salute them, remember them and know the price that
many paid. Smoking gunships often dotted the rice paddies, there the bodies laid. They circled and let us know we were never alone wherever we trod.
They would support us no matter the cost, never showing their dread.
Anyone who says metal has no heart has not been where
we have been. Metal hulks with whirring blades were nothing without the warriors within.
We watched them every time they flew away, hoping they could return. Often they were our lifeblood and the pride I have for them still burns.
Mike Mullins, 8/26/2006
Huey Team Salute 2
The combat teams were not the only chopper heros we
knew.
It was scarier yet for the crews who in the Med-Evacs flew. Marked with red crosses and guns replaced by body litters These men had only us to protect them from the V.C. snipers.
A cross meant nothing to V.C., who weren't by
Christianity constrained. To kill or maim us any way they could was programmed in their brains. Bringing down a rescue ship was probably a great heroic deed to them. Our medical crews risked it all every trip, their lives always on a limb.
Ground forces used colored smoke to alert all aircraft
support. If it was red anyone flying nearby had to be constantly alert. The teams coming for the wounded had to drop into hot L.Z.s We gave them cover if the firefight was still lit; very little safety.
Those Medical crews had guts; close to being angels
they were. To a wounded soldier they meant more than just field care. The medics traveling with us were the first line of pain relief. We revered them all in ways hard for civilians to ever believe.
In the worst battle of my tour we blasted trees to
make a spot. The L.Z. was laced with firing, going way beyond the normal "Hot." Weaponless, we took rounds, learned those crews' depth of courage.
I have seen the distant smoke from a chopper gone
down. There were no flames in sight and I could not hear the sound.
It was on a far horizon and we hoped our guys were okay. If grunts were close or others from the slick they may live today.
The Huey crews were special. Many of us live today
because of them. They were Men of Mercy or Reapers of Death, in every battle scene.
Warfare began to change in Korea with the chop of those big rotors. In Vietnam they were a main cog, almost worshipped by soldiers.
These words are but a meager attempt to extol the Huey
story.
It is hard to tell how huge a part choppers own in military history. The crews had to dread almost every mission but flew into glory. Every mission that was safely completed was its own Victory.
Mike Mullins 8/26/2006
We wanted to share these with everyone. Mike gave
these to us at Howard County and I apologize for not getting them on here
sooner. We hope that everyone enjoys them as much as we do. They are copy
write pending so please don't copy or publish without Mikes consent. Thank
You Mike!
February 3, 2007 - Mother nature saw fit to
change our plans just a bit. Due to weather related problems, 369's engine
was not completed until the end of January. However, due to the wonderful
people at Nebraska Gas Turbine, several of our members are on their way home
at this writing with 369's engine. We will let everyone know when we will be
installing the engine, painting 369 and ground turning her.
We are also very excited to have our 100th member! We welcome each and
every one of you to the organization and hope to get everyone together at
least once this year.
DECEMBER 26, 2006 - As the end of 2006 nears, we
have looked back at what has been accomplished in just s few short months.
And we are looking forward to the future. This organization came about
because of lots of caring people. It will remain strong in the future
because of lots of caring people. This organization was formed to show our
respect for our military, both past and present. But our Veterans of the
Vietnam war are at the heart of it's organization. A large number of
our members are Vietnam Vets, some are not, we welcome everyone who cares
about our Military and their families. We love you all for what you have
done for us. Thank You & WELCOME HOME!
We want to let everyone know how the repairs on
369 are progressing. We are waiting on a phone call from Nebraska Gas
Turbine. They are responsible for the rebuild of 369's turbine engine. As
soon as Kevin calls, several of the members are planning on going to
Nebraska to hear the engine run on the dyno. Everyone is excited! If all
goes well, we will ground turn her in January. The tail boom repairs have
been completed and plans are being made to get 369 ready for new
paint. We hope to paint her in Feb. or March, weather permitting!
October 17, 2006-We would like to thank Vicki and
Barbara for inviting us to join them and several hundred of their friends
this past weekend. We had a wonderful time! We have met so many incredible
people this summer, and these two women were icing on the cake! What Vicki
and Barbara accomplished was astounding. They work incredibly hard to put
this event together and it was beautiful. We would like to thank all the
Veterans who helped us load and unload 803, and everyone for their
hospitality. We love you all and plan to stay in touch. For those of you who
could not attend, the photos will be posted soon. Thank You! Also, Thank You
Rodney, Bruce, and Kenny for all your help! We can't do this without all of
you!
Sept. 27,2006 - We are going to be attending the
Vietnam Veterans Moving Wall Event in Richmond, IN. on October 13,14
and 15. It is being held at Veterans Memorial Park, 40 Remembering Veterans
Dr., Richmond, IN. The area is also known as Whitewater Valley Gorge Park.
The park is located on the south side of U.S. 40, east of Northwest 5th
Street. Also, on Friday October 13th there is a POW MIA Candlelight
vigal at dusk. The main ceremony will be at 1:30 on Saturday the 14th.
We hope that you will come join us in Honor of our Veterans. Please
visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund website at:
www.vvmf.org
Sept. 19,2006 - We would like to thank everyone at the Howard
County Vietnam Veterans Organization for making us welcome at their event.
We can't thank you enough for allowing us to be part of such an incredible
event, with such wonderful people! Words can't describe how all of us in
this organization felt and still feel about spending a mere 4 days with all
of you. We met so many of you and heard so many stories, we love you
all! We also want to thank Perry, Rodney and all the members of L. Z.
Michigan for all their help! What a great group of people! We couldn't get
along with out them. We hope that our presence at the event was
a good thing and helped in your healing process. We plan to be back next
year. If things go well, we should be flying in!
For anyone who is interested, we are planning on being in Richmond, IN on
October 14 and 15 for a Veterans Event that will include the mobile display
of the Wall. We will give more information as soon as we have it.
August 30, 2006
803 (Warrior 11) looks like new! Everyone enjoyed seeing her and getting
to sit in her. She is outfitted with her M-60 and 50 caliber machine guns and her
original nose art. She will be on display in September at the Howard
Co. Vietnam Veterans Reunion.
With our first benefit behind us, we are looking forward to the Howard
County Vietnam Veterans Reunion in September (14,15,16,& 17). But before that event, we will
be going back to Texas to pickup the transmission for 369. We will leave
Aug.23 and return Aug. 26. Our mission on this trip is to pickup parts in
Texas and come back thru Missouri and pickup up the custom built trailer for 369 and
803. Once home, modifications will be made to the trailer to drop the bed to
5" off the ground. This will make loading and unloading much easier. At
this time, the engine is in Flint, MI receiving updates and repairs.
The Organization has been receiving invitations to various Veteran's events in the
coming months. We will keep you informed as to when and where they are.
In October we are planning to get several members together to get 369
back together.
Again, we thank everyone for your support of this project. We
apologize for the late updates but we will try to get everything up to date
as soon as possible.
Huey News to Come
1. On going membership
drive.
2. Preparing Donation
Canisters for distribution to various Veteran's Organizations and
Businesses.
NEW NEWS!!
- On Saturday August 5th during the open house / benefit an auction will
take place with many interesting items. All proceeds go to the
organization to help preserve the Huey's. So bid high and bid often!! Our
guest auctioneer is Rex E. Gordon, a Vietnam Veteran who served 3 tours
and received 2 silver stars and 1 bronze star. Rex is an auctioneer by
license and profession. Welcome Home Rex!! And thank you for volunteering.
Some of the items to be auctioned include: a Winchester model 70 30/30
rifle, a shotgun, a glass front gun cabinet, real Muskee fishing gear, a
portable basketball goal, car parts, tools, diecast, a numbered and
personalized artists print of 803 Warrior 11 ( we don't have this in our
hands but were are hopeful!) and many more interesting items.
THE BENEFIT IS IN TWO WEEKS AND WE STILL
NEED DONATIONS FOR THE FLEA MARKET/BAKE SALE &AUCTION.
WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO HAVE VOLUNTEERS!!
Our next work days - JULY 22 & 23
and JULY 29 & 30 These
days will include: Stenciling 803, Kae painting the nose art, painting the
cabin floor, cleaning the hanger, and various planning for the benefit on
August 5 & 6. JULY 20,2006 -
Installed those beautiful tail rotor blades on a gorgeous aircraft that
looks like new! July 11, 2006
- The Benefit is in 24 days!!
We hope to see alot of new faces along with our current
members! You will find ads for the benefit in Shotgun News, July 10th
edition, page 11. The Peddlers Post & Trader Paper in the Check it out
section and we will be on the cover of Auto & R.V. in Indiana, Michigan,
Illinois, Ohio, & Kentucky in the next couple of weeks. Please make plans
to come and visit with some wonderful people and see some great vintage
Vietnam era aircraft, trucks and jeeps. July 9, 2006 - What a productive weekend!!!
803 has been painted! She looks great! Alot of hard work and effort went
into getting her prepped and ready for the painters. Kae and I were at the
hanger until 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning taping up the aircraft. Our
painters, Doug and Brad Dorn from New Castle, IN, did a great job! A BIG
THANK YOU to John Ward, Rodney Mayfield, Alan Walker, Doug Dorn, Brad
Dorn, Stewart and Phyllis Dorn and John Smith for helping Saturday and
Sunday! As soon as the templates get here we will put all the lettering
back on her. A copy of the original nose art is coming from California. We
hope to have everything back on the aircraft in time for the benefit. She
will be on display for all to see, so we want her to look just as she did
when she was in service. We will have lots of new photos to share soon.
July 6, 2006
-
803 will be painted this
weekend!! July 5th and 6th.
Remember, our
1st Open House / Benefit is coming. Don't forget to look around for items
to donate to the flea market and we need donations for the bake sale.
Please call Kae at 765-863-1684 or 765-472-5880 if you would like to
participate. Any help is greatly appreciated! See you soon, John.
The Benefit is coming up Quickly!! It's only 4 weeks
away and we still need donations for the flea market area. We could also
use help in other areas. We have permission to close 124 for our event. We
have to erect the signs ourselves at three major intersections. We have a
band and a D.J. donating their time. We are hoping for a great turnout!
Please contact John (765-863-0445) or Kae(765-863-1684) if you would like
to volunteer or make a donation.
Jan-Feb 06
- John Ward of Ward and
Sons Construction built all of the workbenches, wall shelves for storage,
and our enclosed tool room. Thank You John!
Jan 16, 06
- Our Veteran Crewchief Smitty (John Smith), began removing 369's panels.
Jan 29, 06
- Smitty
continued removing inspection panels.
Feb 8, 06
- Phil Flagg
arrived from Bangor, Maine and began working on 369. Phil stayed with us
for 8 days.
Feb 10, 06
- Smitty worked
with Phil getting ready for our (ace team) inspection.
Feb 10, 06
- Dick Hosmer
(of Vertical Lift Inc.) arrives from Seguin, Texas. Dick began his
inspection of 369. (Dick is an authority on Huey's)
Feb 11, 06
- Ann, Don, Roger, Smitty, Byron, Dick, Phil, Alan, and John worked a full day making
369 a better aircraft.
Feb 12, 06
- Phil, Dick, Alan, Kae
and John powered up 369 and checked out her electrical components
for the first time in 5 years. SHE LIVES!! ( What a Great day!).
Feb 13, 06
- Dick informed us that
369's airframe and components are in GREAT shape and reviewed with us a
list of work to be completed. Dick returned to Texas today. THANK YOU
DICK!!
Feb 13, 06
- Phil finished
installing 369's synchronized elevator. Phil, Alan and John began removing
bolts, nuts, and screws from engine and transmission mounts.
Feb 14-15, 06
- Phil, Alan and
John pulled 369's main transmission and jet turbine engine. That old M-62
army wrecker is turning out to be one of the best things we've ever
bought! She's worth her weight in gold ( and she weights alot!).
Feb 16, 06
- Phil returned to Maine.
THANK YOU PHIL! THANK YOU ALL!!
Mar 11, 06
- John Ward and family
became the FIRST OFFICIAL member's of AMERICAN HUEY 369 ORG.
Mar 11, 06
- Members assembled to
work on 369 and completed the following:
1. Carl cleaned the upper
transmission area of all grease and grime.
2. Alan and John built
another engine stand for 803's turbine.
3. Casey cleaned the
heater duct compartment area.
4. Alan and John replaced
various fuel lines in floor.
5. Bruce finished heater
duct repairs and riveted floor panels above fuel cells.
6. Alan and John fueled
369 for the second time to check for leaks.
Mar 12, 06 - Member's /
volunteers accomplished the following:
1. Ann, Don, Smitty,
Jason, Alan, Bruce and John pulled 803's turbine and installed on stand.
2. Bruce reinstalled
right and left floor decking over fuel cells.
3. Carl brought lunch (40
taco's!).
4. Drank Smitty's coffee!
5. Enjoyed excellent
weather.
6. Signed up 3 new
members.
7. Cleaned hanger and all
tools accounted for!
GREAT JOB GALS AND GUYS!
We would also like to
thank Tim Davies for all his hard work on our GREAT website,
AMERICANHUEY369.COM. THANK YOU TIM AND FAMILY!!
Also, thank you Kae for
the BEAUTIFUL stained glass you designed and created of 369, and
all the writing and photographs for the website and photo album. Love
You!!
4/1/06
- "LZ Michigan" Vietnam veterans
stopped in to see 369's Hanger/Museum.
4/11/06
- Reinstalled a second breakaway valve on the
left side floor fuel tank, refueled and guess what!, 180 gallons of fuel
later, NO LEAKS!!!
4/14/06
- Picking up our new trailer from Royal Cargo
Trailers (South Bend, IN) and our road trip crew will be loading the
engines, transmissions and other components on Saturday 4/15.
4/18/06
- American Huey 369's Texas Road Trip crew
departs for Texas.
April 14, 2006
- Picked up our new 14ft. enclosed trailer from Royal Cargo Trailer Co. in
Middlebury, IN. Thank You Royal Cargo!!
April 15, 2006
- Sonny from Edge Graphics donated her time and installed "our patch" logo
decals on the trailer (Thank You Sonny!!). Also, we loaded the
trailer with 369's turbine, main transmission, 42 degree and 90 degree
gearboxes, main rotor head and various other parts to be taken to Seguin,
Texas (Vertical Lift Inc.).
April 18, 2006
- Departed Peru @ 7:00 a.m. for Texas and arrived in Texarkana by 9:00
p.m. where we stopped for the night.
April 20, 2006
- Left Lexington for Seguin where we finally got to see our friend Dick Hosmer
and his partner Benny Hastings at Vertical Lift Inc. What a facility!
Unloaded our engines and parts, did some paper work and got to know Benny
and his crew. I ask all our members to say a prayer that everything goes
smoothly for Dick and his crew on the repair of 369's components (Please
take a moment!). We then said our thank yous and goodbyes (for now), and
headed on to San Antonio, where we spent the night.
April 21, 2006
- Drove to downtown San Antonio to see the Alamo and the River Walk. While
touring, we met several Vietnam Veterans and their wives who were in San
Antonio for their units reunion. They were all members of the famous
Firebirds and Rattlers 71st AHC. So after being invited by several members, we
loaded up and went to the Omni hotel to pay tribute to a very famous group
of Veterans. We didn't want to intrude for long, but 6 hours later and
many new friends made, we said our goodbyes and not one of us were lost
for words or stories the rest of the trip home, especially after spending
a couple of hours around Chuck Carlock and R.J. to mention a couple of the
great men we met. It was also a real treat to meet Mr. Dwayne Williams
(bell helicopters chief test pilot) who was adopted by the 71st AHC
sometime ago. We also got to meet Mr. David Weber and son (who was a 71st
AHC Huey sheetmetal man) and who has since joined American Huey 369 as a
family member. Thank You David! I also must mention getting to meet Mr.
Steve Mackey, President of Vietnam Veterans of America chapter 47,
Riverside, CA, and 71st AHC Crewchief. Besides getting to meet all of
these great men, we couldn't believe the Organization's collection of
artifacts that they had on display in their conference room. Welcome Home
Men!! WHAT A DAY!!! WHAT A WEEK!!! But its not over yet!
April 22, 2006
- We got a gate pass into Ft. Hood Texas and visited the 1st Cavalry
Museum. Every piece of armor, jeep, truck, artillery and helicopter was
there. Inside was great too! But unexpectedly, we got to meet a real 1st Cav. Ia Drang
battle crewchief who flew in slicks and gunships and even knew our
guardian angel Phil Flagg who was a 1st Cav. crewchief as well, and was in
Vietnam in '65 and '66. Mr. Jack (Jay) Denton and wife Jocelyn, of Houston
TX, became family members on the spot. Jack took a donation jug and said
we would hear from him soon. Welcome Home Jay!! We pulled out of Ft. Hood
and headed to Ft. Worth and took some pictures of Bell Helicopter where
369 and most Hueys were built. Then we stopped at a shop just down from
Bell Helicopter and found a very precious gift that we have been looking
for, for one of our very special guardian angels. Sorry, it's a secret
for now, but we will tell all later! On to Texarkana to spend the night.
April 23, 2006 - We drove
straight back home passing many a dead armadillo on the road and arrived
back home at the hanger at 12:00 a.m. midnight, Sunday night (Monday
morning)!
Smitty, 369's components
are delivered as ordered! Thank You Lord for a safe trip! Sat. May 13, 2006 -
Another Great Day! About a dozen or more members arrived
Mon. June 26, 2006
- Bruce showed up to
reinstall panels on 803.
Sun. June 25, 2006
- We wet sanded and
zinc chromated 803. She is ready for paint, thanks to John Ward, Sherry,
Carl, Buck, and myself.
Sat. June 17,2006
-
It wasn't a scheduled work
day, but I decided to build the paint booth where 803 and 369 will be
painted. It was hot, humid and a challenge to erect this 24ftx12ftx12ft
high booth and get it hung over 803 by myself. But I did it! By 7:00p.m.
it was finished and I think our expert painters will feel right at home.
Our next work day will be Sat. June 24th. 803 will have to be wet sanded
with scotch brite and masked off. We hope to paint her on July 8th and
9th. Got some great news from Dick Hosmer this week. 369's main rotor
head has a serial# on it's trunion and is now A.D. compliant with it's new
straps. Dick said it's the best head he's inspected in a long time. YEA!
Some more good news, our Global Helicopter Vertical Finspar kit is
here! Just another prayer answered, thank you Dear Lord! Thank you Global
Helicopter! Finally, thank you everyone!
Sat. June 10,2006
-
RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, but 803
wants to go out and play! While it rained Rodney, Carl, Sherry, Alan, John
Ward and I reinstalled 803's engine covers, tailpipe and other panels.
Coffee and donuts made the morning! Bruce started reinstalling 369's
inspection panels and screws. This is a slow process since the panels and
screws had to be prepped with zinc chromate. For lunch, tacos were enjoyed
by all. By early afternoon it had stopped raining and Carl installed the
ground handling wheels on 803 so she could be pushed outside for her first
bath in 11 years! Dick Hosmer recommended we use "joy" soap, so we did. It
was fun and you could tell it made her feel good! John Ward volunteered to
get on his back on the creeper and scrub her belly. 803 is clean inside
and out. Yea!
|
|||||
8 a.m. – Gate opens
10 a.m. - Opening Ceremony – Beginning with the National Anthem (sung by Felita LaRock) & 4 aircraft Fly Over, Pledge of Allegiance & opening prayer (Saturday Only)
10:45 a.m. – Update & progress report on the “National American Huey History Museum”
Annual Benefit Auction with Combat Vietnam Veteran “Grunt” Rex Gordon auctioning items for his 16th year! (bid numbers at the front table check-in)
Catered Lunch will follow the auction. With us this year: Wild Bills BBQ, Elwood, IN
Membership flights will begin immediately following the re-enactment and fly until 5 p.m.
The much-anticipated TUG of WAR between the 
Construction Crew & the Concrete Crew 
will take place after flights are finished and aircraft are cleaned. 
After hours music and pizza party (bring your own refreshments) with 
Time Travelers Band & 
Fireworks provided by Andy Zielinsky, Matt Chilcutt & Brady Saylor.
9 a.m. – Gate Opens
10 a.m. – Sunday Morning service with Combat Vietnam Veteran “Grunt” John Steer, survivor of Hill 875, 1967 and his wife Donna. Our alternate is Rev. Tom Beaty, Retired U.S. Army Huey Pilot.
12 p.m. – Lunch with Wild Bills BBQ, Elwood, IN
Approx. 1 p.m. – Combat Air/Ground Re-enactment (see description above)
Membership flights begin right after the re-enactment and fly until 4 p.m.
.JPG)
A
HOME LOCATION CONTACT US GALLERY MEMBERSHIP HISTORY HUEY NEWS MERCHANDISE THANK YOU MISSION VIDEO LINKS