It’s a sound that no Vietnam veteran will ever forget and one that elicits so many emotions when it’s heard.
As the familiar sound of the “thwhop, thwhop, thwhop” filled the air under a cloudless sky on Friday morning, the emotion on the faces of the assembled Vietnam veterans was obvious.
About 75 residents of the Lebanon VA Medical Center, other war veterans, and the general public gathered for a Huey helicopter fly-in and demonstration on the hospital’s grounds on Sept. 19.
Tears visibly streamed down the faces of some veterans. For others, it brought back a flood of memories of a war fought 50 years ago halfway around the world.
Don Beatty, a Lebanon resident who flew missions in the iconic Huey helicopter during the war, said he was overcome with emotion as the chopper approached from the east, circled the crowd and landed behind the hospital’s Building 18.
“To see it flying, I mean it is an iconic aircraft of the Vietnam War. I flew these in Vietnam. Through good times, bad times, lost a lot of friends over there flying these,” said Beatty. “Yeah, it was emotional.”
Beatty said he served in Vietnam in 1970-71, and when he returned home he joined the Maryland National Guard in late 1971. He said he doesn’t know how many missions he flew in Southeast Asia.
“We flew almost every day, and then some days we might work for three or four different people,” said Beatty. “Most Vietnam pilots can’t tell you how many missions they flew because we flew so many of them.”
Beatty said they flew soldiers into battle, and while they didn’t normally haul wounded out, there were occasions when they had no other choice.
“We tried not to take the wounded out because we weren’t equipped to do that, but when there was no medevac around, what we did was put them onboard the aircraft and take them to what we thought was the nearest hospital. We were not trained to do it, but we did it although that was not our mission,” he explained.
While VA resident and Lebanon native Joe Fox was so overwhelmed with emotion that he couldn’t speak to LebTown, he did grant permission for VA social worker Erin Miller to share his thoughts. Miller said he was visibly moved as the helicopter approached the hospital after flying from its home base in Lititz, Lancaster County.
“He remembers his friends being picked up in the helicopter and never seeing them again,” said Miller. “That’s what he shared with us and that’s why he didn’t want to speak because he was afraid he’d become too emotional. We just reminded him that they (his friends) weren’t left behind.”
Miller said the hospital staff worked with the veterans in advance of the event to prepare them for it.
“We’ve been talking about this for a couple of days with them to kind of prepare ourselves and them for this (event),” she said, noting that staff is protective of the vets they serve. “They started sharing stories right away, and it’s been really neat. We try not to push them to open up, but sometimes it just all comes out. We’ve had some patients say, ‘I’ve never shared this with anybody’ and then it is like word salad, it just all comes out.”
Retired Col. Martin Kleiner said the helicopter is owned by the Lancaster-based Liberty Warbirds, an organization whose mission is to educate, honor and restore. Kleiner, who did two tours in Vietnam, said the organization honors Vietnam veterans by enabling them to re-experience a Huey 823 helicopter and giving them opportunities to share their stories.
Kleiner said the familiar sound of the helicopter’s rotating blades – which cost $140,000 each to replace today – is one that is familiar to every single Vietnam veteran.
“That is a moving thing for them,” said Kleiner. “You either loved or hated to hear that. You hated it when I was coming in to take you out of some place. But when I was coming to bring you food or ammunition, you loved to hear it.”
That sound also carried great distances in a war zone, added Kleiner.
“Most of these guys, especially grunts, could hear us way off in the distance before they ever saw us,” said Kleiner. “They knew we were coming but then, if they heard us, then if there was any enemy in the area, they heard us too. So they (U.S. soldiers) had to be prepared just in case they got attacked when we were coming in to pick them up.”
Kleiner said the collective memories of the Vietnam War experience for its veterans will always remain – and rightfully so.
“It’s one of those things that will never go away – and I hope it doesn’t,” said Kleiner, noting that it’ i’s important to educate and honor those who have served. “If I ever get a chance to fly-in there (Vietnam) again, I’ll be a happy fellow.”
Kleiner, like Beatty, said the Huey helicopter is an iconic symbol of the Vietnam War, adding that 7,000 were flown during the war given their versatility to penetrate hard-to-reach areas.
“Our mission is to educate, honor and restore,” said Kleiner. “To educate the public about Vietnam and the role, in particular, that the UH-1 (Huey) played in Vietnam. It is an iconic symbol of Vietnam. It took us 15,000 man hours to restore this unit.”
While restoration of a historic vehicle like the Huey is important, there’s a component of their mission that is the heart and soul of why the organization exists.
“It’s our goal to restore and honor the dignity of our veterans,” said Kleiner. “They did not get that when they came home. I did two tours and because I stayed on active duty, so it wasn’t too bad. But for a lot of people, who came from small country towns, when they came out of the war, some got spat on, others didn’t. There were no parades when they came back to their hometowns. They were different people, and people didn’t realize how being in combat can change you, so there was a kind of a disassociation there.”
This particular Huey still bears the wounds it sustained in battle. On one side of the craft’s exterior, evidence of 13 bullet holes remains in proximity to the engine. An additional hole on the bottom of the craft that came through the floor and exited through the front of the vehicle has also been patched and painted over.
One veteran said the vehicle was repaired in wartime with either soda or beer cans since both were made of metal just like the aircraft. He jokingly added, however, they were most likely repaired with beer cans since there was more beer than soda available during the war.
During the demonstration, retired Sgt. David Jones, director of maintenance for the Liberty Warbirds, met with veterans and civilians to answer questions.
While too young to have served in Vietnam, Jones has a federal license to repair and maintain the aircraft, which he said flew with a four-member crew and could evacuate up to 13 injured soldiers at a time. He believes the organization’s mission is important.
“It’s a cathartic thing for the veterans,” said Jones. “It’s also the 50th anniversary of Vietnam, so we’re trying to do as many events like this one as possible to have these experiences with our veterans.”
Vietnam veteran Pete Galvin, who hails from Mohnton, Berks County, and is now a Lebanon VA resident, said he had goosebumps when he first heard the aircraft’s approach from afar.
“This brought back so many memories,” said Galvin. “Sometimes it was tough there. They took a rope through the chopper and we used the rope to fall onto the ground from the aircraft.”
Asked by Miller if exiting the plane via a rope was something the soldiers practiced, Galvin replied, “We didn’t practice it, it was something that we just did.”
After the Huey landed and was secured, veterans left the parking lot and made their way to the aircraft. While there, pictures were taken by VA staff of the veterans next to the aircraft, and many reminisced with their fellow veterans about the war.
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