43
Vietnam-era Huey helicopter touches down in Hubbard
By SARAH LEHR
HUBBARD
The roar of Huey helicopters was ubiquitous in the background of Vietnam War television reports.
On Thursday, a crowd gathered at the Hubbard High School Athletic Complex on West Liberty Street once again experienced the sound of the Huey, which could be heard from miles away.
Bell UH-1 Iroquois, nicknamed “Huey,” helicopters fulfilled a variety of roles in Vietnam: They were medi-vac helicopters, they transported troops into battle and they were used for assault.
American Huey 369, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Vietnam-era Huey helicopters and supporting veterans, landed a Huey in Hubbard at 12:30 p.m. Hubbard resident and American Huey 369 member Bill Flowers served as the crew chief for the helicopter’s landing.
For Flowers, the flight was a throwback to his days in Vietnam when he served as a crew chief for assault Huey helicopters.
American Huey 369, which is named after a Huey with tail number 369, began when brothers John and Alan Walker made an impulse purchase. Growing up, they would pass an Army surplus store on their way home from school where they would ogle items that they couldn’t afford to buy.
Years later, the brothers happened upon a Vietnam-era Huey helicopter for sale on eBay. The Walkers bought the helicopter, which was missing parts, for $40,000. “It was an accident, really,” John Walker said. “That day, we were just two kids that could finally afford to buy that helicopter, that army surplus item.”
John Walker did not serve in Vietnam, but he flew Hueys during his Marine Corps pilot training.
The Walkers eventually founded American Huey 369, acquired other Hueys and got to work on restoration. It takes more than half a million dollars to restore a Huey back to flight, John Walker said. “We don’t have million-dollar benefactors,” John Walker said. “It’s all done by regular people here and there.”
The Huey flown to Hubbard is 53 years old, which makes it quite a feat to maintain, Flowers said. “We maintain the heck out of them and take care of them like you would a Corvette,” he said.
After landing in Hubbard, the helicopter’s crew answered questions and took pictures with the crowd. Mayor John Darko thanked the crew for its service, and John Walker, the crew’s commander, announced that the city will be honored as a founder of the National American Huey History Museum in Peru, Ind. The first phase of construction for the museum will begin this spring.
The Huey’s crew ate lunch sponsored by the local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter and then reboarded the helicopter. They are flying to a Vietnam War 50th anniversary reunion in Connecticut.