The memories flooded back when the helicopter, joined by a second one, landed at the site of the American Huey 369 organization’s reunion in Peru, Ind.
“Nobody could talk. Everyone was too choked up just at the sight and sound of these Hueys,” Miller said. “We spent so many hours in that. To us, that’s the sound of freedom.”
American Huey 369 is a private organization that preserves Hueys to educate all generations about the history of the American-made aircraft in Vietnam and its last 50 years of service in the U.S. military while paying tribute to veterans. The organization buys surplus Hueys from the government and restores them to flying condition.
Miller said the second helicopter it purchased was one he likely had flown with the 336th Assault Helicopter Company while at Soc Trang Army Airfield in Soc Trang, Vietnam.
When he heard it would be dedicated Aug. 22, he called his old crewmates — gunner Steve Zanini of Jacksonville, Fla., and crew chief Don Johnson of Hudson, Wisc. — and invited them to come along for the special flight.
Miller co-piloted the aircraft during the 10- to 15-minute flight with Wisconsin resident Tommy Olson, a pilot who had previously flown with the crew in Vietnam.
Miller, a former Army warrant officer, is now semi-retired and works as a corporate helicopter pilot for High Tech Industrial Services in Tipp City.
Reuniting the Warrior 26 crew — which served in the Second Platoon of the 336th Assault Helicopter Company, 13th Combat Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade — was meaningful because the men had been through some trying times together aboard the helicopter.
“Literally every day we were getting shot at,” he said.
At one point during Saturday’s flight, as the chopper cleared a tree line, Zanini quipped, “Receiving fire from 3 o’clock.”
Miller shot back a response: “Return fire! Return fire!”
The helicopter has had its own unique journey over the years. On March 8, 1968, it crash landed in a burning landing zone but the pilot was able to restart the helicopter and fly it back to Soc Trang, where it landed on sandbags. It was shipped stateside and repaired. In 1976 it was transferred to Otis Air Force Base and spent the next 18 years in the Massachusetts National Guard.
The aircraft was retired in 1995 and in 2003 was donated to the Niagra Aerospace Museum in Niagra Falls, N.Y.
Miller is thrilled it has been restored and said the flight, though short, was truly unforgettable.
“It was off the charts,” he said.
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