Monument honoring Vietnam helicopter crews approved for Arlington Cemetery

[rangerrebew]

Monument honoring Vietnam helicopter crews approved for Arlington Cemetery
By: Charlsy Panzino, April 30, 2017

It’s been three years in the making, but helicopter crews who flew during the Vietnam War will have their own monument at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association and Congress came together for the Vietnam Helicopter Crew Monument Act, directing the secretary of the Army to place a 2 1/2-foot by 2 1/2-foot monument at the cemetery in Virginia. It will be placed in Section 35 along Memorial Drive, not far from the Tomb of the Unknowns.

http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/monument-honoring-vietnam-helicopter-crews-approved-for-arlington-cemetery

[Smokin Joe]

Good. I have had the privilege of knowing a couple of slick drivers who flew there, and they are a breed apart. Great guys.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Nice to see them recognized.  Don't know if you ever read "Chickenhawk". @Smokin Joe , but it is definitely worth a read if you haven't.  Written by Robert Mason, who was a slick pilot in Vietnam.  Every helo guy I know loves that book.

[truth_seeker]

Good. I have had the privilege of knowing a couple of slick drivers who flew there, and they are a breed apart. Great guys.

Pilots.... and crew chiefs and door gunners too.

In some cases they flew directly into enemy fire to extract our troops.

[Smokin Joe]

Nice to see them recognized.  Don't know if you ever read "Chickenhawk". @Smokin Joe , but it is definitely worth a read if you haven't.  Written by Robert Mason, who was a slick pilot in Vietnam.  Every helo guy I know loves that book.

I haven't, but I will! Thanks!

[rangerrebew]

I had a roommate in college who was in ROTC and signed up for Armor in the mistaken belief he would be sent to Germany.  He took a psychological test and came out between hostile and unstable and wound up driving helos in Viet Nam.

[Wingnut]

I had a roommate in college who was in ROTC and signed up for Armor in the mistaken belief he would be sent to Germany.  He took a psychological test and came out between hostile and unstable and wound up driving helos in Viet Nam.

I think me and Arlo sat with him on the Group W bench back in 67.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Guys, I'm linking this here.  As good a book as has been written about Vietnam, period.  527 reviews, and the lowest is 4-stars.

https://www.amazon.com/Chickenhawk-Robert-Mason/dp/0143035711

A true, bestselling story from the battlefield that faithfully portrays the horror, the madness, and the trauma of the Vietnam War
 
More than half a million copies of Chickenhawk have been sold since it was first published in 1983. Now with a new afterword by the author and photographs taken by him during the conflict, this straight-from-the-shoulder account tells the electrifying truth about the helicopter war in Vietnam. This is Robert Mason’s astounding personal story of men at war. A veteran of more than one thousand combat missions, Mason gives staggering descriptions that cut to the heart of the combat experience: the fear and belligerence, the quiet insights and raging madness, the lasting friendships and sudden death—the extreme emotions of a "chickenhawk" in constant danger.

"Very simply the best book so far about Vietnam." -St. Louis Post-Dispatch

@Smokin Joe @Wingnut @rangerrebew @truth_seeker

[Smokin Joe]

Thanks! I had already hunted the book down on Amazon...

[Idaho_Cowboy]

Guys, I'm linking this here.  As good a book as has been written about Vietnam, period.  527 reviews, and the lowest is 4-stars.

https://www.amazon.com/Chickenhawk-Robert-Mason/dp/0143035711

A true, bestselling story from the battlefield that faithfully portrays the horror, the madness, and the trauma of the Vietnam War
 
More than half a million copies of Chickenhawk have been sold since it was first published in 1983. Now with a new afterword by the author and photographs taken by him during the conflict, this straight-from-the-shoulder account tells the electrifying truth about the helicopter war in Vietnam. This is Robert Mason’s astounding personal story of men at war. A veteran of more than one thousand combat missions, Mason gives staggering descriptions that cut to the heart of the combat experience: the fear and belligerence, the quiet insights and raging madness, the lasting friendships and sudden death—the extreme emotions of a "chickenhawk" in constant danger.

"Very simply the best book so far about Vietnam." -St. Louis Post-Dispatch

@Smokin Joe @Wingnut @rangerrebew @truth_seeker

Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll add it to my list.

[geronl]

Oh, I was wondering why we'd honor Vietnam's helo pilots from the title.