For Sale --
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Vietnam- Books,
Paper and Photos |
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Built in July 1963,
by the Bell Helicopter Co. of Ft.
Worth, Texas, for the United States
Army, this aircraft was originally
assigned stateside to the 4th
Aviation Company. In February of
1966 it was shipped to Vietnam,
where it became part of the 611TH
Transportation Company, serving
until June of 1967 when it was
returned to the United States for
Gunship Conversion. Shipped again
to Vietnam, in January 1968, it was
assigned to the Gunship Platoon of
the 120TH Aviation Company based at
Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon.
During the first hours of the 1968
“Tet Offensive” it was one of 8
helicopters that defended the Air
Base and the City, taking small arms
hits on 1/31/68 and 2/2/68. This
platoon, “The Razorbacks”, was
credited by the Mayor of Saigon,
with the saving of the City. “4567”
continued service until February
1971 when it was transferred to the
Navy.
Accepted by U.S. Navy Attack
Helicopter Squadron 3, HAL-3, at
Binh Thuy in February 1971, it was
cleaned, necessary repairs made, and
new markings were applied. This
squadron, “The Seawolves” was tasked
with naval close air support for
River Patrol Forces in Vietnam, Task
Force 116, including PBR and Swift
Boat fire support, Seal Team
insertions and extractions as well
as joint operations with Army units.
It served with multiple Seawolf
Detachments including Detachment 6
at Phu Loi ,
Detachment 1 at Solid Anchor and
Detachment 7 at Dong Tam, this
Gunship flew hundreds of combat
missions over the Mekong Delta
supplying firepower for the Navy. In
October of 1971, it was deemed that
this aircraft, approaching its 9TH
year of service, was in need of a
major overhaul. It then left Vietnam
and was returned to the Bell
Helicopter Co.
By the time the rebuild was
completed in the summer of 1972,
there was no further need of
additional aircraft in Vietnam, as
the war was winding down. It served
as a training aircraft at Ft.
Rucker, Alabama until 1975, was then
transferred to St. Paul, Minnesota
and then Wisconsin as part of the
Army National Guard. It last flight
was in January 1984, after which it
was cannibalized for parts and later
sold for surplus/scrap. Severely
vandalized while in storage, it was
sold in 1997 to a collector who
began the long restoration process,
which continues to this day.
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This
aircraft is
thought to
be 1 of only
4 known Seawolf
Gunships
still in
existence.
There are
UH-1s
painted to
look like
aircraft
from this
unit at
places like
the
Pensacola
Naval Air
Museum, The
SEAL-UDT
Museum and
at Patriots
Point in
South
Carolina,
however
these are
not ACTUAL
veterans of
HA(L)-3, but
commemorative
representations
of what they
looked like.
When
received
from the
Army in 1971
the Navy was
more
concerned
with
mechanical
function
than
appearance.
The Army
markings
were sprayed
over and
Navy
markings
were
stenciled in
their place.
4567 appears
much today
as it did
during the
summer of
1971. The
fuselage
does not
hold paint
as well as
steel, and
with all the
hard use it
needed to be
constantly
“touched
up”. This
was done in
the field
with spray
guns and
even spray
cans. Bullet
holes were
simply
hammered
flat and
small patch
panels were
riveted in
place. There
are at least
6 patched
bullet
holes, which
still
remain. At
one time
there were
many more
but the 1972
rebuild
replaced
sections of
the floor
and fuselage
skin.
One
important
piece of
information
is
the “modex”
number. This
number was
assigned to
all Huey
Helicopters
while with
the Navy.
This 3-digit
code would
have been on
both sides
of the upper
tail surface
and in small
numbers
above the Seawolf nose
art. In this
case the
number was
"301". While
we can
document the
participation
of this
particular
helicopter
with the
Seawolves
through
official
Army
equipment
records as
well as
Pilot and
Gunner log
books, the
modex
numbers
would only
be recorded
by the
squadron.
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