thedrifter
06-10-07, 07:21 AM
Vietnam veteran restores chopper
Army comrades join in dedication event for Huey
By Joel Hood
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted June 10 2007
Loxahatchee Groves · There are no simple or easy reasons why a man would invest two years and $40,000 of his own money to restore a Vietnam War helicopter that will probably never fly again.
Except for this: It matters.
That's the best Mike Carroll, a Vietnam veteran himself, can come up with. It matters to him and it matters to many he served with in war, where even the lightest tours of duty sometimes leave scars that can never heal.
"We were all so young then," Carroll said, "I'm not sure we really knew what was going on."
Carroll says he was lucky in Vietnam, as fortunate as any 20-year-old kid from Michigan had a right to be, being shipped to a bloody conflict on the other side of the globe. Carroll served just one year, from 1966 to 1967, as a corporal crew chief in an Army unit stationed away from the most violent clashes of the war.
But what he saw, what he felt, and the lifelong friends he made there left an indelible mark that Carroll admits he's still trying to sort out.
Perhaps that's what this helicopter restoration is all about.
Now 60 and living on 10 lush, tree-lined acres in Loxahatchee Groves, Carroll has channeled a love for history, for tinkering and his war experiences into rebuilding a Vietnam Huey helicopter donated to him by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office about two years ago.
In that time, Carroll has replaced worn or missing aluminum panels on the outer shell, installed new windshields and rebuilt almost every moving part, including the top propeller and another on the tail. He's replaced gear boxes and engine cowlings and given the aircraft a new olive green coat of paint. He's received some cash donations, but most of the money has been his own.
Carroll has even stenciled the names of men he served with in his Army unit on the side of the door and put the unit's image on the nose: the 147th Assault Support Helicopter Company, better known as the "Hillclimbers."
Carroll and fellow Hillclimbers dedicated the helicopter at a ceremony at his home Saturday. Carroll wants to make the Huey, one of the iconic images of the Vietnam War, available for public events and veterans' ceremonies.
The Hillclimbers lost men in combat and Carroll remembers some harrowing experiences. He was part of a rescue operation near the Hillclimbers' base in the port city of Vung Tau when a hand grenade accidentally detonated inside the cabin of one of the helicopters. The Huey, a gift from the local Marines Corps, had been at the sheriff's firing range out by 20-Mile Bend, serving duty in SWAT training but used primarily as a prop, said Capt. David Sleeth. Carroll said he initially had no interest in the helicopter until a friend looked up its flight records and found it had flown almost 2,000 combat hours in Vietnam.
"That changed everything," said Carroll.
Ellie
Army comrades join in dedication event for Huey
By Joel Hood
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted June 10 2007
Loxahatchee Groves · There are no simple or easy reasons why a man would invest two years and $40,000 of his own money to restore a Vietnam War helicopter that will probably never fly again.
Except for this: It matters.
That's the best Mike Carroll, a Vietnam veteran himself, can come up with. It matters to him and it matters to many he served with in war, where even the lightest tours of duty sometimes leave scars that can never heal.
"We were all so young then," Carroll said, "I'm not sure we really knew what was going on."
Carroll says he was lucky in Vietnam, as fortunate as any 20-year-old kid from Michigan had a right to be, being shipped to a bloody conflict on the other side of the globe. Carroll served just one year, from 1966 to 1967, as a corporal crew chief in an Army unit stationed away from the most violent clashes of the war.
But what he saw, what he felt, and the lifelong friends he made there left an indelible mark that Carroll admits he's still trying to sort out.
Perhaps that's what this helicopter restoration is all about.
Now 60 and living on 10 lush, tree-lined acres in Loxahatchee Groves, Carroll has channeled a love for history, for tinkering and his war experiences into rebuilding a Vietnam Huey helicopter donated to him by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office about two years ago.
In that time, Carroll has replaced worn or missing aluminum panels on the outer shell, installed new windshields and rebuilt almost every moving part, including the top propeller and another on the tail. He's replaced gear boxes and engine cowlings and given the aircraft a new olive green coat of paint. He's received some cash donations, but most of the money has been his own.
Carroll has even stenciled the names of men he served with in his Army unit on the side of the door and put the unit's image on the nose: the 147th Assault Support Helicopter Company, better known as the "Hillclimbers."
Carroll and fellow Hillclimbers dedicated the helicopter at a ceremony at his home Saturday. Carroll wants to make the Huey, one of the iconic images of the Vietnam War, available for public events and veterans' ceremonies.
The Hillclimbers lost men in combat and Carroll remembers some harrowing experiences. He was part of a rescue operation near the Hillclimbers' base in the port city of Vung Tau when a hand grenade accidentally detonated inside the cabin of one of the helicopters. The Huey, a gift from the local Marines Corps, had been at the sheriff's firing range out by 20-Mile Bend, serving duty in SWAT training but used primarily as a prop, said Capt. David Sleeth. Carroll said he initially had no interest in the helicopter until a friend looked up its flight records and found it had flown almost 2,000 combat hours in Vietnam.
"That changed everything," said Carroll.
Ellie