thedrifter
05-09-06, 08:08 AM
Marine aviators share stories at New River ceremony
May 09,2006
ANNE CLARK
DAILY NEWS STAFF
A band of World War I veterans purchased a bottle of port, dated 1937, and promised that the last one left alive would open the bottle and finish it. By the 1980s, time had cruelly whittled them down until one remained. He honored his friends’ memories at an annual meeting of the Marine Corps Aviation Association, struggling up in a walker, opening the bottle and passing shots to the Marines assembled on stage. He was 93 years old.
Lt. Gen. Charles Pitman was there to watch the symbolic passing of that generation.
“That’s what MCAA is about, old friends and old times,” said Pitman, now retired after nearly 40 years as a Marine aviator. Pitman was an honored speaker at a New River ceremony May 5 to redesignate the base chapter, or squadron, of the MCAA.
“The squadron was dormant,” said Col. Christopher Owens, commanding officer of MAG-29 and host of the ceremony. “We’re going to breathe new life into it.”
The MCAA chapter at New River is now called the Keith McCutcheon Squadron, named after the legendary Marine rotary wing aviator.
MCAA has its roots in the World War I era but was revived in 1972, during what is considered the first helicopter war. Back from three tours in Vietnam, Pitman was asked to help jump start the MCAA. He became one of its original members that year.
MCAA is a social organization and its members include anyone affiliated with Marine Corps aviation, including active duty, retirees and civilian contractors who service and sell aircraft.
Dozens of aviators in olive flight suits and camouflage came to the O’Club ceremony May 5 to learn about the MCAA and its sought-after aviation awards. They also wanted to hear stories from the Marines who are carrying the aviation legacy forward.
Pitman delivered, with a vivid account of the 1980 mission to rescue American hostages from the captured embassy in Iran. “Operation Eagle Claw” was launched from an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Mission personnel headed for the embassy compound, which they’d breach by slipping over it on rubber ladders.
They trained for months. They got to know, from a distance, all the hostages.
“Our people would have an American flag on their uniform, but we wanted to call them by name,” said Pitman.
Helicopters and aircraft lifted off into an unforgiving night. The mission ended tragically, with the loss of eight U.S. crewmembers in an accident. The hostages would be released the following year.
“It was a pioneer effort; think about how you’d do it now,” said Pitman.
Carrying on aviation legacy means remembering the equipment and training that came before. Even MCAA’s quarterly magazine, “The Yellow Sheet,” refers to the log that aviators filled out at the end of a flight. In the past, the sheet was a triplicate yellow form; today, aviators enter that data into a computer.
The redesignation ceremony at New River was filled with memories. Keith McCutcheon Jr., the aviator’s son, represented his family, who lived at New River when he was a child, among the “helicopters, alligators and snakes” that populated the base.
“I’m truly humbled to be in your presence,” said McCutcheon.
Some veterans saw friends they hadn’t seen in decades.
“The last time I saw Wimpy he was walking on his hands, drinking a beer, in 1971,” said Art Sifuentes, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and executive director of the MCAA.
And the cycle seems destined to continue.
Retired Lt. Col. Chuck “Wimpy” Wimmler found the son of another Marine he served with. The two studied Wimmler’s memory book, brimming with newspaper clips and faded photographs.
“The pictures of guys with leather helmets; isn’t that something we want to keep alive?” asked Brig. Gen. Robert Milstead Jr. “It’ll go away unless we wrap our arms around it.”
May 09,2006
ANNE CLARK
DAILY NEWS STAFF
A band of World War I veterans purchased a bottle of port, dated 1937, and promised that the last one left alive would open the bottle and finish it. By the 1980s, time had cruelly whittled them down until one remained. He honored his friends’ memories at an annual meeting of the Marine Corps Aviation Association, struggling up in a walker, opening the bottle and passing shots to the Marines assembled on stage. He was 93 years old.
Lt. Gen. Charles Pitman was there to watch the symbolic passing of that generation.
“That’s what MCAA is about, old friends and old times,” said Pitman, now retired after nearly 40 years as a Marine aviator. Pitman was an honored speaker at a New River ceremony May 5 to redesignate the base chapter, or squadron, of the MCAA.
“The squadron was dormant,” said Col. Christopher Owens, commanding officer of MAG-29 and host of the ceremony. “We’re going to breathe new life into it.”
The MCAA chapter at New River is now called the Keith McCutcheon Squadron, named after the legendary Marine rotary wing aviator.
MCAA has its roots in the World War I era but was revived in 1972, during what is considered the first helicopter war. Back from three tours in Vietnam, Pitman was asked to help jump start the MCAA. He became one of its original members that year.
MCAA is a social organization and its members include anyone affiliated with Marine Corps aviation, including active duty, retirees and civilian contractors who service and sell aircraft.
Dozens of aviators in olive flight suits and camouflage came to the O’Club ceremony May 5 to learn about the MCAA and its sought-after aviation awards. They also wanted to hear stories from the Marines who are carrying the aviation legacy forward.
Pitman delivered, with a vivid account of the 1980 mission to rescue American hostages from the captured embassy in Iran. “Operation Eagle Claw” was launched from an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Mission personnel headed for the embassy compound, which they’d breach by slipping over it on rubber ladders.
They trained for months. They got to know, from a distance, all the hostages.
“Our people would have an American flag on their uniform, but we wanted to call them by name,” said Pitman.
Helicopters and aircraft lifted off into an unforgiving night. The mission ended tragically, with the loss of eight U.S. crewmembers in an accident. The hostages would be released the following year.
“It was a pioneer effort; think about how you’d do it now,” said Pitman.
Carrying on aviation legacy means remembering the equipment and training that came before. Even MCAA’s quarterly magazine, “The Yellow Sheet,” refers to the log that aviators filled out at the end of a flight. In the past, the sheet was a triplicate yellow form; today, aviators enter that data into a computer.
The redesignation ceremony at New River was filled with memories. Keith McCutcheon Jr., the aviator’s son, represented his family, who lived at New River when he was a child, among the “helicopters, alligators and snakes” that populated the base.
“I’m truly humbled to be in your presence,” said McCutcheon.
Some veterans saw friends they hadn’t seen in decades.
“The last time I saw Wimpy he was walking on his hands, drinking a beer, in 1971,” said Art Sifuentes, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and executive director of the MCAA.
And the cycle seems destined to continue.
Retired Lt. Col. Chuck “Wimpy” Wimmler found the son of another Marine he served with. The two studied Wimmler’s memory book, brimming with newspaper clips and faded photographs.
“The pictures of guys with leather helmets; isn’t that something we want to keep alive?” asked Brig. Gen. Robert Milstead Jr. “It’ll go away unless we wrap our arms around it.”