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    Vietnam War Helicopter Art: U.S. Army Rotor Aircraft
    Vietnam War Helicopter Art: U.S. Army Rotor Aircraft
    Vietnam War Helicopter Art: U.S. Army Rotor Aircraft
    Ebook396 pages1 hour

    Vietnam War Helicopter Art: U.S. Army Rotor Aircraft

    By John Brennan and Nicholas A. Veronico

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Hundreds of unique color photos showing how soldiers decorated their helicopters during the Vietnam War.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStackpole Books
    Release dateFeb 1, 2014
    ISBN9780811759250
    Vietnam War Helicopter Art: U.S. Army Rotor Aircraft

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      Book preview

      Vietnam War Helicopter Art - John Brennan

      Veronico

      INTRODUCTION

      Few people are as lucky and privileged as I to view on a daily basis the largest photographic art collection of its kind. This art has been guarded by its owners and driven underground by national weariness: it is a wonder that any of it survives today. But its reappearance after a forty-year hibernation has fostered a growing appreciation for this unique form of American folk art—helicopter nose art. The expressive art, both individual and military, painted on U.S. Army helicopters during the Vietnam War is stunning.

      Acting more as a conduit and less as a curator, I sounded the call for photographs of this artwork, and my brother Vietnam veterans answered with a treasure trove of images, which were published in Vietnam War Helicopter Art. The publication of that volume generated even more responses, and it was clear that it was time to fly again with another book to celebrate this once overlooked and underappreciated artwork.

      BIRTH CONTROL. ACH-47A, 64-13154. 1st Aviation Detachment. Camp Radcliff, An Khe, January 1968. Better known as one of four GUNS A-GO-GO Chinook gunships attached to the 228th Assault Support Helicopter Battalion. Crewed by Larry Hiatt DG. Recorded 875 flight hours from April 1966 to February 1968, all with the 53rd and 1st Aviation Detachments. Loss to inventory on February 22, 1968. DAN DAZELL

      Another look at BIRTH CONTROL, with Larry Hiatt alongside. DAN DAZELL

      GUNS A-GO-GO sign. 1st Aviation Detachment. Camp Radcliff, An Khe, January 1968. DAN DAZELL

      EASY MONEY. ACH-47A, 64-13149. 1st Aviation Detachment. Red Beach, February 1968. Among the four Chinook gunships, EASY MONEY is the only ACH-47A to survive the war. The three other GUNS A-GO-GO aircraft were STUMP JUMPER (DD August 5, 1966), COST OF LIVING (DD May 5, 1967), and BIRTH CONTROL (DD February 22, 1968). Recorded 771 flight hours from April 1966 to February 1968, all with the 53rd and 1st Aviation Detachments.Remained in Vung Tau, South Vietnam, from February 1968 to March 1972 for maintenance training purposes. RICH LEISEY

      SUPER BAD. AH-1G, 68-15164. 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Di An, 1971. Maintained by Tom Slade CE. Acquired 1,208 flight hours, serving its entire tour with the 11th from August 1969 to April 1971. TOM SLADE VIA TOM DAVIS

      ARKANSAS HIGHWAY PATROL(67-15802) was a 20mm ship flown by me in D/3/5 Cav at Quang Tri and later Camp Evans and Phu Bai. It was shot down with John Bryant and me in it on 30 January 1972 near the Laotian border in I Corps, in the north end of the Rung Rung Valley. I was from Arkansas and wrote the Highway Patrol and told them we patrolled the Ho Chi Minh Trail. They sent me a set of door decals for a Highway Patrol car, and I put them on the Cobra, hence the name.

      —Hugh Mills, D Troop, 3/5th Cav, 1971–72

      WABASH CANNONBALL. AH-1G, 67-15652. 187th Assault Helicopter Company. Tay Ninh, 1970. Piloted by Rodney Woods AC and maintained by Dan Clark CE. A facsimile of a Clark candy bar is painted on the nose. Survived Vietnam from August 1968 to February 1973, accruing 2,198 flight hours and serving in the 187th from March 1971 to January 1972. RODNEY WOODS

      The 2/20th ARA moved in right next to us at Phouc Vinh. Their Cobras were parked practically right behind our hooches. They used our shower as they didn’t have one and they drank beer in our club, which was just a little quonset hut. Across the road was the 1st Squadron, 9th Cav. Sometimes they would come in wearing their cavalry Stetson hats. I distinctly remember one of their Cobras with the shark teeth on the nose and the name BAD BREATH painted on it.

      —Craig Stedman, 595th Signal Company, 1969

      FLOWER POWER. AH-1G. A Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry. Tay Ninh, April 1969. Pictured is pilot Robert Swede Erickson AC (DAT May 2012). SWEDE ERICKSON VIA JOE BOWEN

      CE Steve ‘Nuts’ Hartnett’s aircraft was ’147. He was a Chevy nut, hence the USA-1, which looked like the Chevy promotional license plate—Dinah Shore singing ‘See the USA in your Chevrolet.’ My first copter, ’508, was named CANNABIS SATIVA, with a leaf, but I had to paint over it as they didn’t like it. I named ’670 MEAN MR. MUSTARD, and McMillan painted it after ’508 was retrograded in January or February 1971. McMillan painted all the names while I was there. He spent many hours applying his talent.

      —Don Mather via Art Jetter, C Battery, 2nd Battalion, 20th ARA, 1971

      KATH II. AH-1G. A Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry. Camp Viking, Da Nang, February 1969. ART TEPPER

      PEACE MAKER. AH-1G. 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry. Duc Phong, early 1971. Unit markings are few in contrast to the billboard-size artwork, which features the two-finger peace sign from the M*A*S*H movie poster. JOHN HAMM

      PINBALL WIZARD. AH-1G. A Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry. Song Be, October 1970. Piloted by Ty Graham AC (pictured). Named after the 1969 hit song by The Who. TY GRAHAM

      Why TWO STEPPER? The Cobra (AH-1G) was also called the Snake. There was an indigenous snake in ’Nam nicknamed ‘two stepper’ because of its lethality. Legend has it that once bitten, you would take two steps and perish. It seemed to fit.

      —Dean Doudna, C Battery, 2nd Battalion, 20th ARA, 1971–72

      HAVE A NICE DAY. AH-1G, 68-17044. A Troop, 7th Squadron, 1st Cavalry. Quan Loi, 1970. Piloted by Mike Billow AC and maintained by Dennis Diamond CE. Survived Vietnam from December 1969 to April 1972, accruing 1,689 flight hours and serving in A Troop from December 1969 to July 1971. MIKE BILLOW

      LOUISIANA MAN. AH-1G, 66-15330. A Troop, 7th Squadron, 1st Cavalry. Vi Thanh, February 1972. Piloted by Tom Putnam AC (pictured) and Bob Hesselbein CP. During a stint in C Troop, 16th Cavalry, it was known as PILLOW POWER. Says Putnam: I was from there. Somewhere along the line, Doug Kershaw came out with the song ‘Louisiana Man’ and I just took it for the name of my aircraft. Says Hesselbein: I was flying the front seat and was amazed that anybody could sleep with their head on the skid. I was tiny enough to be able to sleep on the turret ammo bay door (hard to believe now) and found it very comfortable. Survived Vietnam from February 1968 to January 1973, recording 2,340 flight hours and serving in A Troop from October 1971 to February 1972. BOB HESSELBEIN

      BIRTH CONTROL. AH-1G, 68-15084. B Company, 25th Aviation Battalion. Cu Chi, 1970. Also known as WIDOW MAKER, which was painted on the doghouse (rotor housing area). Piloted by Chuck Gant AC and maintained by Larry Carpenter CE. Survived Vietnam from December 1969 to February 1973, compiling 1,651 flight hours and serving in B Company from December 1969 to November 1970. NORM FERRIS

      THE JUDGE. AH-1G, 67-15486. B Company, 25th Aviation Battalion. Cu Chi, 1970. Piloted by Chuck

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