By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-05 20:26:17 | Updated at 2024-12-22 16:46:19
2 weeks ago
A group of auto body students in New York State are refurbishing a piece of American history as they work on a Vietnam-era helicopter whose pilot was killed in battle back in 1968.
The class at Orleans BOCES Center in Medina, New York — about an hour east of Niagara Falls — teamed up with a local American Legion Post to restore the decommissioned UH-1 Iroquois “Huey” helicopter.
But they have a certain vision for the legendary chopper, which began its long career in the American military in 1956 — and still serves to this day.
“It’s not about making it look brand new,” shop class teacher Jim Rozewski told ABC 7 Buffalo. “We want it to have the history that it’s deserved and you know, that it’s earned through its life.”
This particular helicopter has a tragic history, however.
On Feb. 1, 1968 — the first day of North Vietnam’s mammoth Tet Offensive — Chief Warrant Officer Tommy G. Sandefur of Tulsa, Oklahoma was piloting the helicopter when a bullet pierced it, killing him and forcing his co-pilot to land the bird.
Scott Wymyczak, commander of American Legion Post 1253, told the station he’d learned about the doomed pilot when he researched the famed piece of military machinery’s history.
And when the students are done with their work — which includes overhauling the lights so they can flash on and off — they’ll properly commemorate him.
“We have his image — it’s going in the pilot’s window,” Wymyczak said, adding they’ve been in touch with the war hero’s niece and will also install a tribute on a piece of black granite.
Seeing the chopper again brought back memories for the Legion’s treasurer, Vietnam vet Cliff Grant.
“That used to be a great sound to hear the choppers coming to pick you up from the field — you’d been out there a couple weeks,” he told the station.
The students, meanwhile, are just excited about the living history lesson.
They got their hands on the Huey back in October, and have been applying a clear coat with a satin finish that blacks out the windows, according to Facebook post from the Legion.
The students will also repair the decaying aluminum.
“This can actually benefit us by a lot — because then just by having this, imagine about the other things we can get in here, other great artifacts,” student Khalil Golden said as he taped up one of the windows.
Xander Lotempio, another of the shop’s pupils, told the station the old Huey was “more intricate, and just a lot more than I expected.”
And it’s good on-the-job training for Evan Quiros, who said he was “going into the military to work on just about the same stuff, for the most part.”
Eventually, the chopper will be put on display at the new Veterans Memorial Park that’s being built near the Hartland Fire Company firehall, the station said.
