Huey 422, still bearing the Georgia name and the red cross that identifies it as a medical evacuation aircraft departs Winder. Aboard 422, along with its crew are Maj. Gen. Terry Nesbitt, Georgia’s Adjutant General, and Warrant Officer 2 Tim Rikard, aviation maintenance officer for 78th Aviation Troop Command. (Georgia National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Roy Henry)

'Huey' leaves Winder for final time; future uncertain

By Sgt. 1st Class Roy Henry
Georgia National Guard
Public Affairs Office

WINDER – One of the most memorable images of the Vietnam War is the one of a UH-1 Iroquois  helicopter better known as “Huey” hovering just above the roof of the American Embassy in 1975, taking on desperate passengers as Communist forces from the north took over the southern capital city of Saigon.

That last flight to freedom was a defining moment in history.

Now, more than 30 years later, another last flight has taken place for the UH-1 as the last operational “Huey” left the Georgia Army Guard Flight Facility here at Winder Airport , Oct. 1, 2008. Chopper 422, crewed by Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jeff King, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jim Brennan and Staff Sgt. Jeff Reno of Detachment 1, 832nd Medical Evacuation Company, lifted off the flight line and headed into open sky for its “last flight out” while a crowd of Guardsmen, family members, aviation enthusiasts and local civilians watched.

Aircraft 422, one of 34 Hueys Georgia Guard aviation had in its inventory, was slated to arrive at Temple , Texas , near Fort Hood , Friday, Oct. 3. The 1970s model UH-1 will be cannibalized for parts, or it may be sold intact to a civilian agency or foreign country.

Hueys serve today, for example, alongside Russian-built attack and transport helicopters flown by the country of Georgia . The pilots and aircrews who fly the UH-1 receive their training from the Georgia Army Guard.

One Huey, tail number 229, does remain, but it’s no longer flyable. According to King, who is also the safety officer for Georgia ’s 78th Aviation Troop Command in Marietta , it’s currently a “training platform,” though it may end up on permanent display – at Winder or at another facility.

With more than 3,000 flight hours in the aircraft to his credit, King began flying the Huey in 1973, though he never flew it in ‘ Nam . Over the years, he’s flown any number of rotary and fixed wing aircraft, but the UH-1 has always been his first love.

“How can you not have a love affair with this bird,” he said strapping on his flight survival vest before climbing into 422’s cockpit.  “It’s such an amazing, rugged aircraft that you just can’t help yourself.”

Brennan, who’s been in the military – active Army and Guard – for the past 40 years, started flying UH-1s during the 1960s in Vietnam. Over the years, he’s collected more than 7,000 flight hours, so the bond he has with the helicopter is, and he says will always be strong. There isn’t a day that a UH-1 flies over his Douglasville home that he doesn’t know by that distinctive “thump-thump-thump” of the rotor blades what it is, even when he can’t see it.

“It’s a bitter-sweet thing for me to be doing this,” Brennan said while getting 422 ready for its last flight. “I look at it as, I brought this old girl to the dance – when she was a young thing – and I’m finally taking her home.

“God, how I’m gonna miss this,” he said gently touching the Huey and running his hand down its fuselage. “There’s a lot of memories here, too many to recall, and all of them, some good, some not, will be with me for as long as I live.”

Another thing that made this last flight so special to Brennan is that 422’s right cockpit door bears the name of fellow Vietnam vet and Huey pilot Chief Warrant Officer 4 Gary Horowitz. He and Horowitz made their last flight together in Huey 422 in February 1999. A month later Horowitz, who suffered from cancer, died.

With 422 going away, the 832nd intends to stencil Horowitz’ name on aircraft 229 to make it his new namesake, Brennan said.

“He will always be with me,” he said about his friend. “On the ground and especially in the air, he will always be with me.”

With the departure of the UH-1 from the Army Guard’s inventory, pilots like King, and air crew like Reno , will complete their transition to the 832nd’s larger, quieter UH-60 Black Hawk, which began replacing the Hueys in the 1990s. Brennan also moves on, but to retirement in December.

But unlike Huey 422, the flight to Texas isn’t his last. He’ll continue to fly the UH-1 with the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation.

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