By Stephen Santilli for The Exponent Telegram
FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Vietnam War veterans who served on the same air ship (UH-1 or Huey) in combat gathered in Fairmont Sunday afternoon to reunite with their helicopter at the East Marion Park just off the Fairmont Gateway. All six former crew members, now in their mid- to late-70s welcomed each other and hugged and laughed for nearly two hours during a book-signing event.
One of the organizers of the event was Jeff Greene, who is a Vietnam veteran who was on hand, as he has been for several years at the East Marion Park where veterans are honored with monuments, and displays of their heroism.
“I’m part of the Marion County Vietnam Memorial. I served in the Navy on an aircraft carrier, the first was the USS Randolph, the second one was the USS America. Today is basically about that helicopter down there. We never knew when we got it what it would end up meaning to so many people,” Greene said.
The documented story of a helicopter that was flown by a crew of six and the fact that that helicopter survived the end of the hostilities in Vietnam is astronomical to so the least. But then, when you factor in that the entire six man crew of that ship are still alive and met in Fairmont, West Virginia to be reunited with the bird they flew in combat, is probably beyond the oddsmakers in Vegas figuring out the spread.
