#Ahc warbirds serial number

The single-engine helicopter was a workhouse, widely used for medical evacuation missions (medevac) and moving troops quickly from one landing zone to another. She was among 7,000 UH-1 helicopters deployed during the war. The 1966 Huey served in Vietnam from 1968 through 1970. Lake hopes reuniting with the iconic Huey will help vets remember those stories, good and bad, and eventually lead to some level of healing for them. “The stories may be buried, but the emotions are always filtering up.” Everybody said, ‘Get out of your uniforms, get into civilians,’ because the population in America at the time took out their angst about the Vietnam War on the troops,” Lake said. “Remember that when Vietnam vets came home, we were told, don’t tell your stories. Lake said she has witnessed the powerful emotions and connection vets feel when they touch or sit in the 823. PTSD therapist and Vietnam veteran Alexis Lake volunteers her time with Liberty War Birds and also serves as the vice president of maintenance. It’s not going to be a static display, we’re going to get it flying again,” Haga said.

“Right now what we’re doing is restoring a Vietnam veteran UH-1H helicopter to flight status. It’s just fun.”īut Haga said he and his volunteers are doing more than just fixing up 823’s paint. “So when you can get to work on one of these things it’s neat. “It’s like a kid with a big train set,” said volunteer Steve Rosinski, who served as a crew chief in a Huey in Vietnam. The majority of those volunteers are Vietnam War vets. Since Liberty War Birds acquired Huey 823, as she’s called, about a dozen dedicated volunteers come to a hangar at the Lancaster Airport every weekend to rebuild her. The first two numbers indicate when the helicopter was built, 1966.

#Ahc warbirds serial number

The aircraft’s serial number was 66-16823. Two years ago, the nonprofit scraped together $250,000 in donations to buy a Huey. WHYY thanks our sponsors - become a WHYY sponsor