Every time I think that I have talked to everyone who spent time with our UH-1 in Vietnam, I am surprised to find someone else. Just this last week while preparing for the Museum Webinar Series presentation about our Huey helicopter, I was shocked to get a call from a Vietnam veteran named Tom Callahan. He surprised me with some amazing information and photos which I had never seen.
Tom served in the 116th Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam. The 116th was made up of four platoons. They were named Hornets, Yellow Jackets, Wasps, and Stingers, and all carried very vibrant artwork on the noses of their aircraft. The unit flew “slick” aircraft and had one platoon of gunships or “guns.” While there, Tom snapped many pictures with his camera to document this powerful period in history.
Early on while we were researching our aircraft’s history, we obtained the Army Gold Book for 733. At the same time, we put a call out to social media for anyone who may have served with it. That is when Tom saw and replied to our post. He asked if I could share the tail number of our aircraft and that he would search his photos and see if he ever captured an image of it. A day went by and then I heard from him again. He had photos that none of us had ever seen before. These photos show our aircraft in Vietnam at the early part of its career, and in a configuration we had never seen. Thanks to Tom, we would also learn of names of crewmembers who flew 733 who were previously unknown to us.
Tom’s first photo is one of the front of the aircraft. Two men are leaning on 733. The most shocking for us at first glance is that our Huey at one time was a “chunker ship.” This meant 733 had a 40 millimeter grenade launcher mounted in the nose. We had seen the mounts for it still on the interior of the airframe, but had never seen any photos with it installed. The men in the photo were door gunner W.C. Handy and crew chief George Hopper, who was nicknamed the Rifleman after the Chuck Connors character on television. These two crewmembers are members of 733’s original combat tour. For us here in the museum, the information and photos are priceless.
The next photo Tom sent us was equally as interesting. It is a side shot of 733, and in the photo a name and number can be seen clearly on the door. The Hereafter, which was our aircraft’s original name, as well as the last three digits of her serial number are clearly visible on the forward door.
For us, this opens up a completely new chapter that we can now research. That research will comprise interviews, photos, and more information so that we can best tell the complete story of this airframe. This valuable information would have never been seen if it had not been for Thomas Callahan, and his foresight to capture some of these images.