The National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington welcomed its largest artifact during an event Thursday evening.
A fully restored Vietnam-era Huey helicopter will be the centerpiece of the future museum’s 31,000-square-foot exhibition gallery when it opens in March in the city’s entertainment district.
Veterans gathered at the site Thursday for a celebration of the arrival of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter. Retired Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady said the balmy evening reminded him of his time in Vietnam. He earned the Medal of Honor for his actions while flying the iconic helicopter.
“I can [still] fly that thing,” Brady joked during a “fireside chat” with CBS 11’s Jason Allen. “You know, it’s like riding a bike, but no one wants to ride with me.”
Brady received the Medal of Honor in 1969 for piloting a mission that rescued 51 men from enemy territory.
The occasion was also important to John Tabor, who served as a medic with the 9th Infantry Division and piloted a similar helicopter.
“I think it’s the greatest thing in the world for young people to see the equipment we had back then,” Tabor said. “Every soldier who boarded a medevac plane had a 95 percent survival rate.”
The helicopter had a long trip to Arlington.
First, Chuck Carlock acquired it from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
“We loaded it in the snow and had to use a big crane to take the rotor head off because it was too high and the trailer was very low,” said Carlock, who flew Hueys during the war.
The helicopter was restored in Murrieta, California, by Aircraft Restoration Services, a Vietnam veteran-owned company that specializes in Huey restorations. James Rodgers, a former Huey pilot during the war, worked on the project.
The helicopter became part of Carlock’s collection of seven helicopters and traveled across the country to veterans reunions and events in Washington DC, Florida, Tennessee and Louisiana.
Carlock said he agreed never to sell the helicopter, so when he heard the Medal of Honor Museum was looking for one, he immediately donated it — for free.
“That’s what I did it for,” he said. ‘You don’t want to give it to someone where they won’t take care of it, and [the museum] is going to take care of it.”
Now the helicopter will finally find its resting place in history.
“When you see this,” said Arlington Councilman Mauricio Galante, “and you hear the general who earned himself a Medal of Honor in action and gave us an example of bravery and courage in battle? Let us all count the days [the museum’s] opening.”
The museum near Choctaw Stadium will become a national institution dedicated to telling the stories of America’s more than 3,500 recipients of the military’s highest award for valor in combat. The museum aims to humanize these war heroes so that visitors can relate and be inspired to do great things in their own lives. The exhibits will tell the “origin stories” of these Americans who ultimately performed extraordinary acts of bravery.
The museum will also show what happened to the soldiers after the war – how those who survived contributed to their communities in many ways.
It is expected to attract 650,000 to 800,000 visitors annually.
The museum’s foundation is also planning a monument for Medal of Honor recipients on the National Mall, not far from the Lincoln Memorial.
