Photo By Leslie Herlick | Veterans from the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association attended the ceremony to...... read more read more
FORT RUCKER, Ala. — On Sept. 10, hundreds gathered at Veterans Memorial Park to dedicate the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association Memorial Monument, honoring the thousands of aviators and crew members who served during the Vietnam War.
The ceremony marked the culmination of a two-year effort led by past VHPA President Art Jacobs, who planned and organized the event but was unable to attend due to medical issues. His speech was delivered by a current VHPA President Jim Crigler, who shared Jacobs’ words.
“This dedication is for you. It’s in your honor,” Crigler said, addressing Vietnam veterans in attendance. “Gentlemen, brothers, welcome home.”
Fort Rucker trained more than 27,000 helicopter pilots and 46,000 crew members during the Vietnam War. The new monument stands as a permanent tribute to their service and sacrifice.
The event featured a legacy flyover by a Vietnam-era Huey helicopter, coordinated by retired CW4 Dave Shepard and the Friends of Army Aviation.
Brig. Gen. Ken Cole, deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, welcomed attendees and reflected on his personal ties to Fort Rucker and the VHPA. “I was born here,” Cole said. His father served as an instructor pilot after Vietnam, and the VHPA was the one association he truly cherished.
The keynote address was delivered by retired Gen. Doug Brown, a storied aviator and founding member of the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the Night Stalkers. Brown’s remarks were a sweeping tribute to the courage, innovation, and legacy of Vietnam helicopter pilots.
Brown said these heroic aviators flew under call signs that still stir pride. “Warlords, Dragoons, Bulldogs, Cobra Guns, the Famous Flying Circus, Dark Horse, Mustangs, Thunderbirds, Ghostriders, Hill Climbers, Pachyderm, Gladiators, Big Windy, Boxcars, Jolly Green, Nomads, Sea Wolves, Blue Max, the Greyhounds and maybe the most famous of all, Dustoff.” Brown said, “You will be proud to know that many of those call signs and those lineages are today around the word, still deployed and have been since September 11, 2001, when they immediately deployed to insert the now famous Horse Soldiers of the Green Berets.”
Brown emphasized the revolutionary impact of helicopter warfare in Vietnam, noting that over 11,000 helicopters were deployed, with more than 5,000 lost in combat. “The UH-1 Huey flew over nine million hours. This was the new way of war,” he said. These crews delivered troops directly into battle, resupplied them, evacuated them, and brought them home.
He recounted stories of valor, including Medal of Honor recipients Col. Bruce Crandall and Spc. Rodney Yano, and praised the maintenance crews who worked tirelessly to keep aircraft flying. “Humans are more important than hardware, and it was the people that were the most amazing,” Brown said. “It was the pilots, crew chiefs, and door gunners who strapped on those aircraft every day and went into harm’s way.”
Brown connected the legacy of Vietnam aviators to today’s combat operations, from the opening night of the war in Afghanistan to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. “You were the pioneers. You set the bar,” he said. “Today’s aviation force stands on your shoulders.”
He encouraged attendees to visit the Army Aviation Museum and its Vietnam memorial and expressed gratitude to Art Jacobs and the VHPA for establishing the new monument. “This is important,” Brown said. “God bless you, and God bless America.”
Brown closed with a reflection on the passage of time and the enduring legacy of those who trained at Fort Rucker. “We were trim. We were tanned. We were honed to a razor's edge, and we all knew where we were going to be going soon to Vietnam,” he said. “We were wide-eyed FNGs, forced to learn fast.” He said that they were surrounded by seasoned combat veterans, brothers, who taught them, lifted them, and mourned with them.
“Fifty years from now, this monument will remind those training here what we did as pioneers, flying helicopter missions under fire,” Brown said. “Our country called our generation. We answered. Brothers, once again, welcome home.”
For more photos from the ceremony, please visit our Flickr album https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCtKSK.
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.11.2025 14:31 |
| Story ID: | 547876 |
| Location: | FORT RUCKER, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 66 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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