Bad situation developing, "In the Shadow of the Blade" Huey #091 and a splinter group called "America's Huey".
http://www.intheshadowoftheblade.com
Too bad, they had a nice thing going; I hope it works out.
Gary Roush's assessment of the situation for the VHFCN listserver group:
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 10:41:28 -0500
To: vhfcn-l@vhfcn.org, heli-vets@blu.org
From: groush2@earthlink.net
Cc: Bobavn@aol.com
Subject: [VHFCN] Re: [HV] AMERICA'S HUEY...Why have they broken ranks?
Flights,
This is a very difficult e-mail for me to write for a couple of reasons.
For one, there has been an attempt by the 091 Committee's lawyer to muzzle
me and other ITSOTB crew members from telling the truth. The other is that
the In the Shadow of the Blade concept is being hijacked.
Why have we broken ranks? Although it is very complicated, it comes down
to power, ego and control issues between non-Vietnam veterans. Pat and
Cheryl Fries who own Arrowhead Film and Video created ITSOTB. They rightly
have the power and control; however, Jim and Bruce (who are not Vietnam
veterans) decided along the way that they were not getting enough credit
and that they could do a better job despite the fact they were the only
crew members under contract to be paid. This occurred after ITSOTB met
with the Smithsonian and learned that they wanted 091 for a 30 year
exhibit. Since Jim managed all of the relationships, he successfully
re-directed financial sponsors away from ITSOTB and over to America's Huey
before the Premiere. As a result, the Premiere almost did not happen
because of a lack of funding. A last minute scramble for sponsors and a
pass the hat at the Premiere fortunately allowed the event to almost break
even.
Now, America's Huey appears to be duplicating all that was created by
ITSOTB without involvement or permission from ITSOTB, Inc. The dilemma for
us Vietnam veterans is this. The ITSOTB concept is the right thing for us,
but do we support a project that has hijacked the concept? My opinion is
that we should put pressure on America's Huey to work out a deal with
ITSOTB, Inc. so that they present a unified front and that they end up
together in the Smithsonian next year. By the way, ITSOTB, Inc. has just
been notified by the IRS that it was granted non-profit status as a 501-C3
as of 24 September 2002 so the comments being made that ITSOTB is for
profit are wrong.
Bob Baird ( Bobavn@aol.com telephone 817-691-9721) or I will answer any
questions that you have about this keeping in mind that we have to be
cautious now that the lawyers are involved.
Gary Roush (not active on either list)
242 ASHC Muleksinners
webmaster@vhpa.org
ITSOTB crew member