Tom,

Don't quote me on this but I remember reading somewhere that we became the 119th AVN. Co. when the 81st Trans traded in their CH-21s for Hueys. The Crocs were at one time called the "Widow Makers" but had to change to Crocs because another unit came in-country with that call sign. When I got in country we just become an assault helicopter company. BT can tell you the guy's name that designed the flight platoon's patch. The Croc's patch was designed before that and they retained the AVN. CO. for their patch.

We became an AML sometime after 1 March 1969. That's when the 545th and a couple of the other support groups were disbanded and we became one unit under one chain of command. When I got in-country I was assigned to the 545th. Unit pride made sure that any FNG knew beyond any doubt that we were separate from the 119th.