There were pictures attached.. I will send them later Mineral Wells, Texas
January 14, 2006

There has always been a strong bond between man and machine, and none is stronger than that forged in the heat of battle. Those who have been there maintain a special place in the heart for the machines that have carried warriors into combat and returned them safely home. That bond is often very tenuous, however, and none more so than those from the Vietnam War.

In the structure of Army Aviation, helicopters were not assigned to pilots as they often are in the other services. The Army way was to assign these aircraft to the enlisted men who flew in and maintained them – they were only “loaned” to the pilots for assigned missions. These crew chiefs and flight engineers “owned” that aircraft, and treated it like it was their first love. But at the end of their tour in Vietnam, the bond was broken, and they likely never saw the aircraft again.

But every so often, the planets align, the fates intervene, and a reunion mysteriously occurs. A special moment like this is occurred on Tuesday, January 3, 2006 at Mineral Wells Airport. A UH-1H “Huey” helicopter, serial number 70-15707, that was acquired by The National Vietnam War Museum is undergoing restoration at the airport. Through a news story, Mark Hostetler of Indianapolis, IN read of the aircraft’s existence, and contacted the museum. Mark, it seems, was the crew chief of that particular aircraft in Vietnam. Until reading of the museum having the aircraft, Mark assumed it had met the same fate as many similar helicopters of that period, resting at the bottom of the South China Sea.

Mark arrived at DFW airport on the morning of January 3, and Museum representatives met him and escorted him to Mineral Wells for the reunion with the aircraft, and to collect his reminiscences of his Vietnam experiences. An additional surprise was the presence of Mark’s unit’s former commanding officer from Vietnam, Jack Shields, who presented the museum with the unit’s guidon flag from the period it was known as H Troop, 16th Cavalry. While Jack had transferred command of the unit to Major George P. Hewitt before Mark arrived, there were still members who had served under him, and Mark was familiar with his name. Having served in the same unit provided a sense of continuity and brotherhood not found in most professions.

Mark Hostetler enlisted in the United States Army in 1971 to become a helicopter mechanic; a young man with flying experience, but no high school diploma, looking to learn a useful trade. His background took him through aviation mechanics’ school, into the non-commissioned officers training program, and eventually to a helicopter unit in Vietnam in mid-1972, when US forces were pulling out at an ever increasing rate. H Troop, 16th Cavalry, later F Troop 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, operated in what was known as Military Region III, the area surrounding Saigon, and extending from the South China Sea to the Cambodian border. Late in the war, the unit supported both US and ARVN (South Vietnamese Army) forces, and faced increased threats from anti-aircraft fire that included SA-7 “Strela” surface-to-air missiles, ZSU-23, 23mm self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, and even Soviet S-60 57mm towed anti-aircraft guns that had not been used in the South earlier in the war.

Both the unit and the aircraft, 70-15707, were involved in one of the last major US efforts in the war, the “Easter Offensive” of 1972, when the North Vietnamese attacked in northern Military Region III, in an attempt to drive down Highway 13 to Saigon and subjugate the South. The ARVN, with US aviation assistance from the Army and Air Force, successfully repelled this attack at An Loc, about 50 miles northwest of Saigon, and were able to maintain their independence for another three years. In this operation, US helicopter crews faced some of the most lethal ground-to-air weapons in the hands of the NVA while supporting the ARVN with resupply and aerial weapons. In fact, this stand by the South Vietnamese Army, and Operation Linebacker 2, which involved the intense bombing of military targets in Hanoi and Haiphong by Air Force B-52s, was instrumental in bringing the North to the Peace table in Paris.

While he lived through many experiences most people hope they never see, and was decorated for valor, Mark, like most Vietnam veterans considers that he was only doing his job, and that what he did was nothing special. But Mark, himself, is a reminder that a large percentage of these young men who went to war at their country’s bidding, and then were shunned upon their return, rose above the attitudes of their fellow countrymen.

After leaving the service, Mark not only finished high school, but graduated from college and acquired two graduate degrees. In addition, he has worked as a firefighter, sheriff’s deputy, constable, counselor, and Chaplain. And yet, he has never lost his love for aviation, or his memories of “his” helicopter. This reunion was something he never expected, but would not have missed for the world, knowing that his helicopter will be on display for years to come, helping to tell the story of his generation to generations of the future.

BT