With the help of heavy machinery and a group of Vietnam veterans, a newly restored 1950s medical evacuation helicopter was placed on its platform Thursday above Soddy-Daisy Veterans Park.
Located near monuments to other U.S. war veterans, the Army helicopter was first installed in 2001, according to Charlie Hobbs, president of the Chattanooga-based Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 203.
The Army agreed to donate the historic helicopter to the veteran group, he said, as long as the chapter agreed to maintain it. The helicopter had become worn over the years, and Chattanooga-based industrial supplier Komatsu agreed to repaint, restore and reletter the helicopter built in 1952.
The restoration project took about four months, Hobbs said, and was donated by Komatsu.
A crane lowered the helicopter to its stand, while members of the veterans group used several guide wires from below to ease it into place. After that, a worker in a bucket truck secured the helicopter into its stand.
When chapter members were first bringing the helicopter to Soddy-Daisy from Fort Rucker, Alabama, its former pilot recognized the bird — as the veterans called it — in a television news report from the registration number painted on its side.
At the time, the pilot and New Jersey native Tom Borloglou didn’t know there was a Vietnam veterans group in Chattanooga, Hobbs said, but he’s now a member living in East Tennessee.
Chapter 203 has nearly 1,000 members, he said, the second-biggest Vietnam Veterans of America chapter in the nation.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.
Staff Photo by Andrew Wilkins / Members of the Chattanooga-based Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 203 prepared to return a historic medical evacuation helicopter to its stand in the Soddy-Daisy Veterans Park on Thursday.