Family of Vietnam Humble Hero to receive his 150 awards

Family to receive Vietnam pilot’s 150 awards

By Denise LaVoie - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Oct 18, 2008 8:06:41 EDT

BOSTON — Helen Tilgner remembers seeing a scar on her father’s left knee when she was 7, and finding out he had won a Purple Heart for being shot during combat in Vietnam.

But she had no idea that her father had won more than 100 medals and awards until this year — 26 years after he died when his helicopter crashed in Malaysia while he was flying for a private medical rescue company.

On Saturday, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., will present Tilgner and her two sons — both in the Army — with the awards won by her father, Chief Warrant Officer Armit Tilgner, more than three decades after he flew helicopter missions in Vietnam.

“I feel like it is recognition that he should have had long ago, to be remembered with honor, and it’s a legacy I get to pass down to my sons so they are better aware of who he really was,” said Tilgner.

Armit Tilgner was an instructor pilot with the 1st Aviation Brigade’s 128th Assault Helicopter Company. He served six tours in Vietnam, winning numerous awards, including four Bronze Stars, five Army Commendation Medals, three Meritorious Unit Commendation medals, two Valorous Unit Awards, and 136 Air Medal awards.

But he never talked about his military honors, so his family only knew about the Purple Heart.

Tilgner retired in 1973 after 20 years in the Army and went to work for a private medical rescue helicopter company, transporting sick people from remote villages in Malaysia to hospitals. In 1982, he was killed at age 48 when his helicopter crashed in a thunderstorm.
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