Vietnam crew returns to helicopter's W.Va. home
MARY WADE BURNSIDE
Times West Virginian
June 9, 2013
FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) — Tom Feigel spent a year in Vietnam as the crew chief of a Huey helicopter, flying out on night missions that would have the aircraft called into battle or going over into Cambodia and Laos to drop off and pick up soldiers.
"You fly that helicopter every single day," said Feigel, a Webster, N.Y., resident who was an Army Specialist 5 as part of the 366th Assault Helicopter Co. out of Soc Trang, Vietnam.
"It's your home. You do have attachments to it, and to the crew, because of some of the situations and firefights you were in with them. So there is a special bond between the crew and the ship."
These days Feigel's Vietnam "home" now resides in Fairmont as part of the Marion County Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located at the entrance to East Marion Park off the Gateway Connector.
For a long time, Feigel had no idea that the "ship" he spent so much time on actually still exists, and is located only about a seven-hour drive away from where he lives in New York.
"I had tracked the helicopter from Vietnam back to Fort Hood, Texas," Feigel said.
"Apparently, the helicopter was transferred from Fort Hood to Fort Rucker. This was 15 years ago."
Feigel lost track of the helicopter — dubbed "Super Slick" — and figured it had been parceled out. But in January of last year, John Brennan, an author working on a book on military choppers, contacted him and another member of the crew, Tom Wilkes, and informed them that the ship was in Fairmont.
The helicopter had made its way to Fairmont after Alfred Knoll, an area veteran, spent four years working with the military to get a piece of equipment to display at the Marion County Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He drove to Fort Rucker in Alabama to pick it up and learned that the aircraft he had been promised already had been given away.
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I was a door gunner with Tom F. In 1970 on Super Slick. I fired the 50 call on right door with Brown as pilot and Burton was a left side gunner. Feigel was on landing lights with M79. Gun didn't work well first night, made adjustments in flight and we took out a M60 and 51 call in a J shaped tree line that night. Took about 8 hits in engine bay tail boom area, main rotor, hydraulic reservoir, one hit about a foot above my head. Sp 5 Dave Schap, 336 AHC.SocTrang, moved to Vinh Long 175th AHC. Now Dubuque, Iowa. Hello Tom if you see this. Came back next year for another tour with 7th of 1st Air Cav in Vinh Long.
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