Memories of service, sacrifice and fellowship shared as 40 Vietnam veterans gather one last time

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The Vietnam War ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon, but just four years earlier, a group of helicopter pilots and their crew did everything they could to stay alive.

40 men from the 117th Assault Helicopter Company are holding their last reunion this weekend.

Thursday evening, they met for dinner at the LaGrange Railroad Museum and Learning Center in one of the vintage rail dining car. The men of the 117th AHC shared one of their last meals together. They have been meeting on and off for the last 50 years, and this weekend will be the last time they will get together.

“It is a special bond when you have trusted another man with your life,” said Bob Hamilton, who is one of the organizers of the reunion.

When these men met, they were barely men. Many of them enlisted right out of high school. Their unit flew combat missions, carried troops into battle and carried the wounded to safety. They sprayed agent orange and DDT and delivered the mail.

"The 117th served army units that didn't have aviation assets," Hamilton said.

Hamilton joined the army when he was 19 years old, trained for a year and was sent to Vietnam.

“So I took an in-country ride with an instructor, and the next day I invaded Cambodia," Hamilton said.

He had a few dozen pictures from his time in Vietnam displayed on a table outside of the museum on Thursday. The pictures are from time long gone, and are a reminder of the sacrifice he and others made.

Kenneth Scales was an anti-war activist in high school and the draft board drew his name. He enlisted before getting drafted and trained to be an aircraft mechanic. He had wanted to serve his time in Germany but was sent to Vietnam.

“The main thing was get through your tour hopefully go back the same way you came, and in that respect, I would consider myself very lucky,” said Scales.

Scales said he spent a lot of time keeping helicopters flying, but was put inside one more than once as a machine gunner.

“You just sat there and fly over the countryside and you saw a different perspective and it was almost peaceful looking down on the ground from about 1,500 feet up," Scales said. "You had no idea there was a war. It was quiet, it was calm, and then you got close to the ground and all hell would break loose," Scales said.

Scales said he left Vietnam, returned home, worked, raised a family and joined the Michigan National Guard. He retired from the military 29 years later.

The reunion this weekend will be his and the others last time to share stories of war, friendship and a bond that has lasted a lifetime.

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