At Fun ‘N Fun 2025, ANN’s Rex Alexander spoke with Tom Tomlinson flew the EurUH-1 Iroquois, more popularly known as the Huey, in Vietnam, but also flew the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse trainer and the Bell OH-58 Kiowa aircraft.
Tomlinson is a volunteer with the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association of Florida. There is no centralized state headquarters for the Association, and the chapters are spread out depending on where the members live. The original group started the organization in Tampa, and there are groups in Pensacola, Jacksonville, Miami.
Statewide there are about 293 members on the roster, most of whom are life members. Pilots and crew members like door gunners and crew chiefs are part of the Association.
The general mission of the Association is to raise awareness of their experiences. They are invited to various events and veterans functions, and the Moving Wall. The Moving Wall is a portable half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. that tours the U.S. to honor the more than 58,000 service members killed or remained missing during the Vietnam War.
At the events they attend, the Association sets up its display and simply talks with Vietnam vets that come through. Many times the helicopter that’s part of the display brings back memories.
Tom said that often, the vets will come up with their wives and chat with them and say “I was a crew chief” or “I was a door gunner” and wander off. Then they’ll come back and engage again, asking questions like “What outfit were you with?” That question often spurs recognition of someone else nearby and then they start chatting and end up talking for an hour.
Many times, the wife will later say “He’s never talked about any of that, and you guys got it out of him” so it’s very gratifying to whoever is there from the Association.
Information about the Association can be found at the website www.vhpaf.org, including how to join, photos of the events they attend, and their mission statement.
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