It was Nov. 7, 1968 — the last day weathered Bandit Crew Chief and Platoon Sgt. Jay Hays had to spend in the rotting jungles of Vietnam. When he entered the U.S. Army, he was a strapping 230-pound young man. He left at 150.
But, before he flew home, he was taken to see the helicopter in which he lived, ate, suffered and, most importantly, survived for an entire year.
“They wanted me to have one last flight,” Hays said.
A current of memories streamed through him like the pulse of his own heartbeat. He had helped rescue 168 people who had been enslaved for eight years on just one mission. He went on 13 assaults during another, when no one else made it more than three. He dined on steak in the cockpit, once. And he dropped grenades encased in empty peanut butter jars into enemy foxholes below.
They didn’t call the 281st Assault Helicopter Company “Hell from Above” for nothing.
“I said: ‘God bless. Hope you have a good life,’” Hays said about his departing thoughts to the helicopter. “I never thought I’d see it again.”
But, he did — 45 years later — sitting across a cow pasture in Plant City. The helicopter was decommissioned last fall and was found by a group of local Vietnam veterans who wished to save it from the junk yard. They picked it up from a hangar in Sanford and stored it at Plant City resident Lance Ham’s home off Joe McIntosh Road. It sat there for months, under the watchful eye of Ham and another Plant City veteran, Bob Johnson.
The aircraft was waiting to be transported to the H.E.A.R.T.S Veterans Museum of Texas, in Huntsville, where it will be painted as it was those many decades ago.
That day finally came on March 17. Hays traveled from Ohio to help transport the helicopter, with the help of veteran Ed Duke and his wife, Anita.
When he entered Ham’s property, he didn’t know if he’d be able to come face-to-face with the machine that, on so many occasions, not only shielded him from death but also dropped him into the middle of chaos.
“I didn’t know if I could walk up to this,” Hays said. “It was hard to see it there.”
Hays stopped on the dirt road alongside Ham’s home. Ham walked with him the rest of the way.
“You just get misty-eyed,” veteran Bryan O’Reilly said.
O’Reilly had come from Brandon to help prepare the helicopter for transport, along with Jim Christiansen.
But, it was Brewington’s Towing Service that did most of the heavy lifting. Chris Brewington, D.J. Brewington, David Brewington and Jeremy Wood showed up to beat the rain by raising the helicopter from Ham’s trailer to the transport trailer.
“I’m not sad to see it go; it’s sat here a while,” Ham said, smiling. “I want to go see it in the museum, if I can get there.”
During its time in Ham’s yard, many passers-by stopped to ask him if he was restoring it. And although it won’t ever fly again, many more people will get to enjoy it once its on display. After all, it’s had a lifetime in the air. After Vietnam, it spent time in the Argentine Air Force, as well as being used by the National Guard.
“I can’t believe I got to see it again,” Hays said.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
SHOW OF SUPPORT
Judy and Ed Wise, of the Plant City Elks Lodge, were on-site for support. They first heard about the effort through Lance Ham Jr., who also is involved with the Elks. Anita Duke, the wife of Ed Duke, will be riding with Ed and Jay Hays to deliver the helicopter to the museum. Chris Brewington, D.J. Brewington, David Brewington and Jeremy Wood were on the team that helped crane the helicopter from Ham’s trailer to the transport trailer.
THE VETERANS
Bob Johnson
Lance Ham
Jay Hays
Bryan O’Reilly
Jim Christiansen
Ed Duke