Jerry Towler, “Flying the Huey in Vietnam” @ the Yankee Air Museum Historic Presentation Night

A notice to any Michigan VHPA members in the southeast part of the state or if you just feel like driving over to Ypsilanti (KYIP) airport for an evening. The Yankee Air Museum is sponsoring a historical presentation night to discuss the experiences of Jerry Towler, an Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam. The event will be held on Wednesday Jan. 8th, 7:30pm at the museum’s location on the Willow Run Airport, and is free.

For anyone attending we can get together, have a cup of coffee and maybe talk Jerry into joining our group. Hope to see you there. Happy Holidays.

Christmas Greetings

To all VHPA Michigan Chapter Members,

 

Merry Christmas to you and your families. Especially at this time of year we remember those who will not be home with their families as they serve our nation in distant lands.  I suspect that virtually all of you have spent at least one Christmas in Vietnam or other distant lands while in uniform so have a sense of the sacrifice the current generation is making.

 

I want to thank Charlie Martin for his work in creating this chapter and taking it for its first flights – e.g., meetings, organizational documents, information distributor, etc., etc.  He has handled many personal challenges in keeping the chapter airborne.

 

I also want to thank Dave Camp for volunteering to serve as vice president. I look forward to our working together for the chapter.

 

As your new president I need your help in continuing the chapter.  There has been a lot of work done behind the scenes by some chapter members, and many suggestions for activities have been made.  But attendance at meetings has been pretty light and volunteers to handle activities has also been slim.

 

At the last meeting the consensus was the chapter should continue as a social organization, gathering to share memories, war stories, and swap lies about our Vietnam experiences. 

 

The National VHPA has noted the demise of several chapters around the country for lack of participation.  I do not want our chapter to join them. 

 

We’ve had our meetings at the Grand Ledge Army Aviation Support Facility on the premise that it’s centrally located, has an impressive display of helicopters from our era, and it’s free.  But we know many of our members are from the Detroit or Grand Rapids area, so that’s a bit of a drive to attend.

 

I’m asking: What, where, when would it take for you to attend a meeting? What location, time of day, day of week, time of year works for you?  Is there someone in the Detroit and/or Grand Rapids area that has a place in mind? 

 

As one example, there is a regular, monthly gathering of National Guard retirees that meet for breakfast on a Thursday morning at a Cracker Barrel restaurant.  We usually have from 8-14 people attend each month.  I’m only thinking semi-annual meetings, but would a lunch gathering at a similar place work for you?  Is spring and fall the best time of the year for you?

 

For other activities, if anyone wants to coordinate chapter participation in an event, they would be welcome to do so.  Events could be anything relating to our military, aviation, or similar topics. I can help disseminate the information about the event so chapter members can join in as they wish. I’d ask for a report back on how it went so I could include that in a report to the chapter membership and National VHPA.

 

Please send me your thoughts and suggestions.  Let’s keep the chapter airborne.

 

Have a safe flight.  Merry Christmas,

 

Rich Deer

 

Member and president, VHPA Michigan Chapter