Ceremony at Holloman honors Vietnam Veterans Published July 18, 2008 By Airman 1st Class Rachel Kocin 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- A ceremony was held at Holloman July 16 to hand over a UH-1M "Huey" helicopter to a group of Vietnam Veterans who plan to place it in a memorial park at Fort Bayard, near Silver City, New Mexico. More than 75 people, many of them members of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 358, from Silver City, attended the event. The helicopter was donated by White Sands Missile Range's Army Air Operations Branch, which is located at Holloman. For Mr. Armando Amador, coordinator of the memorial project, the day marked the culmination of months of hard work. He said the next step for the helicopter, which was used extensively during the Vietnam War, is to receive a new coat of Army green paint before placing it on a pedestal at the memorial. "I was a combat veteran," Mr. Amador said. "The only way we can find closure is to deal with the things that happened and this may be a symbol that will bring healing to us back home." Leadership from both White Sands Missile Range and Holloman were on hand to witness the event and honor the veterans. "This will be an important remembrance and a great way to honor their service and sacrifice down range," said Col. Michael McGee, 49th Fighter Wing vice commander. The "Huey" is considered to be the most widely used helicopter in the world and more than 9,000 of them have been built from the 1950s to the present. During Vietnam they were used for a variety of missions, to include: air assault, cargo transport, aeromedical evacuation, search and rescue and even ground attack. The Vietnam Veterans of America was founded in 1978 and has more than 50,000 members. They are the only national Vietnam Veterans organization congressionally chartered and exclusively dedicated to Vietnam-era veterans and their families.