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Welcome to the
Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
Washington State Chapter
Our Mission
 To enhance and accredit the cohesiveness, esprit de corps, and traditions of
valor of rotary wing aircrews that flew in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam
Era.
To seek out, using whatever means available, individuals who piloted rotary
wing aircraft in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam era and inform them of the
existence of the VHPA and encourage all eligible individuals to become members.
Membership is open to all helicopter pilots who flew in Southeast Asia during
the Vietnam era (1961-1975).
Next Meeting
TBD
News
- Special Forces Association BBQ
The Special Forces Association (Green Berets) has invited members
of the WA VHPA to attend their annual family picnic on Saturday, August
16th. The picnic is being held at Ron Rismon's (Capt. Ron's) Hanger at Crest
Airpark. His address is: 17650 SE 295th St. Kent, WA 98042-5711. The picnic
will start around 11:00 AM, with lunch starting precisely at 12:00. The
Green Berets will supply the pop, beer, and Bar-B-Q meat (including hot dogs
for the kids). They ask a donation of $15 for all of this, and they'd like
every family to bring one "covered dish" as well as lawn chairs and a small
table, if you'd like to use those. There will be tables there, but probably
not enough for everyone.
The Green Berets will have a bunch of their equipment on display, for the
kids to crawl over and enjoy, and Capt. Ron asked if anyone had any pull so
they could get a helicopter to display?? His place is right off the runway,
and it would be no problem to fly one in!! Anybody have any ideas?? Maybe we
could haul the Museums Huey in, if all else fails?? The family portion of
the party usually lasts 'till around 4:00 PM. However, there are usually
quite a few guests who hang around the beer keg and tell "war stories" until
much later. If you've never been to Capt. Ron's Hanger, it's well worth the
trip to see it. There's no airplanes in the hanger because he has it crammed
full of his hunting trophies from around the world (including one of the 10
largest African lions ever shot). He also has some very interesting
memorabilia from the Special Forces and from his days of flying the Alaska
bush.
There will be a lot of Vietnam veterans to share stories with, including 4
who were awarded the Medal of Honor. For
directions to Ron's place, I've googled the following maps If anyone
uses their own map, or mapquest....they need to know not to
turn onto 176th Ave SE, directly from SE Covington-Sawyer Rd. Instead,
continue up SE Covington-Sawyer Rd until you turn right at 179th Pl SE/SE
288th Pl. The way mapquest takes you (176th Ave SE), is a primitive rode and
not really suitable for normal cars. Well that's the info as I have
it....please give me a call (253) 845-4264 if you have any questions or if I
can be of any further help. This article provided by Tim Locke.
- Members from the local VHPA attended services at Tahoma National Cemetery on
Memorial Day. We have placed a number of
pictures taken at the event here on the site.
Reunion:
As you know, another year has passed and it's time to be thinking about
registering for Reunion 2008 in San Antonio, TX. Online registration opened
some time ago and it looks like we're going to have a great turnout as we
descend on the noted Riverwalk. You can get all of the information you need at
http://www.vhpareunion.org (including a link for registering) or you can
register using the form in the Aviator. Don't
procrastinate, click that register link now.
The Executive Council, National Reunion Committee, and VHPA Staff & HQ look
forward to another great reunion and for you to be there! If you have any
questions, contact
cholly@vhpa.org (reunion webmaster).
Here's hoping to see you there!
Executive Council
National Reunion Committee
VHPA Staff & HQ
helicopter pilots are welcome to come and enjoy the
camaraderie--whether or not they're VHPA members.
Chapter Profile
The Washington State Chapter of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
(VHPA) was founded in September, 2000 by Jack Salm, Jr. It holds regular
meetings in Washington state.
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2007 Officers : |
Past Presidents: |
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President: Paul Fleming
Vice President: David Eck
Members at Large:
Senior: TBD
Junior: Mike Magno
Sgt. At Arms: Bob Brown Chapter Officer Position:
Doug Decker
Chapter Officer Position: (For Life) “Skip” Blaksley
Newsletter Editor and Webmaster: William (Bill) Vaughn |
Jack Salm, Jr. 2000-2001
Tom Wie 2001-2002
Jack Salm Jr. 2002-2003
Pat Staeheli 2003-2004
David (Dave) Rosenkranz: 2004-2005
Richard (Dick) Glasgow: 2005-2006
Chris Farwell: 2006-2007
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Contact Information
Paul Fleming: (President) (253) 851-2396 (h) (253) 967-1438 (w) pfleming@nwlink.com
Skip Blaksley: (Chapter Officer) (360) 459-1594
- Electronic mail
Webmaster:
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- Please note: This website may contain
information that VHPA and VHPAWA considers proprietary and confidential.
Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial solicitation
purposes, or any correspondence related thereto. Correspondence relating to
commercial purposes or solicitations shall only be sent to the webmaster
whereupon it will be forwarded to the appropriate VHPA or VHPAWA
representative or thrown away if he thinks it's trash (as he usually does).
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