A Dandenong icon is back up where it belongs.
The Vietnam War-era helicopter at Dandenong RSL lost one of its rotor stay cables in a storm earlier this year.
Membrey’s in Dandenong lowered the Bell UH-1 Iroquois to the ground for repairs.
Being up in the weather for 13 years had also ruined the upper surface paintwork, so the helicopter went to Pakenham’s United Panels for a makeover.
The helicopter type’s nickname Huey came into common use during the Vietnam War.
The RSL sub-branch’s president John Wells said many interstate and international visitors had been to Dandenong to pay their respects, and Huey’s absence was noticed.
There were emails and telephone calls, even one from a three-year-old who told him to ‘Put it back. Up there’.
Now Huey is back.
“In Dandenong’s history, the Dandenong ham and bacon pig down at the market is an important symbol, and we think Huey is right up there with him,” Mr Wells said.
“There are still people who don’t know where the RSL is, but they all know where ‘Huey on a stick’ lives.”
Mr Wells said Huey was no longer quite in his original colours.
The Australian side, facing the Dandenong Plaza, carries a New Zealand flag on the door to signify the NZ in ANZAC, and carries the number of a helicopter shot down in Vietnam with the loss of a crewman.
The Stud Road side carries the US Army livery that Huey originally wore, with the addition of the old South Vietnamese flag.
Mr Wells said the red crosses that adorn the chopper showed its lifesaving role.
“This helicopter was a ‘dust-off’, or CASEVAC, fitted out to help evacuate wounded soldiers from the battlefield,” he said.
“He went into harm’s way completely unarmed.
“In his day, Huey saved lives.”
