Rolling Thunder Michigan Chapter 4

Lest We Forget...
On September 19, 2006, 1st Lt. Ashley Henderson-Huff was killed in Mosul, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near her patrol. She was 23 years old.

For her actions, Henderson-Huff was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a Combat Action Badge. During the opening ceremony of the Erbil Police Academy in 2008, a bronze bust of Henderson Huff was dedicated by Iraqi Police in her honor. God bless our Vets!

The CH-47 Chinook earned many nicknames during Vietnam, but one that stayed with the men who flew and rode them was “Easy Rider.”

Massive, loud, and unmistakable with its twin rotors beating the air overhead, the Chinook became one of the true workhorses of the war. It hauled artillery pieces into remote firebases, carried troops into combat zones, recovered downed aircraft, delivered ammunition, fuel, and food, and evacuated the wounded under fire.

Wherever American forces operated, the Chinook usually followed.

The crews flew into places many aircraft could not survive.

Hot landing zones.
Mountain outposts.
Mud-covered hilltops surrounded by enemy guns.

Loaded with men and cargo, the CH-47 often looked almost too heavy to fly, yet it clawed its way into the sky carrying the weight of the war beneath its rotors.

To infantrymen on the ground, hearing a Chinook approach could mean resupply, reinforcement, or a ride out of hell.

To the crews, every mission carried risk.

Enemy fire regularly targeted the giant helicopters because everyone knew how valuable they were.

Still they flew.

“Easy Rider” became more than a nickname.

It became part of the memory of Vietnam itself — the thunder of rotor blades echoing across jungle valleys and shattered firebases.