“It’s been more than 50 years since I got up close to one of those,” said Forster, who said he served as a rifleman in the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Division of the U.S. Army in the Central Highlands, a plateau bordering the lower Laos and northeastern Cambodia.

“I rode Hueys into the field many times,” Forster said. “That’s the most thrilling ride you get there, 110 mph in the mahogany and teak treetops. It made a nice breeze when the temperature was over 100 degrees.”

Forster said Hueys often dropped off C rations (canned food) and supplies for his unit in the field. His favorite C rations were chicken noodle soup, powdered eggs he said may have come from the A.J. Pietrus plant in Sleepy Eye and fruit cocktail. Canned beef and potatoes were another highlight.

“We heated up the canned food using explosives from Claymore mines we took apart,” Forster added.

Staff photo by Fritz Busch Sleepy Eye Vietnam veteran Charles Forster watches as a restored 1965 U.S. Army Huey helicopter is lowered onto a pedestal in Sleepy Eye Veterans Park Wednesday.

Never taking direct enemy fire, Forster said he remembered watching a soldier walking sideways on helicopter landing rails, removing tree branches as the Huey hovered about 40 feet off the ground.

Forster, who worked for the city of Sleepy Eye for 31 years, said he was drafted into the Army at age 19. He said he caught malaria in Vietnam but took medication from the Veteran’s Administration to cure it.

Larry Krenz of Sleepy Eye, who was a member of a committee helped bring the helicopter to Sleepy Eye, said he worked in Navy aviation supply in Vietnam, ordering and sometimes transporting helicopter parts in Vietnam. His other duties included guarding the perimeter of his base. Krenz served on the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Midway before going to Vietnam.

Other committee members are Rick Mages, Steve Haala, Doug Pelzel, Kirk Kramer and Dan Gedrose.

“I was lucky enough to find a helicopter that could be restored before we got it,” Haala said. “We didn’t want one we had to restore ourselves.”

Mages said the helicopter took small arms fire twice in Vietnam before a former Marine Corps helicopter mechanic near Tampa, Fl. bought it for restoration purposes.

The aircraft was hauled from Florida to Northwood, Iowa, before it escorted to Sleepy Eye by an entourage of 40 motorcycles flying American flags.

A dedication ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, in Veteran’s Park in downtown Sleepy Eye. Several Vietnam Veterans will speak, in addition to Sleepy Eye Mayor Wayne Pelzel and U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad of New Ulm.

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).