The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL)
July 13, 2002, Saturday
Re-Creating War; Sky
Soldiers re-create Vietnam battlefield
BLOOMINGTON - There was a day in Vietnam that Denny
Toaspern won't soon forget.
The Viet Cong had attacked a small village and set it ablaze. Bodies of South Vietnamese troops and civilians killed in the fighting burned as the enemy retreated back into the jungle.
"The smell of human flesh just hung over the valley,"
said Toaspern, 57, who was among U.S. Army Air Cavalry soldiers who arrived a
short time later. "Those were not fun times."
Now a New Yorker and expert witness in law cases involving motorcycle accidents, Toaspern was an aircraft mechanic and crew leader during a Vietnam tour spanning 1963-1964.
He and about 40 other members of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation's Sky Soldiers Demonstration will reenact a similar battle, presented by The Pantagraph, at the Eagle Radio Prairie Air Show today and Sunday at the old terminal at the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington.
During the 25-minute exercise, several military helicopters, some of which saw duty in Vietnam, will swoop from the sky in support of "friendlies" as they repel North Vietnamese troops attacking a simulated village held by U.S. allies.
Spectators will hear machine-gun bursts and see bullets strafe the ground. They'll hear the explosions of rockets and artillery fire. They'll eavesdrop on radio chatter passing back and forth among the American pilots as they coordinate their attack. A media preview staged Friday afternoon didn't include the pyrotechnics.
The unit consists of several helicopters, including Hueys and a Cobra, and several planes.
Rides on helicopters will be given for $35 during both days of the air show to support the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation, formed in 1997 as a nonprofit all-volunteer unit of about 500 members. It receives no government funding.
The foundation was the brainchild of Michael Brady, who attended West Point. He is a son of retired Maj. Gen. Morris Brady, who served in Vietnam.
The Sky Soldiers appear at several air shows each year. Toaspern and company say reliving the war days keeps alive the tradition of Army aviation.
They also want to close the gap between the generation that fought the Vietnam War and children of today, who only read about it in history books.
"They (young people) have no connection with it. There is a strong disconnect," he said. "But it was an extremely important time in the lives of those who were coming of age between 1960 and 1973. It was such a strong influence on so many."
"We never lost that war. We lost the political will to win it, if we ever had it," Toaspern said.
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