In December 2004, John Walker of Peru, Indiana, a former Marine helicopter pilot, bought a Vietnam-era Army Huey from an eBay listing that called it "mostly complete and not flyable." The next month he and his brother Alan drove 1,300 miles to Bangor, Maine, to see it. The purchase started a nonprofit that now keeps three Hueys in the air.

A Helicopter Nobody Planned to Fly

The helicopter, known as Huey 369, was lying on the flight line at the Bangor airport, open to the elements. Its transmission was rusted solid.

John Walker, a former Marine captain who flew Sikorsky CH-53 cargo helicopters, was fine with that. According to HistoryNet, he had no desire to put the aircraft back in the air. The organization says it was trailered 1,300 miles from Bangor to Peru, Indiana.

That changed in September 2005, when someone donated a second Huey, number 803, along with parts of another. Walker decided to restore 803 as a static display to raise money for a full restoration of 369.

A Rescue Ship Returns to the Sky

Huey 369 has a rescue history. The Army delivered it in 1971 and assigned it to the 498th Medical Company to fly as an air ambulance known as a "Dustoff."

Dustoff Hueys could get the wounded to a medical facility within an hour or less. HistoryNet reports that a seriously wounded soldier had a 40 percent chance of survival in World War II, and with the Huey and onboard medics the figure jumped to 98 percent.

In mid-2007, Huey 369 returned to the sky. The group held a reunion that August for volunteers and veterans so they could watch it fly again.

At that August reunion, a donor gave the group a Huey turbine engine on the condition that it be used to restore Huey 803. The core members went back to work, and in July 2009 Huey 803 was in the air too.

Three Hueys, Still Flying

American Huey 369 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed in 2005. Its three airworthy Hueys are 369, the Dustoff; 803, a slick that once served as a medevac in the 1st Cavalry Division; and 049, a gunship that went through its first hover checks in January 2017.

On August 30, 2026, three of its Hueys descended in formation to land at Grissom Air Reserve Base in Indiana after a Vietnam reenactment at the Grissom Air & Space Expo, according to the 434th Air Refueling Wing.

The group takes its Hueys to events where the public can see and touch them, and fly in them if they become members. HistoryNet reported in 2022 that membership costs $100 and that the group had given more than 23,000 membership flights.

Where Veterans Meet Them Again

Volunteer Phil Marshall, who flew a Huey with a medical unit during the war, told HistoryNet that at every event the crew meets at least one veteran who is affected by his reunion with a Huey.

The group is also planning a National American Huey History Museum next to the Grissom Aeroplex hangars. Its website says the museum is under construction and will stay closed until its grand opening in 2027.

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