This is a List of Unit Members of the 18th and 54th Aviation Co.  

The List is in the form of Spreadsheet.       

These Roster Listings are only "Army Complete' - meaning, there are missing and misspelled names.   We are still looking for and sometimes finding & adding names to this List (as you can see - there is work to be done.).  Help us with whatever and whoever you remember who can lead us to old unit members.  We'll call them.  Let us know on our email:  18.54Aviation@gmail.com

Navigate the Spreadsheet  (below) - with the right side up-down small Grey Tab   /   ... or the bigger L-R Tab on the bottom

EXECUTIVE BOARD 2019 to 2021:

The Association has a managing Executive Board.  It is made up of volunteers to serve.  They are:

• Ron Haugen ~ Past President / Treasurer ~ 18th Avn Co, Commo. Sgt. ~ '69-70 ~ Kasota, MN

• Mike Edgerton ~ EVP and Reunion Chairman ~ 18th Avn Co, Crew Chief, '67-68 ~ The Colony, TX

• Jeff 'Bic' Bickerton ~ Past President / Asst. Reunion Chair ~ 18th Avn Co, Crew Chief, '68-69, Canton, GA ~ 18.54Aviation@gmail.com

• Gene Brockman ~ Assoc. Secretary ~ 54th Avn Co, CWO Pilot, '65-66 ~ Madison, VA

• Lindsey Perkins ~ Asst. Secretary to the 54th ~ 1Lt. Pilot and  Co. Historian ~'65-66 ~ Tulsa, OK

• Henry A. 'Al' Wilson - Sgt@Arms ~ 18th Avn Co, Crew Chief, '64-65 ~  Byron,  GA

• Wayne E. Jones Jr.  ~ Chaplin ~ Father Wayne E. Jones flew for the 18th Avn Co, 1967 KIA ~08/17/'67

• Jeff 'Bic' Bickerton ~ Web Master and Communications ~ 18th Avn Co, Crew Chief, '68-69, Canton, GA ~ 18.54Aviation@gmail.com

To understand a Military Veteran you must know:

•  We left home as teenagers or in our early twenties for an unknown adventure.

• We loved our country enough to defend it and protect it with our own lives.

• We said goodbye to friends and family and everything we knew.

• We learned the basics and then we scattered in the wind to the far corners of the Earth.

• We found new friends and new family.

• We became brothers and sisters regardless of color, race or creed.

• We had plenty of good times, and plenty of bad times.

• We didn’t get enough sleep.

• We smoked and drank too much.

• We picked up both good and bad habits.

• We worked hard and played harder.

• We didn’t earn a great wage.

• We experienced the happiness of mail call and the sadness of missing important events.

• We didn’t know when, or even if, we were ever going to see home again.

• We grew up fast, and yet somehow, we never grew up at all.

• We fought for our freedom, as well as the freedom of others.

• Some of us saw actual combat, and some of us didn’t.

• Some of us saw the world, and some of us didn’t.

• Some of us dealt with physical warfare, most of us dealt with psychological warfare.

• We have seen and experienced and dealt with things that we can’t fully describe or explain, as not all of our sacrifices were physical.

• We participated in time honored ceremonies and rituals with each other, strengthening our bonds and camaraderie.

• We counted on each other to get our job done and sometimes to survive it at all.

• We have dealt with victory and tragedy.

• We have celebrated and mourned.

• We lost a few along the way.

• When our adventure was over, some of us went back home, some of us started somewhere new and some of us never came home at all.

• We have told amazing and hilarious stories of our exploits and adventures.

• We share an unspoken bond with each other, that most people don’t experience, and few will understand.

• We speak highly of our own branch of service, and poke fun at the other branches.

• We know however, that, if needed, we will be there for our brothers and sisters and stand together as one, in a heartbeat.

• Being a Veteran is something that had to be earned, and it can never be taken away.

• It has no monetary value, but at the same time it is a priceless gift.

• People see a Veteran and they thank them for their service.

• When we see each other, we give that little upwards head nod, or a slight smile, knowing that we have shared and experienced things that most people have not.

• So, from myself to the rest of the veterans out there, I commend and thank you for all that you have done and sacrificed for your country.

• Try to remember the good times and make peace with the bad times.  Share your stories.

• But most importantly, stand tall and proud, for you have earned the right to be called a Veteran.

I’m a VETERAN! I WOULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!

Very Interesting Vietnam Wall  Facts

A little history most people will never know.  Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall:

There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized.  It is hard to believe it is 61 years since the first casualty.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Mass.  Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956.  His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps LCpl Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

8,283 were just 19 years old.

The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.

12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam.

1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam.

31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia.  I wonder why so many from one school

8 Women are on the Wall, Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall

Beallsville , Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop 5,058) had ever known and cheered.  They enjoyed roaring beer busts.  In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest .  And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.

The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues.  They lived only a few yards apart.  They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam .  In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed.  LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination.  Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day.  Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.

The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.

For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created.  To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created.  We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, Husbands, wives, sons and daughters 

There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.  Like you.   ~    Thank you Brothers and welcome home.