Bell UH-1 "Huey" - Rogers Municipal Airport, Rogers AR - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

Though there is no visible serial number for this helicopter, the sadly deteriorating letters on the right side were just enough to give some important history. Just to the left of the door is what looks like
GENER?? F. J. ?UCKSTEAD
where the letters F, J, and UCKSTEAD are pretty clear, but the first letter of the last name could be something that ends with a vertical line (M, N, H, I). A web search turns up no information for such a name, General or otherwise. On the door itself we have better luck:
1LT WILLIAM ?. EOFF, JR
which gives us what we need, below. Prominent artwork on the nose of the helicopter shows crossed swords, the number 1, and the word HEADHUNTERS.

AIRCRAFT

This helicopter is at a Vietnam Memorial at the entrance to the Rogers Municipal Airport in Benton County, Arkansas. Unlike the McDonnell GF-101B Voodoo displayed at the same location, there is no nice plaque giving information about the helicopter. A web search for Vietnam-era aircraft turned up that this is a Bell UH-1 Iroquis "Huey" helicopter. The main points from the Wikipedia article are that it was developed in 1952 for the U. S. Army as a medical evac and general utility helicopter. It was the first U. S. turbine-powered helicopter. Approximately 7,000 UH-1 helicopters saw service in the Vietnam war.

PILOT

A web search hit pay dirt concerning the pilot, 1LT William B. Eoff, Jr., who was born in 1942 in Oklahoma City, and died in 1968; a young man of just under 24 years old. According to reader-contributed information, William was with the unit known as the Boxcars. Although he walked away from a horrific crash in May of 1968, he was not so fortunate with a mid-air collision just a couple of months later, on 1 July 1968.

He is buried at Maplewood Cemetery in Harrison, Arkansas, Boone County.

May his sacrifice, indeed, not be forgotten.

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Bell UH-1 helicopter Tail Number: (S/N): obliterated Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): airport inside / outside: outside Other Information:: The serial number has either been obliterated or painted over. Fortunately there is enough letters on the right door to be able to determine the history of this important aircraft. Access restrictions: To avoid possible misunderstanding, please visit during daylight hours.

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

Tell why you are visiting this waymark along with any other interesting facts or personal experiences about the aircraft not already mentioned.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   08/10/2019 Jffok visited it 02/25/2015 MountainWoods visited it

View all visits/logs