Of all the images from the Vietnam War, it is probably the television news footage of the chubby, omnipresent UH-1 Iroquois, or "Huey" helicopter that has remained most visible in the American memory.

Bell manufactured more than 10,000 of these helicopters since production began in the 1950's, making the Huey the most produced aircraft since World War II. Originally designated HU-1, from which they take the name "Huey", the UH-1 series of helicopters remain in service worldwide with both military and civilian users.

The UH-1M on display at Battleship Cove carries the number 66-00609, indicating that it was the 609th UH-1 manufactured in 1966. Built as an UH-1C version, it was converted to an UH-1M in May 1971 with the addition of a more powerful Lycoming turbine engine and modified fuel cells. As a UH-1M, it was armed with two XM-200 rocket pods firing a total of sixteen 2.75" rockets; two SM-21 rotary barrel 7.62mm flexible miniguns; and two 7.62mm M-60 machine guns for the door gunners.

This machine served two tours in Vietnam. First assigned to the 14th Aviation Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Division (America), the helicopter was based in Chu Lai in the northern part of South Vietnam. On March 1, 1969, the helicopter was hit by hostile fire and had a "hard landing." Sent to the United States for repairs, the helicopter returned to Vietnam and remained in country until 1972, when it went to Bell in Fort Worth, Texas, for a complete refit. The last assignment for the helicopter was with the 1st Battalion of the 26th Air Cavalry Squadron of the Massachusetts National Guard.

Through the extensive efforts of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 207 of Westport, Massachusetts, whose members restored it to its original appearance, the helicopter was placed on loan to the USS Massachusetts Memorial Committee, Inc. and dedicated at Battleship Cove on May 30, 1993.

The namesake of the UH-1 "Huey" helicopter.

THE IROQUOIS NATIONS: US military helicopters are frequently named after Native American tribes, (e.g., Apache, Chinook, Comanche, etc.), and the Bell Iroquois, or "Huey," UH-1 helicopter derives its name from the Iroquois.

The Iroquois Nations occupied a region from central New York westward to the Illinois River. Comprising five (later, six) tribes of peoples with closely related languages, the Iroquois confederacy comprised the Mohawk, Oneida, Onotague, Cayunga, and Seneca tribes, and then absorbed the Tuscarora in 1712.

Despite the enmity that frequently existed between Native Americans and the early English settlers, the Iroquois were allies with the British during the French & Indian Wars. Largely due to the diplomacy of Sir William Johnson, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, this alliance continued into the American Revolutionary War, when nearly one half of the New York Iroquois fled to Canada to enlist in the British service against the Americans.

To learn more about the Iroquois, visit the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.