>> Quite a production you've got here. >> By all appearances-- >> It's good to see you again. >> It's good to see you, Ron. Real good to see you. >> --this is a reunion-- >> Glad you could make it. >> Oh, I wouldn't have missed it for anything. >> --with people coming from far and wide to share old photos-- >> Do you recognize him? >> --and to swap old stories. >> You can see they're getting ready to dump some beer down. >> He's the FNG. >> Yeah, he is.
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>> That's exactly right. >> The thing is, many of these people have never met before, at least not in person. On this summer day in Sheboygan, they're here because of one man who isn't. >> Tom was our hero. >> Tom Shaw. Growing up the oldest of five in Fond du Lac, Tom was a roll model to his brothers, Dave and Kevin. >> Great sense of humor, really a kind guy, everybody loved him. >> A great leader, basketball star, sports star. Kind of a fearless guy. >> After high school, Tom's talents took him to St. Norbert's College in DePere. He married, had a son, and in 1970, he joined the Army. >> He wanted to fly when he got into the army and wanted to fly helicopters in the worst way. >> As a pilot with the 129th Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam, Tom met another pilot, Jim Crigler. >> Tom was a fun-loving guy. He was an all-American kid. You could sit in a bar and have a drink with him. He loved playing cards.
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Jim and Tom flew a model of helicopter called the Bell UH-1, known as the Huey. >> That old bird has gotten many of us back safely. And for many of the troops, for them, it was a sound of hope. >> Along with the men at the controls where crew members like Bruno Sanchez and Bernie Hernandez. >> Bring in some new guys and reinforce them, take out the wounded ones. It was an icon in Vietnam. >> Even if they were riding an icon, Jim says these men always knew the danger they faced. He remembers talking about that danger with Tom one night. >> I asked him just out of the blue if he would do me the honor if I was killed in action, of escorting my body back. And he kinda, it took him back a minute and he looked at me and he said after a few seconds of silence, "On one condition, and that is if something happens to me, that you agree to escort my body back." And he held a little book he had up in his hand and he waved it like a little bible, and he said, "A solemn oath, my man." And a solemn oath it was. And that conversation was overheard by a first lieutenant across the hall from us and he stuck his head in the door. His name was First Lieutenant Larry Lackey, and he said, "You guys cut that out. We're all going to make it back fine."
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>> But Tom wouldn't make it back. The very next day, April 27th, 1972, Lieutenant Thomas Shaw's helicopter crashed. Of the men on board, only Bruno Sanchez and Bernie Hernandez survived. True to his word, Jim Crigler escorted his friend's body home to Wisconsin. Almost forty years later, members of Tom Shaw's family got a phone call from a man named Ron Paye. >> He introduced himself as being in Tom's unit after Tom had been killed. >> He was with an organization called American Huey 369, that had restored a couple Vietnam era helicopters, just like the one Tom flew. They were bringing them to Green Bay for the L.Z. Lambeau Vietnam homecoming in 2010. >> He sat down with me and showed me pictures from the unit, and explained to me the event, L.Z. Lambeau. He said he was going to set up a flight over Tom's grave right before L.Z. Lambeau, and from then on, we've stayed in touch. I feel like I can reach out to Tom again through him. >> This past summer, the men from American Huey 369 brought their helicopter to Wisconsin again. With it, they brought Bernie Hernandez and Bruno Sanchez, the only survivors of Tom Shaw's last flight. And they brought Tom's old roommate, Jim Crigler. After 42 years, the men Tom fought alongside met the family he left behind. >> Well, yesterday brought us really close together. We went to dinner with them, told them our stories, what happened on that fateful day where Tom died. But I feel like they welcomed us to be part of their family, and that's what I feel like, part of their family. It was a really enjoyable trip. I'd like to come see them again. >> And so it was, on a peaceful summer day, that Tom Shaw's widow, his brothers and his brothers-in-arms boarded that Huey once again. >> There ya go. >> It does bring up difficult memories, but it's cathartic in so many ways to be able to talk to these guys and touch them and hug them. It means a lot. >> What we've learned with all Vets and helicopter pilots and guys that served in this crew, the bond that they have is just never-ending. After 42 years, it was like we knew them.
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