HOH Honors Vietnam Helicopter Crew Chief

William Pemberton born in 1947, Bill grew up in East Haven and – like his father and grandfather – he chose to serve his country. He entered the Army in 1966 with a dream to become a helicopter crew chief, and that is what he did.

With the Vietnam War ramping up, Bill headed to war and served as a 1st Cavalry Division crew chief and door gunner aboard a UH-1 “Huey” Medivac helicopter. Bill served nine and a half monthsin Vietnam, and he and his “Dustoff” crew were responsible for rescuing and saving the lives of numerous GIs wounded on the battlefield.

During one of these dangerous missions Bill suffered a service-ending injury. With his crew under heavy fire, his Huey started to go down and Bill jumped, severely injuring his knee. Fortunately he was rescued before the Viet Cong could reach him. “I wasn’t going to let that happen,” he says. It was House of Heroes honor to help this brave soldier.