Gifts from a journey in a Vietnam-era Huey

Austin American-Stateman ^ | Feb 8, 2005 | Brad Buchholz

[ladtx]

Gifts from a journey in a Vietnam-era Huey

Austin's Cheryl and Pat Fries gambled everything on a dream film project and came away with the kind of fulfillment that is greater than money or fame.

Sarah Beal

(enlarge photo)

Pat and Cheryl Fries finished editing 'In the Shadow of the Blade' in the summer and the movie will have its television premiere Thursday on the Military Channel.

By Brad Buchholz

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

For the past five years, Pat and Cheryl Fries of Austin have gambled everything on a movie their own movie. It's the project of their lifetime, a feature-length documentary called "In the Shadow of the Blade." At its focus: the Vietnam War.

The Frieses' objective was to tell a human story about Vietnam veterans by flying a vintage UH-1 "Huey" combat helicopter across America in a journey of reconciliation. From the beginning, the husband-and-wife team had such strong faith in their documentary and the creative idea behind it that they loved it almost like a child. They spent money on it, boldly. And they allowed themselves to dream:

Maybe someone in Hollywood will discover it and put it in theaters. Maybe it will air on PBS. Maybe, just maybe, it will even make some money. . .

On TV

• 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday, 3 p.m. Friday
• The Military Channel, formerly Discovery Wings; (channel 236 on Time Warner digital cable in Austin)

Video

• Clips from 'In the Shadow of the Blade'

From Statesman.com archives

The sound you never forget:

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[Conspiracy Guy]

Spent a lot of time in Kansas on UH-1's in USAF going to ICBM sites in early 70's. SAC 72-76. Love the birds but I never saw Nam.

[JLO]

Bump!

[4CJ]

Great! Looking forward to watching .... we will NEVER forget!

[SAMWolf]

Ah yes! The Huey ride. Click the pic.:-)

[CholeraJoe]

Yup, them's muh boys.

Happy Target Tuesday and Happy Mardi Gras.

[SAMWolf]

Hey Cholera Joe.

Nothing better to rearrange yer insides. :-)

[snippy_about_it]

Hey stranger.

[sweetiepiezer]

bttt

[Colt .45]

I got to fly on a UH-1H while on the way back from our last deployment when I was on the USS BOXER (LHD-4) in 1997. I had a great ride courtesy of my brothers in the USMC. I, being a sailor will never forget the thrill. You "slick" pilots are a special breed. This one's for you!

LOW FLIGHT
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And hovered out of ground effect on semi-rigid blades;
Earthward I've auto'ed,
and met the rising brush
Of non-paved terrain - and done a thousand things
You would never care to -
skidded and drooped and flared
Low in the heat-soaked roar.
Confined there,
I've chased the earthbound traffic, and lost
The race to insignificant headwinds.
Forward, and a little up, in ground effect
I've topped the General's hedge with drooping turns
Where never Skyhawk, or even Phantom flew.
And, shaking and pulling collective, I've lumbered
The low trespassed halls of Victor Airways,
Put out my hand, and touched a tree.
-Anonymus

[FlyLow]

LOW FLIGHT
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And hovered out of ground effect on semi-rigid blades;
Earthward I've auto'ed,
and met the rising brush
Of non-paved terrain - and done a thousand things
You would never care to -
skidded and drooped and flared
Low in the heat-soaked roar.
Confined there,
I've chased the earthbound traffic, and lost
The race to insignificant headwinds.
Forward, and a little up, in ground effect
I've topped the General's hedge with drooping turns
Where never Skyhawk, or even Phantom flew.
And, shaking and pulling collective, I've lumbered
The low trespassed halls of Victor Airways,
Put out my hand, and touched a tree.
-Anonymus

---

Not any other "LowFlyer" but an Army Pilot could have written this poem.. The others talked about flying low, we did it. Also, the Army trained ALL the armed forces except the USAF & Navy (but they couldn't fly anything except starch-wings anyway!) @ Fort Wolters near palatial Miserable Wells, Texas. I have some permanent scars on my ass from trainees who wanted to make a new type of flight.

As for the movie: Shadow of the Blade"...I went to Austin for the premier 18 months ago. It was a documentry well worth your time if you ever rode in a Huey...brought chills to my backside! Several friends helped them make that film...they all looked so much older than me!

[Colt .45]

But if you look at the aircraft mentioned, I believe it was either a Navy or Marine Helicopter jock. And the Navy DID have Huey pilots in Vietnam, they were called the Grey Wolves. MOF my last LCDR that I worked for on the BOXER was a Huey pilot. No starched wings there!

[CholeraJoe]

Been away for a while. Suffered a ghastly fracture of my lower leg. Fell down my inside wood steps and hit every step on the way down. Slammed into the front door with my head. Broke my left leg in 4 or 5 places and separated my right shoulder. Ended up with a titantium rod and 4 or 5 screws in my leg, and two in my shoulder.

Getting better.

[bitt]

oh, that's terrible! I will send you a picture to make your smile.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[bitt]

fell better soon.

[Valin]

GREAT!
Sam, consider yourself flagged.

[Valin]

IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLADE

We were the soldiers brave and true
Who rode upon you in our youth
You took us into battle and carried us back to base-camp

091 you were faithful to us all during a war called Vietnam
Carrying troops, supplies, mail, Donut Dollies, Nurse, USO, and wounded
Chris-crossing the muddy paddies, rubber plantations, and jungle canopied

You were wounded yet went on, completing your missions for your men
But that was many years ago
You have seen the bravery, the death, the dying, and the surviving
You have so many stories that went with you

One persons story caused a dream to take shape to fly another mission
To fly the last mission telling the stories of the men, women, and children
Whom you have touched

In the shadow of your blade
We now can rest and tell your stories
Of the people who were impacted by you

Lift us high into the sky and fly in awesome glory
Like you did a long time ago
Giving the world the true story of forgotten men, women, and children
From a war fought so long ago

You have one last mission to go forth across this land
Landing and bringing those folks on the last leg of a journey
All the way HOME

Mission accomplished – a job well done indeed
I no longer hate that sound of an in-coming huey rotor song
It is now the sound of a Welcome Home song

After 35 years it is time for both of us to rest
We both know we did our best our story is finally complete
For we are HOME at last

Copyright 2004, Kerry “Doc” Pardue

[BykrBayb]

Thank you for pinging me to this wonderful story.

[snippy_about_it]

OWWWW! Geezy Pete! Glad to hear you're getting better. Dang boy, time to slow down!