A flying memorial is traveling from French Valley to Washington, DC.

Thirty-six years after Saigon fell in 1972, a crowd of about a hundred well-wishers, including veterans and families of servicemen, two Congressional Medal of Honor recipients and other service members, assembled at French Valley Airport in Murrieta on May 13 for a symbolic sendoff of Vietnam-vintage Huey helicopters.

The refurbished war birds will escort a convoy of motorcyclists in the annual Rolling Thunder pilgrimage to the Vietnam War Memorial.

The choppers left the airport on May 14.

"The chopper was our best friend because it was our horse," said Vietnam veteran Sgt. Roy Gleason, 65 of Temecula, who was drafted while he was playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers and awarded the Purple Heart for his bravery. "It took us to hell but it also took us out."

The historic maiden journey from French Valley Airport will arrive in Washington on Memorial Day.

The flying Huey helicopters, dubbed "Flying Thunder: Flight to the Wall," will travel overhead while at ground level other veteran support groups and POW-MIA advocates, "Rolling Thunder" and "Run for the Wall," will travel by motorcycle and vehicle to pay tribute to veterans one stop at a time in cities across America before reaching the wall and the names of the 58, 215 souls who paid the ultimate price.

Organizers call it the ൺ,000-mile, 25-day, 43-city, 16-state helicopter escort."

"It’s such an honor wherever we go to salute the troops," said Joy Jeannete, chaplain and president of the California chapter of Rolling Thunder.

She said the convoy will recognize and honor veterans at every stop, including a powwow at Window Rocks, AZ, and a stop at the ranch home of country singer Loretta Lynn.

"This means a great deal to these veterans and this is very important that they know that there are organizations all over the country that are waiting to say thanks for serving," said organizer Carole Purcell, special projects director for the nonprofit Wings and Rotors Air Museum based at the airport.

Wings and Rotors volunteers resurrect the retired warhorses and take them to air shows, among other projects.

The plan to fly four Vietnam combat aircraft to Washington for the national Memorial Day remembrance is the museum’s most ambitious project to date. It will involve a UH-1B Huey Advertisement

Tenkobushi 2084, UH-1H Huey 619, UH-1B Huey 923 and the Kiowa helicopter.

As of press time, one UH-1B escort was scheduled to take off on May 14, while three others will rendezvous for the remainder of the trip in Arkansas after final clearance from the FAA and other technicalities.

The family of Lt. J.G. Antonio Oliveras Ortiz traveled from Tucson, AZ, to participate in the dedication of a resurrected Huey similar to the one piloted by Ortiz. The pilot was shot down as he co-piloted a Navy HA(L)-3 Sea Wolf helicopter on Dec. 19, 1970, at the age of 26.

Ortiz would have been 64 on May 30, said his younger brother, Leo Ortiz, 58.

Cousins, brothers, a sister and Ortiz’s mother wiped tears as they remembered their loved one. His name was painted alongside the names of his three crewmates on the restored war bird.

"It is a great honor," said Leo Ortiz.

In appreciation, the family donated $1800 to the nonprofit museum.

Typical of the gung-ho resolve of many veterans, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Col. Lewis "Lew" Millett, 87, was transported in a Huey from a meeting point at the Riverside National Cemetery after a drive from his home in Idyllwild along with other family members.

After Millett arrived, the alert octogenarian interjected off-the-cuff exchanges with other veterans with the same zestful spirit that probably served him well in tours during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Millett was awarded the ultimate honor for servicemen for his heroism during the Korean War.

A widow of a veteran and Millett’s girlfriend, Bonnie Gachupin, 65, of Glen Ivy, described Millett as a tough man blessed with good health.

"He interrupted his life and went back [to war] whenever he was needed," she said. "He tried to go back during Desert Storm but they thought he was too old. [He was in his 70s.] He probably could’ve done it but now he can’t."

The nation’s debt to those who paid the ultimate price was remembered as Navy AECS William Rutledge read off a long, somber list of lives cut short in service to their country.

"Your legacy of sacrifice and devotion to this country and duty were not forgotten," he said. "Your loss was not in vain. Your life made a difference to countless others."

"Flying Thunder: Flight to the Wall" will return to French Valley Airport on June 5. To follow the journey, go to www.wingsandrotors.org/blog or www.flyingthunder.org.