One day, Bill Personius was driving his young grandson to Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) to show him some helicopters.
“Hey Grandpa, I thought we were going to see helicopters,” came a voice from the backseat. “That’s a jet!”
His grandson was referring to Admiral Jim Stockdale’s A-4 Skyhawk, which is displayed at the gate to NASNI. There’s a sign designating the place a Master Helicopter Base, but that’s it.
That will change soon. Personius, president of the Naval Helicopter Association Historical Society and a retired captain for the U.S. Navy, spent his career flying helicopters and commanding their squadrons. Now, he’s working with the USS Midway to bring a helicopter installation to the gate.
The helicopter display honors CDR Clyde E. Lassen, a naval aviator and Medal of Honor recipient for a rescue mission he flew during the Vietnam War.
It was past midnight, and two aviators had fallen in hostile territory in North Vietnam. Lassen flew over a steep, densely forested mountainside, searching for them. As enemy fire roared around him, he used flares to navigate his helicopter between two trees to reach his fallen aviators. But the last of his flares dwindled and, cast in darkness, he hit a tree and began to plummet.
He corrected and tried again – another failure. Now, his fuel supply was tanking, and enemy fire was still whirring past him, his aircraft significantly damaged. He couldn’t regain a flare, so finally, he made a risky choice: He turned on his landing lights, revealing himself to the enemy, and landed. The surviving aviators scrambled inside his aircraft and they took off, dodging fire as they went.
Lassen returned to safety with just enough fuel for five more minutes of flight.
“History is important, and so is learning from it and keeping it alive,” Personius said. “That information is slipping away, and I hold very dearly the fact that these guys had combat time and an experience that not everyone has had – thank goodness – but we have to preserve it and make sure it’s captured someplace for our youngsters to learn from it.”
The memorial helicopter is currently being restored and will be installed in January 2024. Personius first began working toward its installation in 2021, but it took time to receive approval and secure the helicopter.
The project has been entirely donor-funded. Supporters can purchase a brick with their name on it for the installation at the NHAHS website.
Although the aircraft on display isn’t the one Lassen flew for his mission, it is painted in the Lassen Medal of Honor color scheme to commemorate his actions. Its restoration is currently being completed at the USS Midway Restoration Hangar.
Personius himself spent 30 years serving in the Navy, and retired as a captain after a successful career in aviation.
“It’s an honor to wear the cloth of your nation,” Personius said. “It was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done, it led me to some of the scariest things I’ve ever done, but it was also one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.”
Related information from past event:
Lassen Memorial Medal of Honor SH-60F Helicopter Lecture at CHA – June 8
