'If not me, then who?': Greensburg helicopter restoration project honors Vietnam War veterans

Stephanie Redovan was walking in Lynch Field Park in Greensburg and she noticed the Army helicopter dedicated to a Vietnam War veteran needed some TLC.

“The thing that kept echoing in my head was, ‘If I don’t do this, who’s going to do it?’ ” said Redovan, 34, of Jeannette.

Redovan is the chapter lead of the Pittsburgh Travis Manion Foundation chapter and an engineer at Bayer, a pharmaceutical company. The foundation is based in Doylestown, and its motto is: “If not me, then who?”

The Travis Manion Foundation was founded in 2007 by Janet Manion, mother of Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion, who died while serving in Iraq. The foundation is supported by about 200,000 volunteers, about 80,000 of whom are military veterans or family members of deceased military members.

Redovan reached out to the city of Greensburg to get their blessing to move forward with the project.

“That’s when I just made the decision to jump and really put that motto to use,” Redovan said.

The Pittsburgh chapter’s foundation members are all based in the Greensburg area, and they participate in operation legacy projects to honor a veteran or fallen hero, she said.

Over five Saturdays, a team from the foundation and Bayer’s Business Resource Group, or BRAVE, is restoring the 1966 Huey army helicopter. BRAVE is a group for veterans and allies at Bayer.

Last weekend was the team’s first weekend on the project, and around eight volunteers started cleaning the helicopter, Redovan. This weekend, she said around 13 volunteers showed up to help sand it.

Next will be painting and then touching up the stenciling, according to Redovan. Sherwin-Williams in Greensburg donated the paint, she said.

She said she’s hoping to plant flowers to add some color and clean up the landscaping as well.

The helicopter has some broken windows, so volunteers like John Komarinski worked to get them pulled out and replaced.

Komarinski, 61, of Greensburg works at Bayer. He grew up coming to Lynch Field Park and used to swim in the kiddie pool there in the ’60s. He’s also been a local NASCAR racer for the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series for 37 years at the Jennerstown Speedway and former Motordrome Speedway in Smithton.

His expertise is coming in handy with the helicopter restoration, as both the helicopter and the race cars have Lexan windows.

“The windows are really dried out and cracked,” Komarinski said.

Nearly 80% of the volunteers are either active duty military personnel or veterans, according to Redovan, and they also have ample trade experience.

“We did get very lucky,” she said. “We have a lot of brainpower between all these guys.”

Ken Scovern is a veteran, and he runs the BRAVE program at Bayer, which is based out of Indianola. He’s a facility maintenance manager for the company, so he brought his HVAC experience to the restoration project.

“We’re trying to restore it back to exactly how it would’ve been,” he said. “It’s pretty cool.”

Scovern, 35, of New Kensington was a special operations communications sergeant from 2013 until 2020 in Germany and North Carolina. He was also a paratrooper.

“(I) jumped out of a lot of helicopters, but not a Huey,” he said, referencing the type of helicopter the team is restoring.

He said he pretty much brought his whole team at Bayer, including electricians and plumbers.

“We have a little bit of every trade to help,” Scovern said. “We just brought the manpower and expertise to help do the physical work.”

Moses Schall was an Apache helicopter electrician for the Army, and he worked a three-year stint mostly in Germany from 2009 to ‘12.

“We got a little tip that this bird here needed a little help,” he said of the Vietnam War helicopter. “There’s no cooler job than working on a helicopter.”

Schall, 36, of Leechburg said it’s been good to see various groups come together for the restoration. He’s going to attend as many Saturdays as he can, as he has five kids back home.

“I think it’s huge because not only is it showing that people still care about veterans … but also that it’s good for the community,” he said. “I just think it’s great when people can get together. Everybody here is from a different background.”

This helicopter is one of BRAVE’s first big volunteer events, according to Scovern.

“It seems like (Vietnam veterans) didn’t really get a lot of praise when they came back,” Scovern said, “so anything (we) can do to keep their memory alive is awesome.”

Redovan said professionals were consulted to make sure the restoration is completed with the correct knowledge and expertise. She also consulted contacts with the National Guard.

The goal is to have the helicopter ready to go by Memorial Day.

“(The) hours are dependent on amount of volunteers and the work,” Redovan said.

She said the team isn’t planning on rededicating the helicopter; they will leave the original dedication sign, which stands in front of the memorial as of now: in memory of Richard “Wilkie” Wilkinson, a Vietnam veteran and retired Greensburg police captain.

There is also a plaque from VFW Post No. 33.

“Nearly 5,000 U.S. military helicopter pilots and crew perished in Vietnam,” it reads. This is a memorial to keep their memories alive.”

The Travis Manion Foundation dedicated the restoration project to honor the life and legacy of Lt. (EOD) Christopher Mosko, USN, who lost his life in Afghanistan in 2012. Pennsylvania was one of the many places he lived.

“By redoing this (helicopter), it’s kind of not only giving back to the community but also giving our honor to those veterans,” Redovan said.

The state that the helicopter is in is a symbol of that, she said.

“It’s astonishing that it’s taking shape,” Redovan said. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams … to have a project this size — not only that, but it’s impressive to see the community come together.”

Before starting to work on the helicopter, almost all of the volunteers were strangers, she said.

“(They) didn’t meet until last weekend,” Redovan said. “I’m really proud that this is able to happen.”