Proud of their service

During a casual dinner early last summer at the Warwick, N.Y., home of Tom Brennan, then-commander of the local American Legion post, Kendall Kless and her partner, Dave Smith, were introduced to a fellow guest Tony Cosimano, a post member who had been a U.S. Army helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War.

Cosimano, a Warwick resident since 1987, recently was installed as commander of the American Legion there.

He flew a “Huey” helicopter gunship during his Vietnam tour in 1964 and 1965.

The conversation turned to Cosimano’s ownership of DECAIR Helicopters, which he operated out of the Ramapo Valley Airport in Spring Valley, N.Y., for 15 years starting in the late 1960s.

Smith, who is an architect, mentioned that his father, Steve, also served in Vietnam in 1967-68 as an Army helicopter pilot and had been shot down and crashed on more than one occasion.

Dave recalled his father talking about flying helicopters briefly after Vietnam, including in and out of Woodstock, N.Y., in August 1969.

Cosimano excitedly said Steve Smith must have been one of his pilots.

At the dinner, Smith and Kless showed an album with photos from the Vietnam War kept by Dave’s father. The photos and conversation spurred more memories, stories and laughter.

The Woodstock mission

One of those stories was about DECAIR flying performers and supplies in and out of the famed Woodstock Music and Art Fair music festival in August 1969.

“My company, DECAIR, had the contract for Woodstock,” Cosimano said. “We were back and forth continually as helicopter flights were the only real way of getting people, medical and other supplies in and out in a timely way - as well as performers and staff to their hotels.

“Steve was one of my pilots. All my pilots were former Vietnam helicopter pilots, and all were outstanding pilots and proud of their service.”

The group also talked about Steve flying cases of champagne to the performers during the event.

“The dinner brought back great memories of Woodstock and working with Steve and the team, including the champagne,” Cosimano said. “Our remarkable chance get-together at Tom Brennan’s home was a joy that comes along very rarely. And it’s a joy that came along with Kendall and Dave becoming part of my life as with Steve.”

The next day, Dave visited his father, who was in a nearby veterans hospital, and told him about the dinner, meeting Cosimano and the talk about the Woodstock flights.

“Dad quickly recalled Cosimano and their work together 50 years ago at DECAIR,” Dave said. “His face lit up. It was a fond memory for him as were the connection with Cosimano, his time with DECAIR and Woodstock.

West Milford roots

After his service in Vietnam, Steve married and moved to Rockland County, N.Y., with his wife, Marilyn.

In 1974, they bought a home on Bearfort Road in the Pinecliff Lake section of West Milford. He lived there until he moved to Warwick about five years ago.

Dave is a 1987 West Milford High School graduate.

After working at DECAIR for more than a year, Steve never flew helicopters again. He did enjoy piloting light planes as a hobby for decades thereafter.

“Dad’s health was poor for many years as a result of his service in Vietnam, of which he had great pride,” said Dave. “In his eyes, he was one of many guys who did their part.

“Dad was proud of his service and was very open, displaying stickers and badges from his tour in Vietnam on cars, windows and other places.

“While he rarely spoke of his time in Vietnam, he and we had the album and some amazing photos - some look exactly like the scenes from the ‘Apocalypse Now’ movie. Those pictures tell part of an incredible story.”

Steve died early last December. He was 77.

50 years later

The fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, marked the end of the Vietnam War.

It was known as the “helicopter war” because every branch of the U.S. military used helicopters in nearly every facet of its operations. The aerial action included troop transport, scouting and surveillance, equipment hauling, search and rescue, and high-caliber air support for ground troops.

In total, nearly 12,000 helicopters saw action in the war and more than 5,000 were destroyed by enemy fire.

The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association estimates that more than 100,000 helicopter pilots and crew members served during the conflict.

More than 4,800 helicopter pilots and crew members were killed in action, and more than 300 are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Helicopters such as the Bell UH-1 “Iroquois” (better known by its nickname, the “Huey”) flew above the jungles and rice paddies of Southeast Asia. Huey helicopters logged more than 10 million flight hours and became a symbol of the war.

“In the early days of the Vietnam War when I served, the only Americans fighting were in helicopters, not on the ground,” Cosimano said. “We flew nearly every day, especially those of us in gunships. The 11th Air Assault unit had been assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia, and was at the forefront of helicopter warfare.

“Thank God, I was young like the other guys flying. I flew many missions, hundreds. We did our duty. Dangerous, yes. It was a way of life during our time in the war.”

He added, “I’m still flying helicopters today as a hobby. For me, a life-changing event.”

Service to veterans

Continuing the family’s commitment to veterans, Kless, the daughter of a World War II veteran, has been involved with the nonprofit organization HERoes in Deed for four years.

She founded a 10-year-long care-package drive for troops overseas called Boxes for Soldiers. HERoes in Deed was inspired by the memory of Army Lt. Col. Jaimie Leonard, a Warwick native and West Point graduate who was killed in Afghanistan on June 8, 2013.

The organization points to her drive to make the world a better place as the force behind its mission.

HERoes in Deed honors active military and veterans through community-driven outreach and engagement at the local level, strengthening bonds between citizens and veterans, creating initiatives to educate and involve community members, and developing a framework for the continuation of Leonard’s vision through community service and action.

Kless’ interest in veterans extends to her eldest son, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Matthew Kless, who serves in the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which seeks to find, identify and bring home fallen American military personnel.

“Their mission - seeking to bring home all of our fallen soldiers from the Vietnam War to as far back as World War II - is so important for the families and loved ones, the military, and our nation,” she said.

Commenting on the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, Dave said, “I’m proud of what dad and all veterans have done. I like to think that dad is flying above us, remembering the stories and his photos, and that he’s watching over us.”