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       Named by a previous crew chief, the Honey Bucket was the first helicopter that I was crew chief on after my transfer to the 121st Assault Helicopter Company. At that time, it had a dashboard glare shield that had been shot up, and repaired by our plastic shop. Mr. Dowler was very insistent that this be replaced. I never asked whether he had been at the controls when it was shot up, or if this was just an all too vivid reminder that the job was dangerous. My first effort was to request one from the supply system. No luck there! On our next trip to Vinh Long, I went to their maintenance hangar, borrowed some tools, and took one off of a D model in their bone yard. My only mistake was going to lunch afterward, giving them time to realize that they had been robbed and reclaim their glare shield. I was finally successful in locating a new shield for a B model, which fit with very little adaptation. In the photograph, you will notice that Mr. Dowler is flying as aircraft commander from the right seat. Shortly after this picture was taken, our SOP changed, and the aircraft commander flew from the left seat. This changed again in November or December of '67, and the aircraft commander flew from the right seat again. In the 121st, tradition had it that the crew chief selected the nose art for the helicopter. This tradition was sometimes modified to reflect a collaboration between the aircraft commander and the crew chief. Only once did an officer pull rank to get the nose art changed on one of our helicopters, and he was universally held in contempt for it.