>> Quite a production you've
got here.
>> By all appearances--
>> It's good to see you again.
>> It's good to see you, Ron.
Real good to see you.
>> --this is a reunion--
>> Glad you could make it.
>> Oh, I wouldn't have missed it
for anything.
>> --with people coming from
far and wide to share
old photos--
>> Do you recognize him?
>> --and to swap old stories.
>> You can see they're getting
ready to dump some beer down.
>> He's the FNG.
>> Yeah, he is.
[laughter]
>> That's exactly right.
>> The thing is, many of these
people have never met before,
at least not in person.
On this summer day
in Sheboygan, they're here
because of one man who isn't.
*
>> Tom was our hero.
>> Tom Shaw.
Growing up the oldest of five
in Fond du Lac, Tom was
a roll model to his brothers,
Dave and Kevin.
>> Great sense of humor,
really a kind guy,
everybody loved him.
>> A great leader,
basketball star,
sports star.
Kind of a fearless guy.
>> After high school,
Tom's talents took him to
St. Norbert's College in DePere.
He married, had a son,
and in 1970, he joined the Army.
>> He wanted to fly
when he got into the army
and wanted to fly helicopters
in the worst way.
>> As a pilot with the 129th
Assault Helicopter Company
in Vietnam,
Tom met another pilot,
Jim Crigler.
>> Tom was a fun-loving guy.
He was an all-American kid.
You could sit in a bar
and have a drink with him.
He loved playing cards.
[rotors whirring]
Jim and Tom flew a model of
helicopter called
the Bell UH-1,
known as the Huey.
>> That old bird has gotten
many of us back safely.
And for many of the troops,
for them,
it was a sound of hope.
>> Along with the men at the
controls where crew members
like Bruno Sanchez
and Bernie Hernandez.
>> Bring in some new guys and
reinforce them, take out
the wounded ones.
It was an icon in Vietnam.
>> Even if they were riding
an icon, Jim says
these men always knew
the danger they faced.
He remembers talking about
that danger with Tom one night.
>> I asked him just
out of the blue
if he would do me the honor
if I was killed in action,
of escorting my body back.
And he kinda, it took him back
a minute and he looked at me
and he said after a few seconds
of silence, "On one condition,
and that is if something
happens to me, that you
agree to escort my body back."
And he held a little book he had
up in his hand and he waved it
like a little bible,
and he said, "A solemn oath,
my man."
And a solemn oath it was.
And that conversation
was overheard by
a first lieutenant
across the hall from us
and he stuck his head
in the door.
His name was First Lieutenant
Larry Lackey, and he said,
"You guys cut that out.
We're all going to make it
back fine."
[helicopter rumbles]
[machine gun fires]
>> But Tom wouldn't
make it back.
The very next day,
April 27th, 1972,
Lieutenant Thomas Shaw's
helicopter crashed.
Of the men on board,
only Bruno Sanchez and
Bernie Hernandez survived.
True to his word, Jim Crigler
escorted his friend's body
home to Wisconsin.
Almost forty years later,
members of Tom Shaw's family
got a phone call from
a man named Ron Paye.
>> He introduced himself as
being in Tom's unit
after Tom had been killed.
>> He was with an organization
called American Huey 369,
that had restored a couple
Vietnam era helicopters,
just like the one Tom flew.
They were bringing them
to Green Bay for the
L.Z. Lambeau Vietnam homecoming
in 2010.
>> He sat down with me
and showed me pictures
from the unit, and explained
to me the event, L.Z. Lambeau.
He said he was going to
set up a flight over Tom's grave
right before L.Z. Lambeau,
and from then on,
we've stayed in touch.
I feel like I can reach out
to Tom again through him.
>> This past summer,
the men from American Huey 369
brought their helicopter to
Wisconsin again.
With it, they brought
Bernie Hernandez
and Bruno Sanchez,
the only survivors of
Tom Shaw's last flight.
And they brought Tom's
old roommate, Jim Crigler.
After 42 years, the men
Tom fought alongside
met the family
he left behind.
>> Well, yesterday brought us
really close together.
We went to dinner with them,
told them our stories,
what happened on that
fateful day where Tom died.
But I feel like they
welcomed us to be part of
their family, and that's what
I feel like, part of
their family.
It was a really enjoyable trip.
I'd like to come see them again.
>> And so it was,
on a peaceful summer day,
that Tom Shaw's widow,
his brothers and
his brothers-in-arms
boarded that Huey once again.
>> There ya go.
>> It does bring up difficult
memories, but it's cathartic
in so many ways to be able
to talk to these guys
and touch them and hug them.
It means a lot.
>> What we've learned
with all Vets and
helicopter pilots and
guys that served in this crew,
the bond that they have
is just never-ending.
After 42 years,
it was like we knew them.