Earlier this month several of us got together in Branson, MO during Branson's Veterans Day/Week celebration. In a conversation, Tom Payne asked me how the 147th got the unusual call sign of "Hillclimbers." After I told him, he suggested I put it in writing to you.
The 147th Aviation Company went over as a unit in November 1965, and was the first Chinook company in country after the 1st Cav.
We left from Fort Benning, GA, and after our ships were flown to the West Coast and our equipment shipped from the East Coast, we remained at Benning on alert for what seemed like a long period of time. There were a lot of card games, dice games and chess played to pass the time.
We went over to Vietnam together on a troop ship. Other than reading, we just had our games. These games were always very competitive.
I had grown up in the Ozarks of Missouri, where there was generally a "can do" attitude. That attitude was often expressed with the phrase "That is no hill for a climber."
On the trip over, I frequently used that phrase, as did CWO Raleigh Harden, who was from either North or South Carolina. The phrase, got picked up by the rest of the pilots and then became our call sign.
This patch was made in the local economy and it did not turn out exactly as we wanted. The elephant is going up a hill, but it is not very steep. The first ordered patches had the word: "climber" misspelled.
There are three objects on the lower half of the patch. On the left, the circular object is a flower, the center object is a tree, and the object on the right is a cow's skull with horns.
All of those had some meaning at the time, but I have long forgotten what it was; I have a feeling it was not suitable for prime time explanation however. I wonder if there are any of the original Hillclimbers who remember?
L. Thomas Elliston P.O. Box 453 Webb City, MO 64870
First Unit PatchNovember '65 till July/Aug '66 |  |
Second PatchJuly/Aug '66 until April '70. |  |
Unofficial PatchAround 1970.Patch donated by Mr. John Brissette, 1969 and 1970 |  |
Third patchApril '70 until March '72. |  |
First Hawiian patchProbably came into play around 1973,
and in use until at least 1983 |  |
Second Hawiian patchLate '83 to mid 80s. |  |
Currently in useDo not know the date that this one started. |  |