Hillclimber Patch History

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 (Vietnam) Unit Patch November 1965 till July/Aug 1966.
Second (Vietnam) Patch July/Aug 1966 until April 1970.
Third (Vietnam) Patch April 1970 until March 1972.
(Vietnam) Special 18th CAC Patch April 1972 until the final American withdrawal from Vietnam. This patch was used by the 18th CAC which took operational control of eight Chinooks that the Hillclimbers left in Vietnam when they moved the main company to Hawaii. Although not "officially" the Hillclimbers this 18th CAC unit continued to use the radio call sign "Hillclimbers" until they turned the aircraft over to the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF).
Fourth (Hawiian) Patch Probably came into play around 1973, and in use until at least 1983.
Fifth (Hawiian) Patch Late 1983 to mid 90s.
An internal variation of the Unit Patch during this time.   Late 1983 to mid 90s.
Sixth (Hawiian) Patch (One Version) Mid 90s. to 2004.
Sixth (Hawiian) Patch (Other Version) Mid 90s. to 2004.
Seventh (Iraq) Patch This patch came into use sometime after 2004. It is believed that there is another patch from this period. Any help from someone looking at this site would be appreciated.
Eighth Patch This patch was designed in 2008. It is the current unit patch.
Unofficial Patch Around 1970. Patch donated by Mr. John Brissette, 1969 and 1970

Artwork on patches one thru eight, except "Sixth...Other," done by Phil Asay (Adver-Toons)
"Internal Variation" patch work done by Rodney Brown.
"Special 18th CAC Patch" basic work down by Phil Asay and modified by Rodney Brown.

Contact Webmaster & Submit Links