In 1953, the US Army issued a requirement for a general purpose helicopter that would be relatively simple to operate and maintain. Bell responded with its Model 204, which used a turboshaft powerplant rather than a piston engine, making it faster and more efficient. The Army liked the design and ordered it into production as the HU-1A in 1960, though this was quickly superseded by the HU-1B, with an extended fuselage that allowed for seven troops to be carried. The HU-1A designation was often read as "Huey," and the name stuck far more than its official one, even after the official designation switched to UH-1 after 1962.
The Huey would first see combat in Vietnam, and it became the symbol of that war: just the sound of the UH-1, which is distinctive, echoes that war. The UH-1 was central to the US Army's airmobile concept, which involved moving troops rapidly from point to point in Vietnam, in an attempt to catch North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. It was somewhat successful, in that American forces could concentrate quickly, move fast, and avoid ambushes along the way. The Huey was vulnerable as it approached the landing zone, and hundreds were shot down: the most dangerous job in the Vietnam War was arguably that of a Huey crewman. Weapons limited only by the crews' imagination were soon added to UH-1s. Vietnam-era slang reflected the Huey's job: a "slick" was a troop-carrying UH-1 with only door guns, while a "hog" was a gunship carrying rockets and heavier guns. Though vulnerable to ground fire and loud, the Huey turned in a superlative performance in Vietnam.
Over 16,000 UH-1s would be produced, and many are still in service, having seen action in every war since Vietnam, worldwide. It is only rivaled by the Russian Mi-8/17 Hip in use.
Though there is no question that this is 72-21508, there is some question what, exactly, kind of Huey it is. The Pueblo Weisbrod Museum lists it as a UH-1D, but it was built as a UH-1H; further complicating the issue is that it is listed as being delivered to the USAF in 1972, which would make it either a HH-1H search and rescue helicopter or a TH-1H training helicopter! Nothing further has been found for this helicopter, so I'm not sure what unit it was assigned to. As a USAF version delivered in 1972, it is unlikely to have seen service in Vietnam.
At some point in the 1990s, 72-21508 was donated to the Pueblo Weisbrod Museum, where it was reconfigured as a UH-1D medevac during Vietnam. As such, it is painted overall olive drab with subdued markings, aside from the Red Cross ones to mark it as a medevac. These markings were rarely observed by the VC or the North Vietnamese.
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