5 PEOPLE OF INTEREST
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P
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BY GREG GARDNER
PHOTO BY GREG GARDNER
Only one man in American history has ever risen up
126
from the coal mines of Appalachia to land helicopters
on the South awn of the White House for four
.S. presidents.
When Bill Shaw oined the Army all he wanted to do was
drive tanks. After combat in orea, Sgt. First $lass Shaw spent
two years as a %0mm gunner before heading to Alabama for
training as a helicopter pilot.
Two years later, he was part of the helicopter team responsible
for shuttling (resident )wight ). *isenhower. “I liked him.
We were flying him and .former Soviet nion (remier /ikita0
hrushchev around Washington and hrushchev kept asking
how long it took to build each monument. He would then tell
*isenhower Russians could do it in half the time. Finally,
*isenhower looked at him and said, ‘That one we ust
started yesterday.’ ’’
Shaw fondly recalls flying *isenhower around (uerto Rico
and then being able to island hop to get the helicopter back to
Florida. Other memories of that era are seeing former British
(rime 5inister Winston $hurchill and flying the president to
the 5asters golf tournament in 6eorgia.
After a year of flying (resident 7ohn F. ennedy, Shaw went
to Vietnam for the 9rst of two tours. He flew, was shot at, but
never wounded. “I always thought the (urple Heart was the
most beautiful medal, but I was glad I never got one. I lost a
lot of pilot friends over there.’’
Shaw said he enoyed the ennedy family and their various
dogs. He also was one of the last pilots to fly ennedy. “I flew
him around 5aine, Wisconsin and South )akota. I flew him
the day before the assassination. I remember hearing the news
at a gas station in Virginia.’’
Shaw is :uick to proudly display a photo of the 9rst family
autographed and given him by 7ackie ennedy after her
husband’s death.
)uring his years of flying (resident yndon 7ohnson, Shaw
would return for his second tour flying the skies over
Vietnam. He would retire as a maor and master Army aviator
with ;< air medals and 1,;0< hours of combat missions.
“7ohnson was tough to work for. He
was dif9cult to work for and he
acknowledged that at a barbecue he
held for the pilots and their families. I
tell people believe everything you read
about 7ohnson,” Shaw said. “He would
make us sit in the helicopter in the
.Te?as0 sun. You could relieve yourself,
but the Secret Service stayed inside with
the air conditioning. He would pull up
ust to see if we were ready and then
drive back to the ranch.”
The biggest decision in Shaw’s 15
years of flying presidents was in
6ermany when he was supposed to fly
(resident Richard /i?on with
$hancellor Willy Brandt around
6ermany. The weather was bad and
when he asked his 6erman counterpart
if they could fly the mission, he said, “I
think we can do it.’’
)issatis9ed with the tentativeness of
the answer, Shaw went to his commandB
er and told him they would have to
drive. “‘I think’ won’t do when you
have the American president and 6erman
chancellor aboard the same helicopter.”
He also pushed for use of twin engine helicopters so the
president could be flown at night. “At night, if you have an
emergency what looks like an open 9eld could end up being
the roof of a building,” Shaw said.
“There was a side of /i?on that people never saw. They
always thought he was remote and withdrawn. Once he
opened up the helicopter on $atalina Island and let ;00
people walk through it. He was always very pleasant.’’
And if his Army career wasn’t enough, Shaw went on to fly
corporate ets for ;C years after his retirement. Today, you can
sometimes 9nd Bill Shaw at VFW (ost D1%D, sipping a beer,
taking care of commander’s business or :uietly telling a story
with the smile of someone who had a frontBrow seat
to history.