Vietnam A-Company 227th First Cav Division Celebrate Reunion

Their call sign was Chickenman. When company artist, Mike Scovel, designed the company patch for the A-Co. 227th First Cav Division in Vietnam over 40 years ago, he had no idea it would be the beginning of a life long career. On November 7th, Scovel and many of his long lost brothers in arms will gather in Branson, Missouri, for the first time since the Vietnam war for a long overdue reunion.

Branson, MO (PRWEB) November 5, 2009 -- The bond that forms between soldiers is unique and substantial; they become brothers in arms, standing strong and banding together to get the job done and go home safe and sound. Some do - some don't. This weekend, one of those bands of brothers, the 227th of the First Cav Division, will see each other for the first time since they served together in Vietnam some forty years ago, when they gather for their first ever reunion in Branson, Missouri.

Their call sign was Chickenman and the image of a fighting chicken graced their company patch and the nose of their helicopters. Like so many other young men in the late 60’s and early 70’s - boys really - they left their homeland to fight a war in a country where the vast majority of the people didn’t want them there. They returned sporadically to their home states where they were met with disdain and disgust as they tried to move back into their lives. Again, some were successful and others were not. Most tried to put that part of their lives behind them and soon lost contact with their army buddies.

One of the men that will gather with the A-227th in Branson this weekend is Mike Scovel. Mike was the company "artist" while he was in Vietnam and designed the Company's Chickenman patch. He also spent a lot of time drawing caricatures of his buddies and the standard assortment of political cartoons to adorn their living quarters.

In the forty years since returning to the states, Scovel has developed a successful career as an artist with hundreds of images on greeting cards, mugs and other gift products and has created several public monuments including the Pool of Tears Veteran’s Memorial in Temple, Texas, and a life size memorial to Vietnam Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Msg. Roy Benavidez in Cuero, Texas. Of his work on Veteran projects, Scovel says "Often, actually very often, during the sculpting process, I realized I had tears on my face. I knew it would be an emotional project when I got the commission and I was concerned about that part. The surprise for me was that in the end, it felt very healing.”

In early 2009, a message from an old Army buddy popped up on Scovel’s email about the reunion for the A-Co. 227th. The sender was Joseph Leonard from Las Vegas. Joe-Joe, as he was known in Vietnam, and Mike were best friends but had lost contact with each other over 35 years ago. Over the next few months, the two made dozens of phone calls looking for other brothers from the 227th.

Another 227th alumni, Howard Burbank, the driving force behind organizing the reunion encouraged everyone to send their Vietnam photos so he could post them online.    Photos of young men with no names were posted and many were eventually identified. One by one by one, the A-Company 227th started re-connecting with each other.

Scovel created a couple of new Chickenman images for the group – a poster announcing their return and a humorous chicken with glasses and a cane, an indication of what the guys might expect see this weekend. Spirits are high as the weekend reunion approaches – a good indication that despite the years that have passed, the bond between these men appears to be as strong as ever.

###