According to a supplement to the unit history of the 119th Aviation Company and additional notes from his sister Karen, at 1415 hours, 14 February 1970, While on a resupply mission of Landing Zone (LZ) Challenge for the 4th Infantry Division and its sub-elements, a helicopter with call sign "Gator 586" (Tail number 66-16586) was on a short final to the Alpha element with resupplies when they came under heavy fire. Specialist 4 Aderholt, the door gunner, was hit in the abdomen with a single shot from an enemy AK-47. As the aircraft lifted off the LZ, SP4 Aderholt fell off, landing on his back. Due to the intense ground fire, SP4 Aderholt told the infantrymen to tell the Gator slicks to wait for gunship cover before re-entering the LZ so the men in his unit would not risk their lives for his. Finally evacuated, SP4 Aderholt was taken to Camp Holloway and then to the 67th Evacuation Hospital in Quin Nhon for emergency surgery. He was then transferred to the 106th General Hospital in Japan for recovery. After his release from Active Duty on 30 December 1970, he resided in Birmingham, Alabama. He survived another two years as a fully disabled veteran and succumbed to complications from his gunshot wound. On Memorial Day, May 30, 2011, at the annual ceremony at The Wall, his name was 'officially' added to the Wall when the name Henry Lester Aderholt was read along with the four other names being inscribed that year. He was married on October 29, 1966 and was survived by Judy Woodall Aderholt. Much more information and photos for Henry Lester "Hingie" Aderholt are posted on his Find A Grave memorial page. -- The Virtual Wall, April 11, 2014

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