Presentation Date: November 18, 2018
Lew Jennings, Major, US Army (Retired)
Lew was born in San Diego to parents Wilson and Ruth Jennings in 1946. His father was active duty Coast Guard. He and his younger sister Gail grew up in Hawaii and Santa Cruz. After his father retired from the Coast Guard, they moved to Cupertino where Lew graduated from high school there in 1964.
While attending Cabrillo Community College in Aptos, CA and working full time at Sylvania Corporation in Santa Cruz, Lew received his draft notice. Already a Private Pilot, he volunteered for the Army’s Warrant Officer Flight Training Program and entered active duty at Oakland on 21 August 1967. After basic combat training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, Lew attended helicopter flight training at Fort Wolters, Texas and Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. Graduating at the top of his class, he completed Cobra Attack Helicopter Qualification and received orders for Vietnam.
Lew arrived in Vietnam in February 1969 assigned to the 7/1st Air Cavalry Squadron at Vinh Long. He qualified for Aircraft Commander in two months and was then assigned to the 2/17th Air Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division at Hue-Phu Bai where he flew a total of 726 helicopter gunship combat missions in the A Shau Valley, Hamburger Hill, LZ Airborne, and other infamous battles.
His more than 50 military awards and decorations include three Distinguished Flying Crosses for Valor and 36 Air Medals.
Lew went on to serve 20 years active duty, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle University, and retired as a Major in 1987. After his military retirement, he became an airline pilot, business executive, and award-winning author. He recently published his highly acclaimed memoir “19 Minutes to Live – Helicopter Combat in Vietnam”.
In 2005 he volunteered to fly humanitarian relief missions full time for three months in the aftermath of the Katrina/Rita Hurricane disasters in Louisiana and Texas. In 2008 he came out of retirement again to serve in Iraq where he flew nearly 800 secret Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Logistics missions.
An active pilot, Lew holds an ATP rating for airplanes plus Commercial and Instrument ratings for helicopters. He has restored 29 civilian single-engine production airplanes and recently completed building a composite Glasair II FT.
Lew’s affiliations include:
-- Life Member of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
-- Distinguished Flying Cross Society
-- Disabled American Veterans
-- Experimental Aircraft Association
-- Active Member of the Old Bold Pilots and Quiet Birdmen
Lew and his wife Anneke reside in Aptos.