134^th Assault Helicopter Company

The Restoration of 238

On the day they brought 238 into the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum hanger, it didn't look like an aircraft so much as a memory-faded, tired, and carrying the weight of every mile it had flown. The paint was sun-bleached, the panels were scarred, and the cabin smelled of dust and long‑settled silence. But to the volunteers who gathered around it that morning, 238 wasn't a relic. It was a promise. The restoration team of three, Ray Helmick, Doc Rosenbloom, and Hans J. Underwood, began with the simplest tasks: sweeping out the cabin, brushing away years of grit, and opening every access panel to see what time had taken and what it had spared. The first real surprise came when one of the volunteers, a former crew chief, tapped the fuselage and grinned. Still solid, he said. She's got life left in her. That became the unofficial motto of the restoration. Over the next months, the hangar echoed with the sounds of revival-rivets being checked, metal being cleaned, and the soft rasp of sandpaper smoothing out old scars. Volunteers worked in teams: one group focused on the cockpit, carefully restoring the instrument faces until they gleamed again; another tackled the exterior, stripping away the worn paint to reveal the aircraft's original lines. Every so often, someone would find a detail that stopped the whole team: a bullet hole, a forgotten maintenance tag, a serial number etched by a long-retired mechanic. Each discovery added another thread to 238's story. The day the new paint went on, the hangar felt almost reverent. Layer by layer, 238 regained its identity, its markings, its colors, its presence. When the final coat dried, the aircraft seemed to stand taller, as if recognizing itself again after years of fading. Dan Porter, son of Bruce Porter, stepped forward to restore the original nose art. With each careful stroke, the aircraft's character returned. And when he finished, someone quietly murmured, There you are. Restoration isn't just about appearance; it's about respect. The team cleaned the cabin seats, restored the flooring, and ensured every visible detail honored the aircraft's service. They added interpretive panels, photographs, and stories from those who had flown or maintained similar aircraft, giving visitors a way to connect with 238 not just as a machine, but as a witness to history. When 238 finally rolled onto display, the morning sun hit its fuselage just right, turning the metal warm and bright. Visitors stopped in their tracks. Children pointed. Veterans stood quietly, some with hands resting on the aircraft's skin as if greeting an old friend. The volunteers watched from a distance, tired but proud. They had taken something nearly forgotten and brought it back into the light, not as a museum piece, but as a living chapter of the 134^th Assault Helicopter Company history. And as the first Open Cockpit Day crowd gathered around 238, the aircraft seemed to settle into its new home, ready to tell its story to anyone willing to listen.