A new monument honoring the nearly 5,000 helicopter pilots and crewmembers who lost their lives in Vietnam was recently unveiled at Arlington National Cemetery, more than five decades after U.S. troops began fighting there.

The 32- by 22-inch monument sits in Arlington's Section 35, just south of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It features an engraving of the iconic UH-1 Huey helicopter with an inscription honoring the "memory of the helicopter pilots and crewmembers who gave the full measure of devotion to their nation in the Vietnam War."

It's only fitting for the monument to bear an image of the Huey, retired Army Maj. Gen. Carl McNair Jr., who commanded aviators in Vietnam, said at the April 18 dedication ceremony. Vietnam was known as the “helicopter war,” he added, and the Huey was the one that saw the most action there.

"Over 10,000 [Hueys] were built for that war,” McNair said. “Over 7,000 saw service in theater, flying over 7.5 million flight hours - more combat time than any other aircraft in the history of warfare. Over 3,000 of those aircraft did not return."

Elizabeth Fraser/Arlington National Cemetery

The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association spearheaded the effort to have the monument placed at Arlington. As its members grow older, they wanted to see their fallen comrades honored in their lifetime - especially because Vietnam veterans weren't always treated with respect.

"As we prepare to 'pull pitch' for the last time it is important that our legacy is well established," the association's website states. "This is especially true because of the controversial nature of our war, the Vietnam War. The biased news media and so called peace movement versions of the war are not the same as our reality or what really happened. It is important that each of us provide our piece of history to counter the incorrect version of the Vietnam War."

Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, an infantry officer in the Marine Corps Reserve, introduced the Vietnam Helicopter Crew Monument Act in Congress in 2017 to honor the fallen pilots and crewmembers. Baldwin said honoring those servicemembers who died in Vietnam was well deserved.

"The brave individuals who served as helicopter pilots and crewmembers during the Vietnam War and their families have earned this recognition," she said in a statement after the dedication ceremony. "I'm so proud to see this monument become a reality at long last so we can honor their sacrifice and remember their courage for generations to come."