Former Marine One Goes On Display At Nixon Museum

It's only fitting that the VH-3A Sea King used to ferry four presidents -- and take Richard Nixon on his last ride from the White House, after resigning under the burden of Watergate --will soon be displayed at that former president's museum.

"It was a good piece of equipment. It deserves preservation," said retired Army colonel Gene Boyer, who piloted the Sea King on more than 600 trips to such diverse locations as the Egyptian pyramids, St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, and the Statue of Liberty.

Boyer spent months tracking down the helicopter, according to an Associated Press story, calling in his various military and government contacts in hopes of locating it.

Turns out the Sea King had a rather checkered life after it was resigned from presidential service in 1976: the helicopter spent the next ten years as a Secret Service training tool -- before being wrapped in plastic and placed in a Rhode Island parking lot.

It was in that parking lot a relieved Boyer found the helicopter, after it had sat for nearly twenty years.

"For years, I was afraid that chopper had been scrapped," said Boyer, 77.

After the Nixon museum agreed to display the helicopter, it went into the restoration shop. The copter is currently being restored by a group of volunteers at March Field Air Museum in Riverside, before it is moved to its new home at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda.

"It's hard work but it's fun," said Rudy Lerma, a former Air Force security specialist who heads the restoration crew. "Like building a model airplane - only a lot larger."

For Boyer, the Sea King has particular significance, as it was the background set to one of the most memorable scenes in American history: the televised image of a defiant Richard Nixon, arms outstretched, holding his hands in the air, fingers splayed in the 'v' for victory.

"This may be the most photographed helicopter in history," said Boyer.

FMI: www.nixonfoundation.org