More detail on this person: Larry Asa Tweedie I only learned of Larry's death just recently (April, 2013) and then, only by one of those strange "coincidences" that you know have to be engineered by God's Providence. In this case, I was doing research regarding another Vietnam Vet on a website of the 128th Assault Helicopter Co. and went to a section containing Tributes to members who had passed away and, glancing down the list of names, my eyes fell on Larry's. At first I wasn't sure it was the same Larry Tweedie I had known. However, entering his Tribute page which displayed a couple of photos, including the last one known to be taken of him, it was obvioiusly the same guy. As I read through his Tribute, I was shocked to discover that he had died in 1999 in England, following heart bypass surgery. It was evidently a fairly basic procedure from which he expected to fully recover in a matter of weeks and come out stronger for it. However, he suffered complications immediately after surgery and died three weeks later, having never left hospital. The Tribute also mentioned that only one friend was with him when he died, that she belonged to a Y2K group over which Larry presided and that she had shared his last experiences through email with his many friends at the Heli Vets organization. It also mentioned that Larry was survived by his daughter Bridget and son Ross. No location of interment is given, leading one to believe he was cremated. PMK (see continuation below regarding my relationship with Larry) Other Comments: My friendship with Larry was obviously not a close one. Even though we were both Army Warrant Officer helicopter piots who both served in Vietnam in 1969 in the very same area, we never met until both of us had left the Army. The year was 1972. I had only been married to my wife Ruth a few months and decided to take a job flying as a helicopter instructor, employed by Bristow Helicopters of England on a contract to train pilots in Iran as part of the Shah's effort to build his military. I first met Larry on arrival in England for instructor training, as he had signed up for the same deal, along with several other former U.S. Army pilots recruited in the States. Two months later, we all arrived in Tehran and had only a couple of weeks to find housing on the local economy before our wives arrived. Well, neither Larry nor I could find anything we felt was suitable on what little housing allowance Bristow provided. So, we got the bright idea to pool our funds and rent a huge house (mansion really), big enough for me and Ruth, plus Larrry and his wife Jennifer. We thought this was great.....it even had a pool. Well, the only problem was that our wives didn't yet know about this arrangement and had still never met. At least, not until they just happened to catch the same flight from New York to Tehran. And, wouldn't you know it, they didn't really hit it off very well during the flight. So, on their arrival and discovery that they were supposed to live together, both were furious and made us cancel the lease. Therefore, for the next few weeks, while looking for suitable apartments, we all stayed in Tehran's Commodore Hotel, eating lowsy food and playing double-deck Pinochle most of the time. But, that shared experience served to forge a friendship among the four of us. Eventually, each couple found decent places of our own to rent. And, during the next few years we were there, at evry opportunity, we continued playing Pinochle together (by Larry's rules, of course) to the point of becoming good freinds. We even named our daughter, Who was born in Tehran, after Jennifer. However, after leaving Iran, we pretty much went our separate ways......Ruth and I to our home in Colorado, and Jennifer living in New Hampshire while Larry took a job flying in the Persian Gulf. I believe, the last we heard, the two of them were either separated or divorced. Mike Kemp
This information was last updated 09/21/2020
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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