Hot Springs native, Lt. Col. Hugh L. Mills, will speak at Garland County Library.
The Garland County Historical Society (in association with the Garland County Library) will host one of the most decorated pilots of the Viet Nam War, Lt. Col. Hugh Mills, presenting “The Air Cavalry in Viet Nam” at 11 AM, Saturday, May 23, at the Garland County Library. People can attend in person or view the program virtually on Facebook: Garland County Library or youtube.com/garlandcolibrary.
Hot Springs native Mills will reflect on his experiences during three tours of duty in Viet Nam flying Air Cavalry scouts and gunships. His experiences led him to write a memoir—Low Level Hell: A Scout Pilot in the Big Red One. Shot down sixteen times and wounded three times, Mills earned numerous decorations for valor, including three Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, and three Bronze Stars, one for valor in ground combat.
Among his accomplishments were developing a pilot technique to correct the OH-6 Cayuse “Hughes Tail Spin,” which had killed numerous aviators; leading air cavalry raids into Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam; commanding the Army’s first night-attack helicopter unit with crude night vision systems; and being the first Army pilot to test the XM-8 40mm grenade launcher in combat.
After his retirement from the Army in 1993, Mills served as Kansas City Police Department commander and Undersheriff of Jackson County, Missouri. The son of the late Dr. Hugh L. Mills (Hot Springs Superintendent of Schools from 1959 to 1967), Mills was president of the Hot Springs High School class of 1966.
