Veterans Voices: North Dakota mechanic who kept spy planes flying in Vietnam

BISMARCK, ND (KXNET) — Drafted at age 20 in 1969, North Dakota native Alois Weigel spent 18 months in Vietnam keeping OV-1 Mohawk spy planes in the air.

Before the draft, Weigel was a mechanic. That skill set him apart in the Army. During training, instructors screened his class and selected a handful of soldiers for advanced aircraft work.

“They picked me out — well, they picked the group out — about five or six people out of the rest of that screening and then to go to the next advanced one further,” Weigel said.

He was assigned to maintain Mohawks, twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft that flew intelligence missions over enemy territory. One aircraft kept failing tests even after crews replaced its engines twice. Warning lights kept flashing.

“I listened under the wing and told them,