7/27/2019 Featured Employee - Bill Condry

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MAG, INC

Chief Inspector Darrell (Bill) Condry

Featured EmployeeBy Chelsea S. Jordan

Growing up between Oldtown,

Cumberland and Baltimore, MD,

Bill Condry grew up watching his

Father, a mechanical draftsman,

design everything from cargo

ships to rockets. However, it was a

different form of transportationthat captured his attention.

I always wanted to fly saysCondry. It was this motivation that

drove him to enlist in the Army in

1967. While his eyesight

prevented him from being able to

fly, he did the next best thing by

becoming a flight engineer and

door gunner.

After completing basic training

at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Condry

went on to Fort Eustis, Virginia for

aviation maintenance school.

Condry completed his advanced

individual training as a crew chief

with a class of 22, the majority of

which soon set off to Vietnam.

It was where I wanted to go,says Condry, who joined the 335th

Assault Helicopter Company withthree of his fellow classmates.

Condry worked in maintenance

upon arriving in Vietnam, and

volunteered to fill in for door

gunners and crew chiefs when

they needed someone. He was

soon approached by a sergeant,

who informed him he was next on

the list to crew.

He said you wanna start

crewing? and I said yes. He said

well then you better go clean

whats left of Daniels out of his

aircraft, Condry remembers.Daniels was one of the guys whowent with us from AIT class.

From then on, Condry crewed

for the next two years, enduringthe loss of his crew in an accident

and extending his tour from the

usual 12 months into 26 months.

During the last seven months of

his tour, he crewed attack

helicopters.

Amidst the loss and hardships

of war, also came memorable and

rewarding moments for Condry.

He was able to work with the

Vietnamese Montagnards, the

indigenous people of Vietnam,

who he describes as wonderful,

loyal people who were always

willing to stick with them in tough

situations. Though not a medevac

unit, Condry and his crew also

flew medevac missions into areas

no one else would go and rescue

as many wounded as they could.War is a very nasty thing,reflects Condry, who earned an Air

Medal for Valor after exhibiting

heroism during aerial flight.

There are times of sheer terrorand then when it is over, there is

just relief.It was while in Vietnam, that

Condry made a very important

connection back home in

Maryland.

After asking his brothersgirlfriend if she knew anyone who

would want to write to him while

he was in Vietnam, he began

corresponding with a girl from

Cumberland, his future wife

Nancy.During a return home on leave,

Condry called Nancy and asked if

he could come see her. When she

said yes, he informed her he was

at a payphone down the street and

he would be to her house in five

minutes.

I went to her house, but

she wouldnt come downstairs.Her hair was in curlers and she

was in a sweatshirt and blue jeans.

After I got to know her, I learned

that was the worst thing I couldhave done, laughs Condry, Thatwas the first time I ever met her.

Despite the first

impression, the two married

shortly after he returned from

Vietnam and have been married

for 43 years. Following his return

from Vietnam, Condry, who

reenlisted with the Army, was sent

to Korea with the 377th Medevac

Company and became a father to

his first daughter, Nanette.

On returning from Korea,Condry was stationed at Fort

Riley, Kansas with the 335th

Assault Helicopter Company, the

same unit he served with in

Vietnam. He returned to Korea

with the 2nd Combat Aviation

Battalion and then joined the 6th

Air Cavalry in Fort Hood Texas,

where his second daughter Megan

was born. Condry was then sent to

Germany with the 8th Combat

I always wanted to fly says Condry. It was this motivation

that drove him to enlist in the Army in 1967.

7/27/2019 Featured Employee - Bill Condry

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Aviation Battalion. While in

Germany, He and his wife adopted

their 3rd daughter Katie.

Always on the move, Condry

returned to the States and was

stationed in Fort Rucker, Alabama

where he was the Chief

Maintenance Instructor of the

Armys OH-58 MaintenanceSchool. He was also able to attend

night school at Alabama Aviation

College, an education that would

help make him employable

outside of the military. After

completing his schooling, Condry

requested to retire from the Army.

However, he was told that he

would instead be moving to Fort

Hood, Texas, where he would be

training a unit for the Apache

Training Brigade as 1st Sergeant

of B. Company in the 227th

Advance Attack Helicopter

Battalion. After getting the unit

approved as combat ready, he

learned they were heading for

Germany - and he was going with

them.

Along with his wife and

daughters Megan and Katie,

Condry packed up and headed for

Germany. Three days in, he

learned that his unit was

deploying to Saudi Arabia but that

he would be staying back in

Germany to aid in processing

soldiers families and getting them

settled.

It was a tough pill to

swallow, says Condry of watchingthe unit he had trained head off

without him. They told me I hadseen enough of war.

Unfortunately, it was also

during this time that he lost his

mother to cancer.

The hardest thing I have everhad to do so far in this life was kiss

my mother goodbye and walk

away to go to Germany knowing I

would never see her alive again,says Condry. Her death was

especially hard considering the

admiration Condry has for

mothers.

If anyone was to ask me who

I consider a hero, the answer is

mothers, says Condry, whose ownmother had three sons serving in

Vietnam at the same time. Thosewho saw their son's off to war.

Who prayed for their safety, wrote

to them, sent them care packages

from home and were waiting for

them when they came home.

Despite the loss of his mother

and watching his unit go to Saudi

Arabia, Bill and his familys time inGermany was an enjoyable one.

His wife and daughters were able

to take trips around Europe and

the family visited the Alps.

Eventually, the family wanted

to come back to America, where

they settled in Condrys

hometown of Cumberland after his

retirement from a 26 year military

career.

Condry worked a number of

jobs, before finding himself at the

Maryland State Police. He worked

there for 18 years as mechanic,

inspector and as director of

maintenance for a year.

Two months into his job with

the Maryland State Police, they did

a repair on an aircraft that was

later sent back out. After leaving

work for the day, he sat on the

highway as that same aircraft he

had fixed picked up two injured

children.

I guess you could say that

after that, I was hooked, saysCondry.

After 18 years of

completing a 200 mile round trip

commute, Condry was ready for a

change. When he found out there

was an opening for a Chief

Inspector position at MAG Inc.,

Condry jumped at the chance to

work closer to home.

I have enjoyed this

immensely, says Condry ofworking for MAG Inc. I thinkthere are some fantastic people in

this organization and I couldntask for a better group of people to

work with.Condry has been working

hard to get the Hagerstown

branchs building and repairstation certified, hoping to see

MAG Hagerstown up and running

as a flourishing repair station.

The job closer to home has also

provided him with some much

needed relaxing after a lifetime of

travel and change.

It is nice to just hang around

the house, says Condry afterspending many years waking up at

four am. I am enjoying a leisurely

life now.

That leisurely life includes

regular reunions with his

comrades from Vietnam. Every

two years, a group from all over

the country meet to catch up and

reminisce about their times

together. Any old annoyances and

feuds have been long forgotten,

Condry says, and the comradery

always ties them together, making

it as if they have never been apart.

I have some problems with

Vietnam, says Condry, but I amproud of the guys I served with

and the time I spent.Though unsure of what he may

want to do in the future, Condry

says he is enjoying his time at

MAG Inc., and living a simpler life

in Falling Waters, WV, where he

currently resides.

I think MAG will be going

places. Id like to try and help it

along, says Condry, when it istime to go, I will have no regrets.

Note: MAG, Inc. Hagerstown

received its Repair Station

Certificate on August 6, 2013.

I think MAG will be

going places. Id like

to try and help it

along, says Condry.