WATERLOO - Two University of Northern Iowa history student interns have helped military history come to life at the Grout Museum District's Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum.

Intern Ben Morrill has researched the history of the Vietnam War-era Bell UH-1 "Huey" helicopter on display at the museum. Intern Graham Henderson compiled a history of Louis G. Balensiefer, a World War I combat veteran from Fairbank.

A video of their research subjects will be used as part of the museum's interactive exhibits. The videos were narrated by the Grout's Bob Neymeyer with production help from media specialist Ryne Ketelsen. The videos demonstrate the museum's in-house production capabilities.

The helicopter, without rotors, is part of the Grout's permanent exhibit. Morrill was able to identify not only its unit, but found Vietnam veterans who actually served at the same base where the helicopter was used.

It was damaged in combat. "We were looking specifically for the dates when it was hit," Morrill said.

It has a Cedar Valley connection. The helicopter was battle-damaged on Jan. 8, 1967, during the opening day of "Operation Cedar Falls," a military operation named for Cedar Falls native and Medal of Honor winner 2nd Lt. Robert Hibbs, the first Black Hawk County resident to die during the war. Hibbs and his 15-man patrol repelled two Viet Cong attacks, killing more than 50 enemy soldiers on March 5, 1966. Hibbs was killed while providing cover fire for a wounded soldier.

Operation Cedar Falls involved clearing enemy forces out of the so-called "Iron Triangle" in South Vietnam. The museum helicopter returned to duty and was damaged again in September 1967.

Morrill directed the video which will be used at the museum.

Henderson's video tells the story of Fairbank's Balensiefer from his own photos and letters home.

Balensiefer lied about his age in order to enlist to fight in World War I, on July 12, 1917. He enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard, in Company B of the 168th Infantry of the 42nd Division, also known as the "Rainbow Division," commanded by Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

Less than a month before the war was to end, on Oct. 14, 1918, he was gassed while leading a patrol in the Argonne Forest looking for water. "I felt like a tank ran over me," he wrote. He was hospitalized on Armistice Day when the war ended. Just 15 of the 64 soldiers from Waterloo he was deployed with were left at war's end. He was not yet 18.

Twenty-two years after the war ended, in 1940, Balensiefer received the Purple Heart for being gassed. He died in 1946 at the age of 45 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery.

Henderson directed the video and served as Balenseifer's voice, reading the soldier's letters.