MANSFIELD, PA (WENY) -- A Vietnam Veteran from the Northern Tier was laid to rest on Monday, March 3rd. A police escort funeral procession led U.S. Army vet Frank Yungwirth from Mansfield to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

"It's a final goodbye and that's what I said to him. I said, 'Goodbye Frank, you're at peace now. You're a wonderful guy..." said Wendy O'Brien, a family friend of Yungwirth and his wife, Susan.

Yungwirth was an Army helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War. He was shot down seven times and walked away from six of them, but had to be carried out on the seventh. After his time in the service, he went on to be a teacher at Wellsboro High School for many years. He was also deeply involved in veteran events.

Vietnam veteran Dale McKay was among the fellow vets who came to say goodbye.

"I [saw] he had a Vietnam Veterans cap and I had mine, so we started talking and found out that he was a helicopter pilot. Right off the bat, that struck a note with me because I have a lot of respect to those guys who flew them choppers. They would fly in and out of hot LZs (Landing Zones) to us infantry guys [and] they were like angels coming out of the sky," said McKay.

Yungwirth passed away on November 9th, 2024. He was 79 years old.

Before being laid to rest, Frank was given a final farewell. Friends, family, and other veterans came out to pay their respects.

"I knew Frank and [he] was a guest speaker at one of our veteran's programs... He was shot down twice in one day as a helicopter pilot. It takes a lot of guts. He's a true military hero..." said Bruce Dart, the Commander of the Mansfield American Legion.

In a 2024 interview with Yungwirth, he looked back fondly at his time in the service.

"It was hard, but we knew it. That was the job. Helicopter pilots had [a] 140% purple heart rate. Some guys got back without one, some guys got back four or five... Somebody said to me once ‘Do you regret anything that you’ve done?’ I said no, not even to this day. It's been a hell of an adventure," said Yungwirth.

Yungwirth is buried alongside roughly 400,000 veterans at Arlington National Cemetery.

To watch Yungwirth's 2024 Vietnam Reflections, please see the video below.