BIOGRAPHY
 

MARTIN FREDERICK “MARTY” HEUER, Lieutenant Colonel, Corps of Engineers, United States Army (Retired) was born on 16 October 1934 in Ahnapee Township (Algoma) Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.  He was the oldest child of seven born to his parents, Orland Fred and Gertrude Mayme Zimmerman Heuer, who owned a large dairy farm adjacent on the north side of the Algoma city limits.  Marty attended elementary schools in Algoma and graduated from Algoma High School in 1952.

Marty enlisted in the Regular Army in January 1953 at age 18 during the Korean War.  He completed basic, advanced and leadership school at Fort Leonard Wood, MO and was Honor Graduate.  Following a short troop training assignment as a field first sergeant in the grade of acting corporal, he attended Engineer OCS at Fort Belvoir, VA and was commissioned a second lieutenant on 4 May 1954 at age 19.  After a six month assignment as a platoon leader with a combat engineer company at Fort Riley, KS, Marty was re-assigned to the 293rd Engineer Battalion (Construction) in Baumholder, Germany serving as platoon leader, executive officer and battalion adjutant.  He was promoted to first lieutenant on 4 November 1955 at age 21.

Returning to CONUS in 1957, he attended and completed primary (San Marcos, TX), advanced and instrument (Ft. Rucker, AL) fixed wing training with class 58-8 (Gold Hats).  Marty then served as flight commander, administrative and maintenance officer in the 1st Aviation Company at Fort Riley, KS.  He completed the Officers Rotary Wing Qualification Course (ORWQ-class 60-6Q) at Fort Wolters, TX on 3 February 1960.  He was promoted to captain on 1 August 1960 at age 26.  Marty was then assigned to the 937th Engineer Company (Aviation) in the Panama Canal Zone where he flew a variety of both fixed and rotary wing aircraft throughout Central and South America in support of the Inter-American Geodetic Service with a year in the Canal Zone and three years in Lima, Peru.

In January 1965, he returned to CONUS, completed the Engineer Advanced Course at Fort Belvoir, VA, during which he was promoted to major on 6 May 1965 at age 30, and was then assigned to the newly activated 174th AHC at Fort Benning, GA on 10 November 1965.  After four months of organization and unit training, the 174th was transferred as a unit by contract aircraft to Oakland, CA; boarded the USNS Upshur for the voyage to South Vietnam in March 1966; and set up a tent camp next to the 161st AHC at Lane AHP, 12 miles west of Qui Nhon.

While en route on the Upshur, Marty, Earle (Jack) Westlake, who both played guitars, and Orville Wayne (Scat) McNatt formed a singing group they named “The High Priced Help” (THPH) and entertained the troops during the 21 day transit.

At Lane AHP, Marty initially served as maintenance officer of the 174th and OIC of the construction of the 174th permanent camp facilities.  THPH became a quartet when Charles V. (Chinch) Wollerton joined the 174^th in June.  The quartet continued to entertain the troops at Lane, nearby hospitals, base camps and won the 1st Aviation Brigade Commanders Song Contest twice.  Lest someone think the members of the quartet sang their way through their tour, they’d be mistaken.  It was voluntary and restricted to off-duty hours for the most part.  Marty was then assigned to HQS, 14th CAB at Lane on 8 August 1966 as the battalion adjutant.  But THPH continued to perform whenever they could even though each of the members, all majors, held important command or staff positions.  On 27 February 1967, THPH taped the 26 songs they usually sang during performances as a remembrance for posterity.

In March 1967, Marty returned to CONUS; assigned to Fort Wolters, TX where he served as Director, Systems, Curriculum and Special Projects Division.  He was promoted to LTC on 12 June 1968 at age 33.  In 1969, he was re-assigned as the U. S. Army aviation advisor to the Wisconsin Army National Guard at West Bend, Wisconsin.  In May 1970, Marty returned to Vietnam where he served consecutively as CO, 341st Aviation Detachment (DIV) and airfield commander, Cu Chi AAF and adjutant, 165th CAG.  Upon his return to CONUS, Marty was re-assigned as the U.S. Army engineer advisor to the Wisconsin Army National Guard at Eau Claire, advising an engineer group with units spread throughout Wisconsin.

 Marty retired after 20 years service on 28 February 1973 at age 38.  His awards and decorations include:  Legion of Merit with OLC, Bronze Star Medal with 3 OLCs, Air Medal with 3 OLCs, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Spirit Honor Medal, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Award, Vietnam Air Service Medal, Honor Class, and other service medals, badges, certificates of achievement and commendation.

    After retirement, Marty started his second career on 15 April 1973 when he accepted employment with Manpower, Inc., then the World's largest Temporary Help Service, as a manager-in-training in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  In March of 1974 he was transferred to Tampa, Florida as the area manager to establish new corporate offices on the West Coast of Florida.  On 1 July 1976, he became a co-owner of the Manpower Franchise for a 12-county area and on 31 December 1980 purchased his partner’s interest to become the sole owner of the Franchise headquartered in Tampa, serving as President and Chairman of the Board of Aide Services, Inc., doing business as Manpower Temporary Services.  The company established and operated 17 offices from Naples to Tallahassee and inland to Lakeland and Winter Haven until April 2002, when he sold the company to Manpower, Inc.  He was also President and Chairman of the Board of Kari Services, Inc., doing business as PORTACON for the same period.  Marty also served as Chairman of the Board of Digital Control Corporation and was a Director of J. L. Kidd Plumbing, Inc., both of Seminole, Florida.

    Marty is a member and lifetime member of numerous military and business organizations.  He has held leadership positions at local, state or national level of the following: Association of the United States Army, Association of Manpower Franchise Owners, Florida LZ chapter of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, Fort Wolters Federal Credit Union, Florida Chapter of the National Association of Temporary Services, United States Army representative to the Vietnam Veterans Oral History and Folklore Project headquartered at Buffalo State College, New York, and 174^th Assault Helicopter Company Association.  He earned Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees from the University of the State of New York through their external degree program in 1973 and 1975, respectively.

Marty has authored three hard-bound books; two are family genealogies’ entitled PIONEERS OF AHNAPEE (Algoma, Wisconsin) Johann Friedrich Heuer (1808-1872), His Ancestors, Descendants, and Related Families and THE WENZEL PROKASH and JOHN BROKISH FAMILIES IN AMERICA.  The other one is entitled SHARKS, DOLPHINS, ARABS and THE HIGH PRICED HELP “The History of the Formation, Training and Deployment of the 174^th Assault Helicopter Company to the Republic of South Vietnam 1965-1967”  He has been collecting audio tapes of the songs of army aviation in Vietnam and has over 100 hours of music recorded in-country.  He plans to publish a historical record on the subject when the research is completed.  In the meantime, “The High Priced Help” have gotten back together to sing the Vietnam songs at the VHPA reunion in Phoenix; the AAAA conventions in Atlanta and Louisville; the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC, and other venues.  After the deaths of two members of THPH, Marty, along with his brothers and his son, have represented THPH at various venues throughout the U.S.

Marty married Rita M. Prokash on 27 October 1954.  They have three sons, Martin Joseph, Ronald James and Steven Jonathan; six grandchildren, Erica, Daniel, Stephaney, Rhonda, Laura and Emily.  Rita became ill with cancer in 1998, which caused her death in 2004.

Marty lives in Seminole, Florida, and vacations during the summers at his condo in his hometown of Algoma, WI where he plays guitar and sings with his brother, Ron, in the Heuer Brothers five-piece band.