Vietnam-Era Pilot To Receive Medal of Honor

Retired Army Lt. Col. Charles Kettles saved 44 comrades’ lives in 1967, while serving as a Huey helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. Forty nine years later, Kettles will receive the nation’s highest honor for valor displayed in combat. Official records show that Kettles helped ferry reinforcements in and wounded out of a combat zone in Duc Pho, after the troops were ambushed. He was attached to the 176th Aviation Company, 14th Combat Aviation Battalion, Americal Division, at the time. On what would have been the last flight out, Kettles learned that eight soldiers remained on the ground in the combat zone. He returned to the landing zone immediately, braving heavy small-arms and mortar fire that tore the aircraft’s windshield apart. Once on the ground, he picked up the eight soldiers – only to learn that his aircraft now was 600 pounds too heavy. He managed to get the aircraft airborne and flew them to safety. When President Obama presents Kettles with the Medal of Honor in the coming months, it will represent an upgrade. He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. Kettles now lives in Ypsilanti, Mich.