Vietnam War Helicopter Pilot to Receive Medal of Honor

[Disir]

The White House has announced that 86-year-old Charles Kettles will be awarded the Medal of Honor next month, nearly 50 years after the helicopter pilot demonstrated conspicuous gallantry during a Vietnam War ambush by making four trips into a hot landing zone and helping to save the lives of dozens of soldiers.

Early on the morning of May 15, 1967, a familiar drone returned to the skies over Vietnam. A flock of American UH-1D “Huey” helicopters, including one piloted by Major Charles Kettles, roared overhead on a rescue mission. Earlier that day, the U.S. Army pilots from the 176th Aviation Company had shuttled 80 soldiers from the 101st Airborne to a drop zone in the Song Tra Cau river valley—and as it turned out, right into an ambush.
Vietnam War Helicopter Pilot to Receive Medal of Honor - History in the Headlines

This is pretty cool.

 

[Owsi68]

The White House has announced that 86-year-old Charles Kettles will be awarded the Medal of Honor next month, nearly 50 years after the helicopter pilot demonstrated conspicuous gallantry during a Vietnam War ambush by making four trips into a hot landing zone and helping to save the lives of dozens of soldiers.

Early on the morning of May 15, 1967, a familiar drone returned to the skies over Vietnam. A flock of American UH-1D “Huey” helicopters, including one piloted by Major Charles Kettles, roared overhead on a rescue mission. Earlier that day, the U.S. Army pilots from the 176th Aviation Company had shuttled 80 soldiers from the 101st Airborne to a drop zone in the Song Tra Cau river valley—and as it turned out, right into an ambush.
Vietnam War Helicopter Pilot to Receive Medal of Honor - History in the Headlines

This is pretty cool.

Amazing story about true bravery from a noble and humble hero. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Vigilante]

Having been there NO ONE DESERVES THE MoH than the boys that flew and were part of the crew of those shitcan copters. They didn't have blood running through their veins...they had STEEL!

 

[waltky]

Brazilian-born U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Awarded Medal for Rescue...

Gunnery Sergeant Awarded Medal for Rescue: 'That's What Marines Do'
Jun 27, 2016 | A Brazilian-born U.S. Marine who came to this country as a child was awarded a medal for heroism Thursday for saving troops and civilians from a helicopter that crashed in Afghanistan last year.

"I don't see myself as a hero. I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I happened to be the first person on the scene," said Gunnery Sgt. Geann Pereira, 33, to a gathering at Oakland Park City Hall after a general presented him with Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the ribbon and citation. The place he was talking about was an office where was working at Camp Resolute Support in Kabul -- and the time was the afternoon of Oct. 11. A British Puma helicopter carrying multinational passengers as part of a NATO mission crashed as it came in for a landing. Pereira grabbed some gear, got there first.

Five people on board were killed, including two American airmen, two British troops and a French contractor. But Pereira crawled through the wreckage for hours, at times with fuel sloshing around, to pull people from the aircraft, both dead and alive. "Instincts took over" the Marine told the small gathering, after a formal reading of the medal citation described him as using bolt cutters to cut his way through the wrecked airframe, and tunneling his way inside again and again. At one point, the citation said, he spent nearly an hour with one trapped, wounded passenger, "stabilizing him and trying to free him from the wreckage while the fire department attempted to cut through the skin of the helicopter."

Navy and Marine Corps Medal​

Said Pereira: "I just happened to be the little guy inside the helicopter pulling people out... There were Marines, sailors, airmen, Army, coalition forces out there -- and we all came together with one common cause, just to save peoples lives that day. And everyone did a phenomenal job." None of the survivors were at the ceremony. But Pereira said in an interview later that, after a Marine Times article reported about the decoration, an Air Force officer who was on board friended him on Facebook. Pereira, who lives in Coral Springs, currently serves with a Fort Lauderdale unit that supervises Marines who guard U.S. embassies and consulates in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.

His boss, Lt. Col. Zachary Schmidt, called the medal ceremony -- which brought together Broward police, fellow office mates, family and civilians -- a celebration of a man who, "faced with the sights and sounds of people in trouble, ran to it." His wife, mother, aunt, daughter and 6-month-old son were on hand for the occasion, as honored guests. And in his brief remarks Pereira described the Corps as family, too. "When people are in harm's way, when people are asking for help, we step up to the plate," he said. "That's what Marines do."

Marine Brig. Gen. Kevin Iiams, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces South, presided at the event, which presented Pereira with the blue, gold and red ribbon -- described as the highest noncombat decoration for heroism in the Marine Corps today. Pereira displayed "character" on a "tragic day," the general said, something that most people "pray that we would have the courage to do." The citation honored the gunnery sergeant's "bold leadership, wise judgment and selfless dedication to duty." Afghanistan was Pereira's second overseas tour of duty for the Marine whose assignment is as an administrative specialist. His first was in Iraq in 2008. He came to the United States at age 10 in 1993, grew up on Martha's Vineyard off the Massachusetts coast, and enlisted eight years later.

Gunnery Sergeant Awarded Medal for Rescue: 'That's What Marines Do' | Military.com

See also:

Vietnam War Captain Recalls Trick that Faked Out Enemy
Jun 25, 2016 | Army Capt. Paul "Buddy" Bucha faked out the enemy while leading his troops during the Vietnam War.

The Medal of Honor recipient was hailed as a hero after he made North Vietnamese fighters believe his 187th Infantry Regiment was much bigger than it really was. The combination of bravery and cunning helped him earn the nation's highest military honor, an award bestowed upon him by the president. On March 16, 1968, soon after the Tet Offensive, Bucha's 89-man company took part in a counterattack designed to push the North Vietnamese away from Saigon. A helicopter dropped his team into an enemy stronghold, and for two days they destroyed camps and fortifications. On March 18, after they found a clearing and resupplied, Bucha directed his troops to push into the jungle, where it was getting dark. A soldier spotted a group of Vietnamese water carriers and women, which usually indicated an established enemy location. Bucha gave him permission to fire a few rounds to test what was out there. "The entire mountain returned fire.... I said, 'Oh, my God,'" Bucha recalled.

An entire North Vietnamese Army battalion hit Bucha's unit with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and Claymore mines, pinning down the lead group of 12 Americans. The Viet Cong had a machine gunner at ground level and a fighter with an automatic weapon up in a tree, and "I figured the easiest thing to do was to just blow the tree up," Bucha said. "I just ... started throwing hand grenades," he said. "When the weapons stopped, I looked around and no one was firing at me. There was a calm, and I'm not sure if the calm was in my mind or if it was actual calm." Bucha ordered his troops to withdraw to a more defensible position, and for the next several hours they were in a fierce firefight. He feared his group would be overrun, and a dark thought crept into his mind: "What a hellhole to die in."

Medal of Honor recipient Paul Bucha was hailed as a hero after he made the enemy believe the 187th Infantry Regiment was much bigger than it really was.​

He decided to give every soldier a number, and when he called out a number over the radio, the soldier who'd been assigned that number would throw grenades from his position, giving the illusion of a much bigger force. An Australian pilot came over the radio and offered to drop two 750-pound bombs, and Bucha asked him to level a couple of nearby hills. He did, and the bombs rocked the soldiers. "We bounced ... and when I turned around, my men were all laughing, and I started laughing, and we realized we're not in this alone," he said. "[I thought] we might make it." A U.S. helicopter finally arrived, and Bucha directed the evacuation of the wounded. When the enemy withdrew the next morning, he learned that his team had killed more than 150 North Vietnamese. But 10 Americans in his platoon had also died.

When he learned he would receive the Medal of Honor, Bucha told a sergeant, "I don't deserve it." But the sergeant convinced him he would wear the medal on behalf of his men, and on May 14, 1970, Bucha accepted the award from President Richard Nixon.Still, Bucha said, "Every day of my life, I think back to what I could have done better that night ... to bring those 10 [Americans] home." Today, Bucha makes speeches to military groups, including at his alma mater, West Point. "I try to go somewhere one day a week, 52 times a year, to where troops are.... When I see them and listen to them, I come away grateful ... for the privilege to be among them," he said.

Vietnam War Captain Recalls Trick that Faked Out Enemy | Military.com