Army Lt. Charles Kettles at the controls of an Army L-19 aircraft, 1954.

The Army gets credit for starting the pilot pipeline as early as it did: When the program started, no war was under way, nobody had worked out the cavalry-like tactics, and the gasoline-powered helicopters then in use were barely adequate even for war games. Donations can be made here Life member rates based on age are as follows (also $360.00. (Credit: Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Charles Kettles)A native of Ypsilanti, Michigan, Kettles completed his first tour of duty in Vietnam in November 1967 and served a second prior to his retirement from the U.S. Army in 1978 as a lieutenant colonel. The clouds of napalm and bombs that rained down from American aircraft did little to dislodge the hundreds of North Vietnamese troops deeply embedded inside a warren of tunnels and bunkers. The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) is a non-profit war veterans organization filed under Section 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Service.

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Nearly a half-century after Kettles displayed such valor on the battlefield, the White House announced that the 86-year-old will receive the Medal of Honor, the country’s highest award for valor, from President Barack Obama on July 18.

Information contained herein shall not be used for commercial Mortar rounds damaged the copter’s tail boom and main rotor blade. rotary wing aircrews that flew in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Era.To seek out, using whatever means available, individuals who piloted rotary wing U.S. Army Maj. Charles Kettles, posing in front of a 121st Aviation Company UH-1H, during his second Vietnam tour of duty, 1969.

One of those is the missing man table at the banquet at each

Bullets sprayed the flying machine.

Told that all 44 soldiers had been accounted for, Kettles flew off from the battlefield along with all the Army gunships providing support. Watch. He has already received the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest award for valor, for helping to rescue the 44 soldiers on that day in May 1967 along with the Distinguished Flying Cross and 27 air medals for the more than 600 missions he flew during the Vietnam War.

$5.00 shipping. The 37-year-old flight commander, three months into his first voluntary tour of duty, settled into the cockpit behind the distinctive rounded nose of his chopper and took off from his staging area near Duc Pho. University.

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by Bill Collier.

Kettles, however, refused to leave until all supplies and reinforcements were off-loaded and the wounded taken aboard. Ending Monday at 5:57AM PDT 15h 49m.

“The rest of it is rather immaterial, frankly,” he said.Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you.Vietnam veteran Charles Kettles will be awarded the Medal of Honor next month for his heroic actions as a helicopter pilot nearly 50 years ago.© 2020 A&E Television Networks, LLC.

“It flew like a two-ton truck, but we were able to get up in the air and get everyone to safety,” Kettles told the Detroit News.

VHPA and encourage all eligible individuals to become members. U.S. Army Maj. Charles Kettles (left), standing beside his heavily damaged “Huey” helicopter on return from the May 15, 1967 emergency extraction rescue operation. Even though he had fuel streaming out of his chopper, Kettles managed to coax his limping aircraft back to safety.