It was a dire situation. Enemy fighters were closing in, and the soldiers would nearly certainly be taken prisoner or killed in the next few minutes.
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“I was terribly disappointed when the colonel said, ‘I’ll go back in.’ I thought he had lost his mind”, says then-Specialist John Osborne, the crew chief at the time.
“He broke off from formation, took a steep sharp descending turn back toward the valley, without aerial or artillery support, and rescued the stranded soldiers”, the president said.
President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to a MI native on Monday for his distinguished service during the Vietnam War.
“You couldn’t make this up”, Obama said Monday. “This is like a bad “Rambo” movie”.
As soon as he landed, a mortar round shattered his windshield. Yet, Obama said, those eight soldiers sprinted to the Huey through the firestorm.
“His life is as American as they come”, Obama said.
Lt. Gen. L. J. Lincoln awards the Distinguished Service Cross to U.S. Army Maj. John Dingell, who wrote the Army asking it to consider Kettles for the Medal of Honor. Fuel was pouring out as he flew away. A soldier went flying from the chopper but somehow was able to cling to a skid as Kettles navigated the destroyed helicopter out of the battlefield.
Afterward, Kettles spoke briefly to the news media outside the West Wing, pointing out 74 helicopter pilots took part and that “the only thing that matters” is the rescue of the 44 soldiers and crew members.
Upon returning from Vietnam, Kettles was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross – the second highest award – but his family and several members of Congress had since pushed for an upgrade. But the retired lieutenant colonel’s case for the highest military award was jump-started by William Vollano, a Rotary Club volunteer who interviewed Kettles for a project that recorded the oral histories of veterans.
An Army statement said Kettles exhibited “complete disregard for his own safety” during the mission.
The award was the result of a campaign begun by his family and supporters in 2012 and the Congressional legislation sponsored by MI federal lawmakers that made it possible after it was passed as part of the omnibus spending bill in December.
He earned his commission as an armor officer in 1953 and graduated from the Army Aviation School, before serving active duty tours in Korea, Japan and Thailand. He retired from the military in 1978 and returned home to MI.
“Of course, Chuck says this attention is ‘a lot of hubbub, but I’ll survive.’ ” Obama joked describing the “hubbub” as “richly and roundly” deserved. (Photo courtesy of Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Charles Kettles) U.S. Army Lt. Charles Kettles at the controls of an Army L-19 aircraft, 1954.
Obama said the story that led to the Medal of Honor was quintessentially American because Kettles showed the importance of looking out for others and how nobody should be left behind. It demonstrates the belief, Obama said, that nobody should be left behind. “This is a country that’s never finished in its mission to improve, to do better, to learn from our history, to work to form a more ideal union”.
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“Let’s face it, we’ve had a couple of tough weeks”, he later continued, “We can all look out for each other”.
