For saving the lives of 40 soldiers and four of members of his own unit during a Vietnam War ambush, Lt. Col. Charles Kettles will be awarded the Medal of Honor on July 18.
Kettles, a UH-1 helicopter commander, volunteered to lead a platoon to bring reinforcements to a brigade cornered by Vietnamese forces near Duc Pho during the early hours of May 15, 1967. After making several trips to the landing zone in his “Huey” while taking fire to evacuate wounded U.S. soldiers, he returned later that day to rescue 40 soldiers and four of his crew who were stranded after their helicopter was destroyed in an enemy attack.
But once airborne, Kettles found out that eight soldiers had been unable to reach the evacuation helicopters due to Vietnamese fire and returned to assist them, despite damage to his helicopter’s tail boom, main rotor blade and windshields.
An Army statement said Kettles exhibited “complete disregard for his own safety” during the mission. “Without his courageous actions and superior flying skills, the last group of soldiers and his crew would never have made it off the battlefield.”
Kettles, 37 at the time of the encounter, hails from Michigan and previously served in Korea, Japan and Thailand, according to a White House statement Tuesday announcing he would be honored in July. He served as a flight commander in the 176th Aviation Company, 14th Combat Aviation Battalion.
Kettles went on to develop an aviation management program at Eastern Michigan University’s College of Technology and work for Chrysler Pentastar upon his return to the U.S. Now 86, Kettles still lives in his hometown of Ypsilanti, Michigan, with his wife Ann.
The Medal of Honor is awarded for “great personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved risk of life,” the White House statement said.
