The primary definition of a hero in warfare is someone who shows great courage.  The men that flew the mission known as Dustoff during the Vietnam conflict did just that. Between 1963 and 1973 Dustoff crews flew 496,573 missions evacuating over 900,000 casualties, of all nationalities.  The Dustoff mission was very simple on paper: fly an unarmed Bell UH-1 series helicopter into harm's way to extract wounded personnel from the battlefield, render critical aid while in transit, and drop the casualties at a critical care unit miles away.  This website is dedicated to obtaining official recognition for those brave men that selflessly risked life and limb in order to save the lives of their brothers in the field.

The Problem: Army regulations determining eligibility for the Combat Medic Badge (CMB) were written in 1945 and required service with or in support of an infantry unit under fire for at least thirty days.  This was long before the advent of helicopters to evacuate the wounded from the battlefield.  The air medics who flew Dustoff were exposed to the hazards of combat nearly every day of their service in Vietnam.  While the Army has steadfastly refused to revise the regulation to include these courageous medics on the grounds it might diminish the stature of the Combat Medic Badge, there have been numerous revisions over the years.

The Mission: To help correct this injustice please contact your US Senator.  Ask him/her to support and co-sponsor senate bill SB1487 sponsored by Arlen Specter (R-PA), which would award either the CMB or a new Combat Aeromedics Badge to the men that performed so valiantly,

 BECAUSE THEY EARNED IT.

Thank you for visiting the site, please visit the other pages to learn more about the “Dustoffers”.  

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