"No compromise. No rationalisation. No Hesitation.
Fly the mission. Now!"

This was the motto of Major Charles Kelly, the commander of the 57th Medical Detachment (Air Ambulance), who is considered by many to be the father of the Dustoff legend. Major Kelly was killed on June 1, 1964 while picking up wounded soldiers from a hot landing zone. The troops on the ground advised him several times to leave because of the intense ground fire. His last words were, “When I have your wounded.” Moments later his helicopter veered over and crashed to the ground. Major Kelly had been shot through the heart. He was the 149th American serviceman to lose his life in Vietnam.

The first Dustoff unit arrived in Vietnam in April 1962. It’s survival was in constant doubt as General Stillwell wanted to take off the Red Crosses, move the unit from the Medical Corp to the Transportation Corp and merge the air-ambulance unit with the general utility helicopt units.

The designation “Dustoff” came about from a call sign the unit devised themselves. It was the dry season at the time and the call sign reflected the dust storms kicked up by the helicopters as they landed to pick up wounded men in the field.

“Dustoff” quickly became the call sign for all the air ambulance units in Vietnam except those of the First Air Cavalry Division which used the “Medevac” call sign.

There were only about 1450 Dustoff pilots during the whole of the Vietnam War. Between them they flew 495,000 missions and saved 900,000 people, an average of more than 620 people saved by each pilot.

They flew unarmed helicopters. No machine guns, no cannons. They often flew with only half a tank of fuel because that allowed them 600 pounds more payload, four more guys they could rescue.

Almost 40 percent of the Dustoff pilots were killed or wounded. Their two man crews of Medic and Crew Chief suffered similar casualty rates. Because of them, and the Doctors and Nurses at the Evac Hospitals, 97.5% of wounded soldiers survived.

The Dustoff legend continues today in Iraq and Afghanistan.