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Major Charles L. Kelly was
DUSTOFF and DUSTOFF was "Combat Kelly." The two became synonymous in
Vietnam in 1964. As commander of the 57th Medical Detachment
(Helicopter Ambulance), Kelly assumed the call sign "DUSTOFF." His
skill, aplomb, dedication, and daring soon made both famous
throughout the Delta. The silence of many an outpost was broken by
his radio draw, "...this is DUSTOFF. Just checking in to see if
everything is okay." And when there were wounded, in came Kelly
"hell-bent for leather!" On 1 July 1964 Kelly approached a hot area
to pick up wounded only to find the enemy waiting with a withering
barrage of fire. Advised repeatedly to withdraw, he calmly replied
to the ground element's advisor, "When I have your wounded." Moments
later, he was killed by a single bullet. Kelly was dead but his
"DUSTOFF" became the call sign for all aeromedical missions in
Vietnam. "When I have your wounded" became the personal and
collective credo of the gallant DUSTOFF pilots who followed him.
Major Charles L. Kelly was inducted into the DUSTOFF Hall of Fame on
17 February 2001. |
