II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4070 

To designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in 

Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the ‘‘Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles 

Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 25, 2020 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Ms. STABENOW) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the ‘‘Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles Department of Veterans 

Affairs Medical Center’’. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL 

4 CHARLES S. KETTLES DEPARTMENT OF VET5 ERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles was 

8 born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on January 9, 1930. 


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1 (2) Lieutenant Colonel Kettles was drafted to 

2 the Army at age 21, and after attending Officer 

3 Candidate School, earned his commission as an 

4 armor officer in the United States Army Reserve on 

5 February 28, 1953. 

6 (3) Lieutenant Colonel Kettles graduated from 

7 the Army Aviation School in 1953 before serving ac8 tive duty tours in South Korea, Japan, and Thai9 land. 

10 (4) Lieutenant Colonel Kettles volunteered for 

11 active duty in 1963 when the United States was en12 gaged in the Vietnam War. 

13 (5) Some of the awards and decorations earned 

14 by Lieutenant Colonel Kettles include the following: 

15 (A) The Medal of Honor. 

16 (B) The Distinguished Service Cross. 

17 (C) The Legion of Merit. 

18 (D) The Distinguished Flying Cross. 

19 (E) The Bronze Star Medal with one oak 

20 leaf cluster. 

21 (F) The Air Medal with numeral 27. 

22 (G) The Korean Service Medal. 

23 (H) The Vietnam Service Medal with one 

24 silver service star and one bronze service star. 

25 (I) The Master Aviator Badge. 


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1 (6) The Medal of Honor citation for Lieutenant 

2 Colonel Kettles states, ‘‘Major Charles S. Kettles 

3 distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and 

4 intrepidity while serving as Flight Commander, 

5 176th Aviation Company (Airmobile) (Light), 14th 

6 Combat Aviation Battalion, Americal Division near 

7 Duc Pho, Republic of Vietnam. On 15 May 1967, 

8 Major Kettles, upon learning that an airborne infan9 try unit had suffered casualties during an intense 

10 firefight with the enemy, immediately volunteered to 

11 lead a flight of six UH–1D helicopters to carry rein12 forcements to the embattled force and to evacuate 

13 wounded personnel. Enemy small arms, automatic 

14 weapons, and mortar fire raked the landing zone, in15 flicting heavy damage to the helicopters; however, 

16 Major Kettles refused to depart until all helicopters 

17 were loaded to capacity. He then returned to the 

18 battlefield, with full knowledge of the intense enemy 

19 fire awaiting his arrival, to bring more reinforce20 ments, landing in the midst of enemy mortar and 

21 automatic weapons fire that seriously wounded his 

22 gunner and severely damaged his aircraft. Upon de23 parting, Major Kettles was advised by another heli24 copter crew that he had fuel streaming out of his 

25 aircraft. Despite the risk posed by the leaking fuel, 


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1 he nursed the damaged aircraft back to base. Later 

2 that day, the Infantry Battalion Commander re3 quested immediate, emergency extraction of the re4 maining 40 troops, including four members of Major 

5 Kettles’ unit who were stranded when their heli6 copter was destroyed by enemy fire. With only one 

7 flyable UH–1 helicopter remaining, Major Kettles 

8 volunteered to return to the deadly landing zone for 

9 a third time, leading a flight of six evacuation heli10 copters, five of which were from the 161st Aviation 

11 Company. During the extraction, Major Kettles was 

12 informed by the last helicopter that all personnel 

13 were onboard, and departed the landing zone accord14 ingly. Army gunships supporting the evacuation also 

15 departed the area. Once airborne, Major Kettles was 

16 advised that eight troops had been unable to reach 

17 the evacuation helicopters due to the intense enemy 

18 fire. With complete disregard for his own safety, 

19 Major Kettles passed the lead to another helicopter 

20 and returned to the landing zone to rescue the re21 maining troops. Without gunship, artillery, or tac22 tical aircraft support, the enemy concentrated all 

23 firepower on his lone aircraft, which was imme24 diately damaged by a mortar round that shattered 

25 both front windshields and the chin bubble and was 


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1 further raked by small arms and machine gun fire. 

2 Despite the intense enemy fire, Major Kettles main3 tained control of the aircraft and situation, allowing 

4 time for the remaining eight soldiers to board the 

5 aircraft. In spite of the severe damage to his heli6 copter, Major Kettles once more skillfully guided his 

7 heavily damaged aircraft to safety. Without his cou8 rageous actions and superior flying skills, the last 

9 group of soldiers and his crew would never have 

10 made it off the battlefield. Major Kettles’ selfless 

11 acts of repeated valor and determination are in 

12 keeping with the highest traditions of military serv13 ice and reflect great credit upon himself and the 

14 United States Army.’’. 

15 (b) DESIGNATION.—The medical center of the De16 partment of Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 

17 shall after the date of the enactment of this Act be known 

18 and designated as the ‘‘Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Ket19 tles Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center’’ or 

20 the ‘‘Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles VA Medical 

21 Center’’. 

22 (c) REFERENCE.—Any reference in any law, regula23 tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 

24 States to the medical center referred to in subsection (b) 

25 shall be considered to be a reference to the Lieutenant 


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1 Colonel Charles S. Kettles Department of Veterans Affairs 

2 Medical Center. 

Æ 


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