S. 2825 

One Hundred Eighteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty four 

An Act 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the United States Army Dustoff crews 

of the Vietnam War, collectively, in recognition of their extraordinary heroism 

and life-saving actions in Vietnam. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam 

War Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

The Congress finds that— 

(1) a United States Army Dustoff crewman, including a 

pilot, crew chief, and medic, is a helicopter crew member who 

served honorably during the Vietnam War aboard helicopter 

air ambulances, which were both nondivision and division 

assets under the radio call signs ‘‘Dustoff’’ and ‘‘Medevac’’; 

(2) Dustoff crews performed aeromedical evacuation for 

United States, Vietnamese, and allied forces in Southeast Asia 

from May 1962 through March 1973; 

(3) nearing the end of World War II, the United States 

Army began using helicopters for medical evacuation and years 

later, during the Korean War, these helicopter air ambulances 

were responsible for transporting 17,700 United States casualties; 

(4) during the Vietnam War, with the use of helicopter 

air ambulances, United States Army Dustoff crews pioneered 

the concept of dedicated and rapid medical evacuation and 

transported almost 900,000 United States, South Vietnamese, 

and other allied sick and wounded, as well as wounded enemy 

forces; 

(5) helicopters proved to be a revolutionary tool to assist 

those injured on the battlefield; 

(6) highly skilled and intrepid, Dustoff crews were able 

to operate the helicopters and land them on almost any terrain 

in nearly any weather to pick up wounded, after which the 

Dustoff crews could provide care to these patients while transporting them to ready medical facilities; 

(7) the vital work of the Dustoff crews required consistent 

combat exposure and often proved to be the difference between 

life and death for wounded personnel; 

(8) the revolutionary concept of a dedicated combat lifesaving system was cultivated and refined by United States 
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Army Dustoff crews during 11 years of intense conflict in and 

above the jungles of Southeast Asia; 

(9) innovative and resourceful Dustoff crews in Vietnam 

were responsible for taking the new concept of helicopter medical evacuation, born just a few years earlier, and revolutionizing it to meet and surpass the previously unattainable goal 

of delivering a battlefield casualty to an operating table within 

the vaunted ‘‘golden hour’’; 

(10) some Dustoff units in Vietnam operated so efficiently 

that they were able to deliver a patient to a waiting medical 

facility on an average of 50 minutes from the receipt of the 

mission, which saved the lives of countless personnel in 

Vietnam, and this legacy continues for modern-day Dustoff 

crews; 

(11) the inherent danger of being a member of a Dustoff 

crew in Vietnam meant that there was a 1 in 3 chance of 

being wounded or killed; 

(12) many battles during the Vietnam War raged at night, 

and members of the Dustoff crews often found themselves 

searching for a landing zone in complete darkness, in bad 

weather, over mountainous terrain, and all while being the 

target of intense enemy fire as they attempted to rescue the 

wounded, which caused Dustoff crews to suffer a rate of aircraft 

loss that was more than 3 times that of all other types of 

combat helicopter missions in Vietnam; 

(13) the 54th Medical Detachment typified the constant 

heroism displayed by Dustoff crews in Vietnam, over the span 

of a 10-month tour, with only 3 flyable helicopters and 40 

soldiers in the unit, evacuating 21,435 patients in 8,644 missions while being airborne for 4,832 hours; 

(14) collectively, the members of the 54th Medical Detachment earned 78 awards for valor, including 1 Medal of Honor, 

1 Distinguished Service Cross, 14 Silver Star Medals, 26 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 2 Bronze Star Medals for valor, 4 

Air Medals for valor, 4 Soldier’s Medals, and 26 Purple Heart 

Medals; 

(15) the 54th Medical Detachment displayed heroism on 

a daily basis and set the standard for all Dustoff crews in 

Vietnam; 

(16) 6 members of the 54th Medical Detachment are in 

the Dustoff Hall of Fame, 3 are in the Army Aviation Hall 

of Fame, and 1 is the only United States Army aviator in 

the National Aviation Hall of Fame; 

(17) Dustoff crew members are among the most highly 

decorated soldiers in United States military history; 

(18) in early 1964, Major Charles L. Kelly was the Commanding Officer of the 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter 

Ambulance), Provisional, in Soc Trang, South Vietnam; 

(19) Major Kelly helped to forge the Dustoff call sign into 

history as one of the most welcomed phrases to be heard over 

the radio by wounded soldiers in perilous and dire situations; 

(20) in 1964, Major Kelly was killed in action as he gallantly maneuvered his aircraft to save a wounded United States 

soldier and several Vietnamese soldiers and boldly replied, 

after being warned to stay away from the landing zone due 

to the ferocity of enemy fire, ‘‘When I have your wounded.’’; 
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(21) General William Westmoreland, Commander of the 

Military Assistance Command, Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, 

singled out Major Kelly as an example of ‘‘the greatness of 

the human spirit’’ and highlighted his famous reply as an 

inspiration to all in combat; 

(22) General Creighton Abrams, successor to General Westmoreland from 1968 to 1972, and former Chief of Staff of 

the United States Army, highlighted the heroism of Dustoff 

crews, ‘‘A special word about the Dustoffs . . . . Courage above 

and beyond the call of duty was sort of routine to them. It 

was a daily thing, part of the way they lived. That’s the great 

part, and it meant so much to every last man who served 

there. Whether he ever got hurt or not, he knew Dustoff was 

there.’’; 

(23) Dustoff crews possessed unique skills and traits that 

made them highly successful in aeromedical evacuation in 

Vietnam, including indomitable courage, extraordinary aviation 

skill and sound judgment under fire, high-level medical expertise, and an unequaled dedication to the preservation of human 

life; 

(24) members of the United States Armed Forces on the 

ground in Vietnam had their confidence and battlefield prowess 

reinforced knowing that there were heroic Dustoff crews just 

a few minutes from the fight, which was instrumental to their 

well-being, willingness to fight, and morale; 

(25) military families in the United States knew that their 

loved ones would receive the quickest and best possible care 

in the event of a war-time injury, thanks to the Dustoff crews; 

(26) the willingness of Dustoff crews to also risk their 

lives to save helpless civilians left an immeasurably positive 

impression on the people of Vietnam and exemplified the finest 

United States ideals of compassion and humanity; and 

(27) Dustoff crews from the Vietnam War hailed from every 

State in the United States and represented numerous ethnic, 

religious, and cultural backgrounds. 

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the House 

of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate 

shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on 

behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design 

in honor of the Dustoff crews of the Vietnam War, collectively, 

in recognition of their heroic military service, which saved countless 

lives and contributed directly to the defense of the United States. 

(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the presentation 

referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred 

to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with 

suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by 

the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense. 

(c) U.S. ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT MUSEUM.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the gold medal 

in honor of the Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War, the gold 

medal shall be given to the U.S. Army Medical Department 

Museum, where it will be available for display as appropriate 

and available for research. 

(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that 

the U.S. Army Medical Department Museum should make the 
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gold medal awarded pursuant to this Act available for display 

elsewhere, particularly at appropriate locations associated with 

the Vietnam War, and that preference should be given to locations affiliated with the U.S. Army Medical Department 

Museum. 

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the 

gold medal struck under section 3, at a price sufficient to cover 

the costs thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 

and overhead expenses. 

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

(a) NATIONAL MEDAL.—Medals struck pursuant to this Act are 

national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 

States Code. 

(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 5134 and 

5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under 

this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE. 

(a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is authorized 

to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs 

of the medals struck under this Act. 

(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the sale of 

duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.