IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7347 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL 

2 CHARLES S. KETTLES DEPARTMENT OF VET3 ERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER. 

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

5 (1) Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles was 

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

7 (2) Lieutenant Colonel Kettles was drafted to 

8 the Army at age 21, and after attending Officer 

9 Candidate School, earned his commission as an 

10 armor officer in the United States Army Reserve on 

11 February 28, 1953. 

12 (3) Lieutenant Colonel Kettles graduated from 

13 the Army Aviation School in 1953 before serving ac14 tive duty tours in South Korea, Japan, and Thai15 land. 

16 (4) Lieutenant Colonel Kettles volunteered for 

17 active duty in 1963 when the United States was en18 gaged in the Vietnam War. 

19 (5) Some of the awards and decorations earned 

20 by Lieutenant Colonel Kettles include the following: 

21 (A) The Medal of Honor. 

22 (B) The Distinguished Service Cross. 

23 (C) The Legion of Merit. 

24 (D) The Distinguished Flying Cross. 

25 (E) The Bronze Star Medal with one oak 

26 leaf cluster. 


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1 (F) The Air Medal with numeral 27. 

2 (G) The Korean Service Medal. 

3 (H) The Vietnam Service Medal with one 

4 silver service star and one bronze service star. 

5 (I) The Master Aviator Badge. 

6 (6) The Medal of Honor citation for Lieutenant 

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

8 distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and 

9 intrepidity while serving as Flight Commander, 

10 176th Aviation Company (Airmobile) (Light), 14th 

11 Combat Aviation Battalion, Americal Division near 

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

13 Major Kettles, upon learning that an airborne infan14 try unit had suffered casualties during an intense 

15 firefight with the enemy, immediately volunteered to 

16 lead a flight of six UH–1D helicopters to carry rein17 forcements to the embattled force and to evacuate 

18 wounded personnel. Enemy small arms, automatic 

19 weapons, and mortar fire raked the landing zone, in20 flicting heavy damage to the helicopters; however, 

21 Major Kettles refused to depart until all helicopters 

22 were loaded to capacity. He then returned to the 

23 battlefield, with full knowledge of the intense enemy 

24 fire awaiting his arrival, to bring more reinforce25 ments, landing in the midst of enemy mortar and 


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1 automatic weapons fire that seriously wounded his 

2 gunner and severely damaged his aircraft. Upon de3 parting, Major Kettles was advised by another heli4 copter crew that he had fuel streaming out of his 

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

6 he nursed the damaged aircraft back to base. Later 

7 that day, the Infantry Battalion Commander re8 quested immediate, emergency extraction of the re9 maining 40 troops, including four members of Major 

10 Kettles’ unit who were stranded when their heli11 copter was destroyed by enemy fire. With only one 

12 flyable UH–1 helicopter remaining, Major Kettles 

13 volunteered to return to the deadly landing zone for 

14 a third time, leading a flight of six evacuation heli15 copters, five of which were from the 161st Aviation 

16 Company. During the extraction, Major Kettles was 

17 informed by the last helicopter that all personnel 

18 were onboard, and departed the landing zone accord19 ingly. Army gunships supporting the evacuation also 

20 departed the area. Once airborne, Major Kettles was 

21 advised that eight troops had been unable to reach 

22 the evacuation helicopters due to the intense enemy 

23 fire. With complete disregard for his own safety, 

24 Major Kettles passed the lead to another helicopter 

25 and returned to the landing zone to rescue the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Sep 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7347.RFS H7347

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1 maining troops. Without gunship, artillery, or tac2 tical aircraft support, the enemy concentrated all 

3 firepower on his lone aircraft, which was imme4 diately damaged by a mortar round that shattered 

5 both front windshields and the chin bubble and was 

6 further raked by small arms and machine gun fire. 

7 Despite the intense enemy fire, Major Kettles main8 tained control of the aircraft and situation, allowing 

9 time for the remaining eight soldiers to board the 

10 aircraft. In spite of the severe damage to his heli11 copter, Major Kettles once more skillfully guided his 

12 heavily damaged aircraft to safety. Without his cou13 rageous actions and superior flying skills, the last 

14 group of soldiers and his crew would never have 

15 made it off the battlefield. Major Kettles’ selfless 

16 acts of repeated valor and determination are in 

17 keeping with the highest traditions of military serv18 ice and reflect great credit upon himself and the 

19 United States Army.’’. 

20 (b) DESIGNATION.—The medical center of the De21 partment of Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 

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

23 and designated as the ‘‘Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Ket24 tles Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center’’ or 


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

2 Center’’. 

3 (c) REFERENCE.—Any reference in any law, regula4 tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 

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

6 shall be considered to be a reference to the Lieutenant 

7 Colonel Charles S. Kettles Department of Veterans Affairs 

8 Medical Center. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 23, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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