WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama awarded the nation’s highest military honor to a Vietnam War veteran on Monday, stressing that the story of retired Lt. Col. Charles Kettles’ bravery nearly 50 years ago serves as great inspiration at a time when Americans could use some.
Kettles led helicopter flights carrying reinforcements to US soldiers and evacuated the wounded after they were ambushed in combat operations near Duc Pho in May 1967. Kettles, now 86, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, helped rescue more than 40 soldiers.
Obama said the story that led to the Medal of Honor was quintessentially American because Kettles showed the importance of looking out for others and how nobody should be left behind.
“This shouldn’t just be a creed for our soldiers. This should be a creed for all of us,” Obama said.
Obama noted during the ceremony that after the shooting deaths of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, the nation has had “let’s face it, a couple of tough weeks.”
“For us to remember the goodness and decency of the American people in a way that we can all look out for each other even when times are tough, even when the odds are against us, what a wonderful inspiration, what a great gift for us to be able to celebrate something like this,” Obama said.
Obama told how Kettles repeatedly returned to a landing zone under heavy fire. During the final evacuation effort, he was advised that eight soldiers who were providing cover for others had been unable to reach the helicopters, so he returned without benefit of artillery or tactical aircraft support.