The Rockdale News Rockdale News Digital Edition September 24, 2014 | Page 5

In Depth

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014

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Those magnificent men
their flying machines

&

By pete mecca

T

slide over for more photos!

heir aphorism, ‘Dedicated Unhesitating Service To
Our Fighting Forces’ was better known in Vietnam
by its acronym ‘Dustoff ’. These were the medevac
choppers. Unarmed and unwavering, the courageous crews
of ‘Dustoff ’ missions flew their Hueys into combat zones to
bring out the wounded, the dying, and young soldiers covered
with rain ponchos. ‘Dustoffs’ were clearly marked with the
Red Cross insignia to signify a mercy flight, yet that distinctive Red Cross also became a prime target for Communist
gunners.
Soldiers, sailors, and airmen refer to their ‘ships’ in womanlike jargon, ‘she was a great ship’, the ‘Fighting Lady’; ‘she
never failed to bring us home’; ‘she was a gentle plane.’ One
such lady, medevac chopper 405, recently had a ‘facelift’ so to
speak, fresh paint, new markings, and was rededicated this
month at American Legion Post 77