‘Dustoff’ Crews Deserve Recognition - Lawmakers should pass a bipartisan bill to honor these heroes with the Congressional Gold Medal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/dustoff-crews-deserve-recognition-vietnam-war-heroism-2aa97158?st=yunyap6ga3mzeqn&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
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Hunton Andrews Kurth Lobbies for Congress to Award Vietnam War Operation Dustoff Crews Congressional Gold Medal
https://www.huntonak.com/news/hunton-lobbies-for-congress-to-award-vietnam-war-operation-dustoff-crews-congressional-gold-medal
Our nation owes a debt to these heroes of Vietnam. Let's pay it off.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/our-nation-owes-debt-heroes-vietnam-pay-off
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Modern EMS Practices Have Their Roots in Vietnam Medical Rescues
https://americanhomefront.wunc.org/2017-09-25/modern-ems-practices-have-their-roots-in-vietnam-medical-rescues
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Cornyn, Warren Bill to Award Congressional Gold Medal to U.S. Army ‘Dustoff’ Crews Passes Senate with Overwhelming Bipartisan Support
https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/news/cornyn-warren-bill-to-award-congressional-gold-medal-to-u-s-army-dustoff-crews-passes-senate-with-overwhelming-bipartisan-support/
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S3666 text - CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 9, 2024
https://www.congress.gov/118/crec/2024/05/09/170/81/CREC-2024-05-09-pt1-PgS3666.pdf
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WYDEN, MERKLEY PRAISE PASSAGE OF BILL HONORING DUSTOFF CREWS FROM THE VIETNAM WAR
https://www.merkley.senate.gov/wyden-merkley-praise-passage-of-bill-honoring-dustoff-crews-from-the-vietnam-war/
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Senator Wyden press conference that recognized Vietnam Dustoff Crewmembers and the passage of the Senate bill for the Congressional Gold Medal.
https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news#videos
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Dustoff Crews may get ‘greatest honor’ of Congressional Gold Medal
https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/dustoff-crews-may-get-greatest-honor-of-congressional-gold-medal/
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S.2825 - Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2825
H.R.1015 - Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/1015
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4/19/16
Dear Senator Murray:
Congressional bill S.2268 is certainly deserving of passage. The bipartisan bill recognizes the heroic military service of Dustoff crews who served during the Vietnam War. Dustoff refers to the radio call sign used by all army helicopter ambulance units in Vietnam, so named for the dust, dirt and debris blown by the rotor wash as the chopper came in for a pickup. Dustoff became one of the most welcome sounds to be heard by critically wounded combat soldiers.
Although the army previously used aircraft to extract and transport the wounded, aeromedical evacuation became a highly organized, crucial operation in Vietnam. Major Charles Kelly is credited for convincing the army to designate helicopters to the sole purpose of picking up the wounded. The legendary UH-1 Bell “Huey” proved to be the instrument for the job, and Dustoff pilots had a reputation for being able to corkscrew into the heart of a battle zone. The unarmed, 4-man crews flew rescue missions day or night in all kinds of weather. With a trained medic onboard, life saving treatment began on the flight to a medical facility.
Flying DustOff was a very dangerous job. Dustoff suffered the highest casualty rate of any other aerial unit in Vietnam—a third of their crews were killed or wounded. Despite the dangers, many volunteered for the job. General Creighton Abrams, commander of military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968–72 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.”
It really boosted troop morale to know that if one of their own were wounded, a helicopter ambulance would be there within minutes. Throughout the war, an estimated 900,000 lives were saved by the rapid treatment and transport of the wounded. It was a unique time in history and left an almost mythical legacy of flying into impossible situations to save lives. Beyond Vietnam, Dustoff continued flying rescue missions in Panama, Operation Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Washington State, Fort Lewis was home to the 54th Medical Detachment air ambulance. The 54th typified the constant heroism displayed by Dustoff crews in Vietnam, flying thousands of missions and evacuating over twenty thousand patients. Senators Murray and Cantwell would honor the 54th (and all Dustoff veterans of Vietnam) by co-sponsoring bill S.2268.
The bill would present a single gold medal in honor of the Dustoff crews, providing important recognition of their heroic military service during the Vietnam War. Furthermore, the bill would honor a legacy that became a model for civilian EMS medevacs. In addition, the bill affirms the conduct we value as a nation—the very best our national character has to offer—Americans risking their own lives to save others. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
Linda Seebeth
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4/20/16
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Seebeth:
Thank you for contacting me regarding S. 2268, the Dust Off Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act, which is currently pending in the United States Senate. I appreciate knowing your views on this matter.
In the Senate, this legislation falls under the jurisdiction of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. While I am not a member of that Committee, I want to assure you that I will be following the progress of this bill and will keep your views in mind if this or related legislation comes before the full Senate for consideration.
Again, thank you for contacting me. I hope you will continue to keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Patty Murray
United States Senator
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Posted Wed, Jun 14, 2017
Kilmer, Reichert Want To Honor Vietnam Era Air Medics
'Dust Off' crews, as they were known by their radio call sign, flew unarmed air ambulances into hostile areas to rescue the wounded.
From Washington Reps: Reps. Dave Reichert (WA-08) and Derek Kilmer (WA-06) introduced a bill to award an elite group of Vietnam veterans with the Congressional Gold Medal. ‘Dust Off’ crews, as they were known by their radio call sign, flew unarmed air ambulances into hostile areas to rescue the wounded and provided critical medical treatment as they evacuated troops during the Vietnam War. The Dust Off Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act would award members of the Vietnam-era Dust Off crews with the Congressional Gold Medal.
“Committed to never leaving one of their fellow soldiers behind, American Dust Off Crews of the Vietnam War risked and put their lives on the line - often flying into enemy fire in high-casualty war zones – to come to the aid of wounded American soldiers,” said Rep. Reichert. “Over the course of the war, their bravery and experience led to the rescue of nearly 900,000 American soldiers. The Dust Off Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act is just a small way to express our gratitude for their unwavering patriotism against the toughest of odds.”
“Dustoff Crews serving in the Army risked their lives to bring others back safely,” said Rep. Kilmer. “But their contributions and sacrifices are too often a forgotten story of the Vietnam War. I’m proud to work with Representative Reichert to properly thank these servicemembers for what they accomplished.”
H.R.2885 - Dust Off Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2885/cosponsors?r=21&s=1&searchResultViewType=expanded
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Below is correspondence Linda just sent to Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. It concerns a bill I hope you will support.
2/24/21
Dear Representative Pelosi,
On February 11, 2021, you announced that you would be introducing legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Capitol Police and other law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol during the January 6 attack.
The police and officers are deserving of this honor, but please don’t forget about another group also deserving of this honor. Dust Off veterans have been waiting years for this recognition.
A bill was first introduced in 2015 to award a single gold medal in honor of the Dust Off crews of the Vietnam War. It was last reintroduced May 2020.
S. 3748 (116th): Dust Off Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/s3748/text
Unarmed Dust Off crews flew aboard legendary Huey helicopters into combat situations (often without gunship escort) to rescue wounded soldiers. They suffered the highest casualty rate of any other aerial unit in Vietnam. 1/3 of their crews were killed or wounded. Despite the dangers, many volunteered for the job.
General Creighton Abrams, commander of military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968–72 and former Chief of Staff of the United States Army, highlighted the heroism of Dust Off crews: A special word about the Dust Offs—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 Dust Off was there.
Throughout the war, an estimated 900,000 lives were saved by the rapid treatment and transport of the wounded. It was a unique time in history, and Dust Off left an almost mythical legacy of flying into impossible situations to save lives.
This bill would provide important recognition of Dust Off crews heroic military service. Additionally, the bill would honor a legacy that became a model for civilian EMS medevacs. Furthermore, the bill affirms the conduct we value as a nation—the very best our national character has to offer—Americans risking their own lives to save others.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
As these veterans are now aging and dying, it is important to move forward with this bill without further delay.
My husband was a Dust Off medic and Purple Heart recipient, so I know first hand how deserving these veterans are and how meaningful the honor would be. Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Linda Seebeth
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No response from Representative Pelosi
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April 01, 2021
KILMER INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO HONOR VIETNAM VETERANS
On March 29, U.S. Representatives Derek Kilmer (WA-06) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) introduced new bipartisan legislation to award Dust Off crews of the Vietnam War with the Congressional Gold Medal. Dust Off crewmembers – helicopter air ambulance pilots, crew chiefs, and medics – performed aeromedical evacuation of over 900,000 U.S., Vietnamese, and allied forces from May 1962 to March 1973.
“Years after the end of the Vietnam War, too many of our Vietnam veterans have not been sufficiently recognized for their service and their sacrifice. That remains true for the incredible members of the Dust Off crews – who valiantly rescued so many,” said Rep. Kilmer. “Awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dust Off crews of the Vietnam War will be an important step toward recognizing the pivotal role that these servicemembers played in saving the lives of so many and serving their country proudly. I’ll keep pushing to see that it comes to fruition so we can demonstrate our appreciation on behalf of a grateful nation.”
“For too long, the men and women who served in Vietnam have gone unrecognized for their bravery and sacrifice – especially Dust Off crewmembers. These crews were responsible for the evacuation of more than 900,000 American, Vietnamese, and Allied Forces despite incredible risk to their own lives,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers. “It’s well-past time we recognize these men and women for their heroism and service to our nation by awarding them a Congressional Gold Medal.”
Dust Off units in Vietnam often faced bad weather, mountainous terrain, and intense enemy fire – with crewmembers facing a one in three chance of being wounded or killed. One Dust Off unit, the 54th Medical Detachment, typified the heroism of Dust Off crews. Over 10 months with only three helicopters and 40 soldiers, it evacuated 21,435 patients on 8,644 missions over 4,832 hours. It earned 78 valor awards.
Since the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. The Congressional Gold Medal has never been awarded to any veterans of the Vietnam War. The “Dust Off Crews of the Vietnam War” Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2021 would change that by awarding a single Congressional Gold Medal collectively to Dust Off crewmembers.
U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) is expected to introduce companion legislation in the Senate.
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Kilmer, McMorris Rodgers Reintroduce Legislation to Honor Vietnam Veterans
February 15, 2023 · ·
Office of Rep. Derek Kilmer announcement.On Feb. 14, 2023, U.S. Representatives Derek Kilmer (WA-06) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) reintroduced bipartisan legislation to award Dustoff crews of the Vietnam War with the Congressional Gold Medal. Dustoff crewmembers – helicopter air ambulance pilots, crew chiefs, and medics – performed aeromedical evacuation of over 900,000 U.S., Vietnamese, and allied forces from May 1962 to March 1973.“Years after the end of the Vietnam War, too many Vietnam veterans have not been sufficiently recognized for their service and sacrifice. That remains true for the members of the Dustoff crews – who valiantly rescued so many,” said Rep. Kilmer. “Awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dustoff crews of the Vietnam War will be an important step toward recognizing the pivotal role that these service members played in saving lives and serving their country proudly. I’ll keep pushing to ensure we demonstrate our appreciation on behalf of a grateful nation.”“During the Vietnam War, millions of Americans left home to fight in muddy trenches and jungles halfway around the world. Many made the ultimate sacrifice. Others returned home just to be ostracized and ridiculed. Some were never recognized for their service at all,” said Rep. Rodgers. “That’s exactly what happened to the Dustoff crewmembers who risked their lives to save nearly one million others. They were some of the very best, and their heroism deserves to be recognized.”
Dustoff crews in Vietnam often faced foul weather, mountainous terrain, and intense enemy fire – with crewmembers facing a one-in-three chance of being wounded or killed. One Dustoff unit, the 54th Medical Detachment, typified the heroism of Dustoff crews. Over ten months, 40 soldiers equipped with only three helicopters evacuated 21,435 patients on 8,644 missions over 4,832 hours, earning 78 valor awards.
Since the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. Congress has never awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to any veteran of the Vietnam War. The Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act would collectively award a single Congressional Gold Medal to Dustoff crewmembers.
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11/12/23 Email from Gary Hagen
First and foremost, I would like to wish every one of you a Happy Veterans Day.
I just returned home last night from Washington DC. I believe we were able to make a huge impact with the Senate and the House to garner support for the Dustoff Congressional Gold Medal (CGM) Bills, H.R.1015 and S.2825.
For those of you that don't know, the Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, law firm took this effort on with us, pro bono. This is the law group that was successful in the Merrill's Marauders being awarded their CGM. The Hunton group has spent many months working on this as well as making appointments with Senators and House Representatives. They scheduled 74 meetings for us to attend in one day. Ten Dustoff crew members of the Vietnam Dustoff Association (VDA) individually went with one lawyer from the firm and attended 7 or 8 meetings each. Robin Hunt, Richard Claywell and I represented the 236th Med. Det. Steve Vermillion, President of the VDA, and Chris Siedor have spearheaded this effort for a number of years now. In addition to Steve and Chris, other attendees from the VDA were Mike Logan, Doug Petersen, Tom Barfoot, Tom St. Hilaire, and Richard Parmenter.
After I began attending my meetings, I realized that most of these offices were not even aware of these bills. I felt like just bringing it to their attention was monumental for Dustoff and the bills. For my part, since most of my contacts were not actually with Senators or House members, the legislative aides seemed very excited to pass this on to their bosses. The bipartisanship of these two bills is very evident. In my meetings, I would share that Elizabeth Warren and Ted Cruz are both co-sponsors. I don't think you can get much more bipartisan than that.
I was told in most of my meetings that this should be no problem for their respective Senator's/Representative's co-sponsorship. I feel as if this trip to Wash DC for the past week was extremely successful.
I want to share with you that I had the distinct pleasure to meet with Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS-R). She took a half hour out of her day to talk with me. She also had a Senate photographer come to the office to take pictures. She posted a picture of our meeting on her social media pages for Veterans Day. During our conversation she mentioned that for us to have made it through what we did in Vietnam, we had to have our angels with us. I told her how I believed that was true. In that vein, I told her about our reunions and an idea I had for a t-shirt design. She said she would like to help with the artwork and design, pay for it and have it copyrighted. That pretty much blew me away. That night one of her staff called me and scheduled an appointment for me to meet her the next day. I'm very excited for her help in seeing this to fruition. I wish you all could have been there with me to feel and see her appreciation for what Dustoff and Veterans did in Vietnam.
I told the Senator about Jerry Franks, from Columbus, Mississippi, and how he was a medic with our unit and an artist. Nancy Franks, in her generosity, will be sending the Senator a copy of Jerry's artwork. How great is that? The Senator is extremely excited to receive it.
Robin Hunt and I stayed in DC an extra couple of days. While there, Robin made a "cold call" to his legislative aide for his Washington state representative, Kim Schrier. By the time we left, we felt pretty certain that Robin was successful in gaining another cosponsor.
On Thursday, Nancy and I went to the White House for a tour. We got in line behind a woman wearing a Vietnam Veteran hat. I thought to myself, "surely she must have been a nurse in Vietnam." Sure enough, she told me that she was a nurse in Vietnam in 1968. I told her I was a crew chief on a Dustoff helicopter. She became extremely excited and told me she was on the USS Repose. I am sure many of you landed on that ship at some point during your tour. Well, she went on about how the Dustoff men were the heroes and that had it not been for us the fatality rate in Vietnam would have been so much greater. Based on our conversation I could tell that she had high esteem and a bird's eye view of what Dustoff was and did in Vietnam. She told me that she had a personal appointment on Friday with Senator Risch from Idaho. I explained to her why we were in DC. I had the impression that whatever her initial meeting was about, it just changed course to being an advocate for the Dustoff CGM bill. She was also going to make contact with Senator Crapo from Idaho and advocate for us. She told me to thank all of you, wish you all a happy Veterans Day and that she knew Dustoff Crew members were the true heroes of the Vietnam War. I told her that I had landed on the Repose a few times myself. She asked if I had gotten any ice cream. I told her I never did. She said she had heard that before and seemed quite upset at that. She said that they had a person whose job it was to bring ice cream out to the Dustoff crews when they landed on the ship. Did any of you get ice cream, just curious?
Incidentally, we need two thirds of the House and Senate to cosponsor their respective bills for this effort to go forward.
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Here is the post from Instagram:
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3/9/24 Email from Gary Hagen
Hello All – In this email I would like to update you on Vietnam Dustoff Congressional Gold Medal effort. Once again, this past week we went to Capitol Hill to help drive support for the CGM bills. In addition to the 236th members that attended (Robin Hunt, Richard Claywell, and me), there were 6 additional members from the Vietnam Dustoff Association. In a nutshell, I feel very good about what we were able to accomplish. Currently, we have 48 Senators and 109 House members as co-sponsors. I believe that in the next couple of weeks those numbers will go up if our meetings went as well as I perceived. First off, I want to say that we owe an incredible debt of gratitude to the Hunton Andrews Kurth law firm for helping us, pro bono, to push this forward. They have worked very hard sending out emails, making appointments and volunteering to be with us in the meetings they scheduled. We certainly wouldn’t be this far had they not stepped in to help us. Their knowledge and expertise have been nothing less than amazing. In case you are not aware, this is the firm that assisted Merrill’s Marauders in receiving their CGM. We need to get to two-thirds of the Senate and House as co-sponsors to get this to a vote. I’m attaching the Senate bill, S. 2825 and House bill, H.R. 1015. Last Tuesday, we were paired up and went to the various House and Senate buildings to do “cold calls.” Richard Claywell and I went to the Cannon Building. We went to about 31 different Congressmen’s offices and either talked to legislative aides or left literature for them. Robin Hunt was assigned to the Rayburn Building with Steve Vermillion, VDA President, and was able to contact a similar number of offices. On Wednesday, we had scheduled appointments with specific offices. I went to the Senate Hart Building with Kevin Gaunt from the Hunton Group. Kevin was an executive officer in the 101st Airborne Division, served in the Army for six years and is now a lawyer. It really helped to have him introduce the bill and explain what we were doing and why we were there. Having the Hunton staff member there didn’t make it appear as self-serving as it may have if it was just a crew member presenting. I am attaching a document we passed out, in case you haven’t seen it before. It has some good information on it. I am personally still amazed at these statistics. Some of our talking points were that Vietnam Dustoff crew members were the pioneers of Medevac. We would point out that back then we had no standards, we had to develop ways and means to pick up the patients in unarmed helicopters to be able to save their lives. We did this as we went along. As a result of what Dustoff did, the MAST (Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic) system was developed in the United States. Stateside, Dustoff units would pick up severely injured traffic accident victims. As a result of MAST, Life Flight was born. The fact that there were only 3400 Dustoff crew members that served in Vietnam to support the 2.5 million soldiers that were deployed to Vietnam still boggles my mind. In addition, Dustoff flew almost a half million missions and picked up over 900,000 patients is astonishing. You all are amazing men. I am so proud to be a part of what you all and Dustoff accomplished in Vietnam. All deserving the recognition of the highest civilian award, the CGM, in the United States. Such a small group of men that did so much for humanity. If you want to follow how the CGM is progressing, you can go to these websites postdate top of this link: At these website, you can see the numbers of co-sponsors in the House and the Senate. You can click on the number and see who has signed on as a co-sponsor. I was told over and over again by the staffers that it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the attention. If you don’t see your Senators or Representatives name on this list, it wouldn’t hurt to write a letter or email to them. Feel free to attach the document I have attached to this email for their reference. I have learned that the staffers have to read them all, document that they received them, and document what the disposition was. Maybe, if they get bombarded, they will be inspired to join as a co-sponsor. For your information on the CGM: If awarded, there is only 1 Gold Medal actually made. In our case, if awarded, it is planned to be displayed at the AAMED Museum in San Antonio. If awarded, there will be a ceremony presenting it and I believe Dustoff Crew Members would be invited to attend. If it is passed in Congress, you and others will have the opportunity to purchase one or more bronze replicas of the CGM. If similar to the Tuskegee Airmen and Merrill’s Marauders Bronze Medal coins, they would be 1.5” size for $20 or 3” size for $160. This medal would be awarded to Vietnam Dustoff Crew Members (all units, not just the 236th) and only to Pilots, Medics and Crew Chiefs. Understand that this award is only acknowledgment and recognition for what Dustoff had done in Vietnam. From what I have been able to determine, you get nothing tangible given to you. It’s only the recognition and notoriety we as crew members will receive. If awarded, anybody can buy these bronze replica coins from the U.S. Mint.
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4/10/24 Gentlemen:
This morning we reached a significant goal in the quest to bring the Congressional Gold Medal for US Army Aeromedical Evacuation Aircrews from the Vietnam War (Dustoff, Medevac, etc) to fruition. The requirement in the Senate is to have 2/3d of the members signed on as co-sponsors to the bill. This morning, we surpassed the 2/3ds mark and are currently at 69 co-sponsors. We continue to work on a few remaining holdouts to ensure we have a super majority in case something arises that we are not aware of and that would affect the number of sponsors. The House of Representatives is another issue. We currently have 123 co-sponsors and need 290, so we have reached 42% of our goal. We have until August to make up the deficit before Congress effectively completes its session business in August. Then we have elections and maybe a lame duck session in December. There have two of us working on this effort for several years. After we brought the Hunton Law Group on board as pro bono lobbyists, our bill sponsorship significantly increased. A few months back we were joined by eight of your fellow cohorts who have been with us on two of what we term Walkabouts—walking the halls of Congress, meeting Congressional staff members in an effort to lobby them to join our campaign and become co-sponsors. It appears that we will be heading back to the House of Representatives the last week in May. Tentatively we fly in on Monday the 27th, have scheduled Congressional meetings with Hunton Group members as our guide on Tuesday May 28th. Wednesday, as it sits now, we will pair up internally and repeat the same process as Tuesday—meeting with Congressional representatives. And then fly out Thursday. From that point on, we do follow up calls and emails with our point of contact in each office. If you care to join us and can commit without hesitation to do this, please email Steve Vermillion (stevevermillion40@gmail.com). We will make hotel reservations in a block and you can reserve a room under that block. You are responsible for your expenses which in all fairness are around $2K depending on mode of travel. I would like to add another ten to our group bringing us to 20. This project has been ongoing for eight years now. We want to bring this home this year with a win in our win column.
Cordially, Steve Vermillion President, Vietnam Dustoff Association
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From: Gary Hagen Subject: Congressional Gold Medal Act - H.R. 1015
Date: April 16, 2024
I apologize for the delay. Nancy and I have been travelling and I haven't had time to get it out. Here is a boiler plate letter that I have drafted if you would like to use it to send to the US Representatives in your state. The only way I can see for you to be able to get a good email address to send it to is to look up (Google) each US Representative from your state to get a phone number. You will have to call it to find an appropriate email address to send the letter to. Just tell them you want to email a letter to their office regarding House Bill H.R. 1015, The Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act. They typically have a legislative aide or military liaison in their office that would be the appropriate person to receive your letter. You can go to "this list" to determine what representatives from your state have already signed on. You won't need to send a letter to the US Representatives that have already signed on. Feel free to copy and paste the following letter (everything below the line) into a new email. Be sure to edit the YELLOW highlighted areas before sending it on. If you need any help, please feel free to contact me and I will try and help you if I can. If it would be easier for you and you would like the letter sent to you in Word format, let me know. Also, feel free to use this letter as you like. Make any changes you wish. I am only offering it as a suggestion to possibly make sending this easier for those of you that want to use it. Hopefully, together, we can bring awareness of this Bill to Congress and get their much needed support. Gary
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From: Gary Hagen
Date: April 17, 2024 at 2:13:51 PM PDT
One other thing I wanted to pass on. I called the phone numbers for the Representatives from Oregon and Idaho, that hadn't signed the bill yet. I needed to get email addresses in order to send them my letter. On my first call, I told the receptionist my name and that I was calling in support of House Bill H.R. 1015, Dustoff Cews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act. I told her I was wondering if they had an aide or military liaison that I might get an email address for in order to send my letter to. She put me on hold and a staffer came on and wanted to know all about why I was calling. I wasn't quite prepared to give a presentation.....I used my letter as a guide to go over significant points about the bill with him. My point being is that when you call your congressman's office to get an email address to send in your letter, be ready for something like that to happen. I did receive email addresses from the other offices. I have been receiving what I feel is a very positive response. They just aren't aware of the Bill so a major onslaught of emails from all of you with your letters would be very helpful. When you call, you will find these staffers to be veryfriendly and courteous. They will provide you with what they can and are very happy (or seem so) to help you out. It seems to help if you are a constituent in their State. If you don't want to or don't know how to get phone numbers for your respective representatives, let me know and I will send you a list of representatives that haven't co-sponsored yet that are from your State. I am happy to help any of you in any way I can. Thank you all in advance for your help in getting this pushed forward and hopefully passed, Gary
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From: Gary Hagen
Date: May 10, 2024 at 6:45:41 PM PDT -
I wanted to let you know about some exciting news regarding the Congressional Gold Medal for Army Dustoff Crew members. We were able to obtain the co-sponsorship of 71 Senators. They had a vote on the floor last night and it passed unanimously with all 71 Senators voting in favor of the Bill. The Senate Bill is completely finished now, and we shift our focus on the House. There are currently 140 House members that have signed on. We will be going back to Washington DC in June and working on getting the majority to sign. I personally think we will get there and get this done. I have to tell you that we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Hunton Andrews Kurth law firm for helping us push this through. Steve Vermillion (VDA President) feels they must have over 2,000 hrs. of pro bono work on this. I want to thank those of you that have been writing to your representatives and trying to bring awareness about the Bill. I was recently told that at this point it is better to call and try to talk to someone and continue with weekly follow-ups. We can now tell them that the companion bill in the Senate has been voted on and it passed unanimously. I am attaching a link to the press release from Senator Cornyn's office regarding the passing of the Bill. There is a mistake in the PR saying Dustoff picked up 17,700 patients. That is a number from the Korean war that is written in the bill. The number should be "almost 900,000." I have notified Steve Vermillion about the discrepancy so it can be corrected if they wish. Believe me the Senators are all over this and very aware of this bill passing. I received a call this morning from Senator Wyden's (D-OR) office regarding a press release they are going to put out. Hopefully that will help us with the House side. This has been a long time coming and you all deserve this recognition. Gary
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11 May 2024 03:32
Nevada U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen-Backed Bipartisan Bill to Award Congressional Gold Medal to “Dustoff” Crew Veterans of Vietnam War Passes Senate - “Dustoff” Refers to the Radio Call Sign of the Helicopter-Borne Medical Evacuation Teams
Legislation Passed With Overwhelming Bipartisan Support And Recognizes Extraordinary Heroism Of These Vietnam War Veterans
May 11, 2024 - WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) has announced that bipartisan legislation she joined to collectively award the Congressional Gold Medal to a group
of Vietnam War veterans known as “Dustoff Crews” passed the Senate. The moniker “Dustoff” refers to the radio call sign of the helicopter-borne medical evacuation teams that landed in hostile conditions to save wounded servicemembers during the Vietnam War. They were responsible for rescuing and transporting 17,700 United States casualties, despite the tremendous risk that they could be wounded or killed.
“These heroic medical evacuation crews risked their own safety to rescue and save countless lives during the Vietnam War,” said Senator Rosen. “Our nation is forever indebted to them, and I’m proud that the Senate passed bipartisan legislation I backed to honor these American heroes with the Congressional Gold Medal.”
Senator Rosen has been leading bipartisan efforts to support Nevada’s veterans. Last month, she helped introduce bipartisan legislation to officially authorize the construction of a new veterans hospital in Reno, which she also successfully pushed the president to include in his 2024 budget request. Earlier this year, Rosen introduced bipartisan legislation to permanently maintain a helpline for veterans to obtain information and assistance with all services from the VA.
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From: Gary Hagen
May 17, 2024
I just want to follow up with all of you. I have been receiving the best emails today from many of you that are or have been writing to your U.S. Representatives. There are several of you that have taken the time to write and thank the ones that have co-sponsored as well. Good touch. I am certain that they appreciate the acknowledgment. It is obviously making such a big difference as we watch the numbers grow daily. I just got off the phone with the Vietnam Dustoff Association President, Steve Vermillion, and he is so pleased with the traction we are getting. Thank you again and keep up the good work. Some of you have asked for an updated letter. I am attaching a sample of the letter I use that you too are welcome to use as is or make your own changes as you see fit. I yellow highlighted the information you'll need to change. Please feel free to adapt to your own writing style. Thanks again for your help with this, Gary
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Mr. Steve Ackerman,
I wanted to let you know about this House Bill, H.R.1015, Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act. We are seeking co-sponsorship by Representative Fulcher on House Bill H.R. 1015. The Senate unanimously passed their companion bill on May 9, 2024. I have attached links to press releases from Senators Cornyn, Wyden and Merkley regarding their bill, S.2825.
https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/news/cornyn-warren-bill-to-award-congressional-gold-medal-to-u-s-army-dustoff-crews-passes-senate-with-overwhelming-bipartisan-support/
News Legislation Recognizes Extraordinary Heroism of Vietnam War Veterans WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) released the following statements after their legislation, which is cosponsored by 69 of their Senate colleagues and would collectively award a group of Vietnam War veterans known as “Dustoff Crews” with the Congressional Gold Medal, […]
www.cornyn.senate.gov
https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-merkley-praise-passage-of-bill-honoring-dustoff-crews-from-the-vietnam-war
https://www.merkley.senate.gov/wyden-merkley-praise-passage-of-bill-honoring-dustoff-crews-from-the-vietnam-war/
I have included a couple of hyperlinks in my letter below that may be very interesting for you and Representative Fulcher to review. Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can provide any other information.
Best Regards, Gary Hagen Ph: 503-522-5873
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Subject: H.R. 1015 – Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act
Dear Representative Fulcher,
By way of introduction, my name is Gary Hagen. I’m writing to encourage your co-sponsorship of House Bill H.R. 1015, Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act. Along with Derek Kilmer, [Rep.-D-WA-6] the sponsor of H.R. 1015, there are currently 153 House members
that are co-sponsors of this Bill (80 Democrats and 73 Republicans), demonstrating that this is a very bipartisan bill. I personally was an Army Dustoff Crew Chief with the 236th Medical Detachment during the Vietnam War, serving in DaNang, Vietnam, from 1970 to 1972. “Dustoff” was the call sign used for the request of a helicopter aeromedical evacuation. Dustoff Crews flew in unarmed Huey helicopters into the middle of ongoing battles. I want to emphasize that different infantry units were working in our areas of operation. Many times, there were multiple battles going on in which we would be called to assist in picking up the wounded in each of them. Often times, we would make multiple trips into these insecure landing zones to get the wounded out and to medical care. Dustoff crews and helicopters were unarmed, i.e., we didn’t have machine guns mounted on our helicopters because of the requirements to conform to the Geneva Convention. Although unarmed, we would fly day or night, twenty-four hours a day, into the middle of these active battles to rescue the wounded and get them to higher medical care within the “golden hour” in order to save their lives. We would administer life saving techniques. If you can imagine any type of war wound, we dealt with it; amputations, head and torso wounds, sucking chest wounds, etc. We gave intravenous injections, employed CPR, and some of our medics were trained in applying chest tubes and tracheotomies and would do so on the helicopters. We picked up and treated all branches of the United States Services. We also picked up North and South Vietnamese soldiers, along with Australians and Korean soldiers. We picked up Vietnamese civilians, women and children included. Babies were born on our helicopters. If there was a medical need, Dustoff responded, no matter what the situation was, and again, even if it was during the middle of a battle. There were an estimated 3,400 pilots, medics and crew chiefs that flew these missions for the 2.5 million soldiers that served in the Vietnam War. It is estimated that there are between 840 and 1,020 crew members alive today. In all, Vietnam Dustoff crews rescued 900,000 wounded in nearly 500,000 combat missions from 1962 to 1973. There was an aircrew loss rate of 33%, which is actually very good given the conditions we flew in. Dustoff crews were the pioneers in developing the tactics for the employment of the helicopter in a medical evacuation role in order to survive the mission and bring the crews and wounded back alive. Flight school didn't replicate combat conditions! It was a new and ever changing environment. Life and death decisions were being made in the cockpit of a Huey by 21 year old aircraft commanders and 18 or 19 year old medics and crew chiefs keeping the wounded alive until we reached higher level medical support. This had never happened before! The Congressional Gold Medal is recognition for these heroic efforts by these Dustoff crew members that saved so many lives allowing future generations to grow exponentially. I can’t think of a time in history where so many lives were saved by so few. As the Vietnam War was winding down, Dustoff units returned to the United States. With their expertise in flying day or night, in poor weather conditions and precarious landing zones, they started what was known as the MAST (Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic) program. Dustoff units would pick up serious casualties of major traffic accidents getting them to the hospital much quicker than an ambulance could. As a result of these programs, Life Flight was established and is thriving today, saving the lives of others. One of the Dustoff pilots of the Vietnam Dustoff Association presented a 6 minute TEDxSanAntonio talk for a past Veterans Day. He describes a hoist mission he was on when he was shot down. You can access this short, but very interesting YouTube video here. Recently an article about Dustoff was written by an attorney from Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. You can access that article here. This law firm is providing pro bono assistance to the Vietnam Dustoff Association in support of lobbying efforts to pass the Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act. The crews involved in Dustoff exhibited the highest values we hold as a society, the humanity of our country, even in time of moral conflict. Please help the nation show recognition and appreciation by co-sponsoring H.R. 1015. If there is any additional information that you may want or need, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Respectfully,
Gary E. Hagen Dustoff Crew Chief
236th Medical Detachment
DaNang Vietnam
Email: garyhag@hotmail.com Ph: 503-522-5873
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From: Gary Hagen
Subject: One more update Date: May 18, 2024
To All, This is the first time I have ever noticed movement on Saturday which means they co-sponsored on a Friday, weird?. There were 3 more Representatives that showed up this morning! That pushes it up to a total of 157 Representatives now. Here are the 3 new Representatives: Grace Napolitano (D-CA) Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX)
In March, Richard Claywell and I met with Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher's staff. They have a record of that meeting and maintain our information. I know because I shared my business card with them, and I have been inundated with emails from her office. They didn't sign or co-sponsor at the time. I know Bill Magee and possibly Bruce Molitor have written letters to her staff since we were there. Along with the additional letters from the 236th contingent pushing the CGM effort and bringing to their attention the passing of the companion Bill in the Senate, they are compelled to get on board so they can be a part of this piece of American History. I talked to Paul Sumrall yesterday. He is working on California by himself. As of yesterday, there were 18 congressmen out of 52 from California, that had co-sponsored. Another one was added today, Grace Napolitano. Paul has a huge job calling all those offices, getting email addresses and sending out the letters. I know how much time and effort it takes to do this. Sometimes it takes multiple letters and making contact with their offices from different directions to convince them to sign on. I think our continually prompting them is definitely working for us. The numbers keep climbing daily. If you would rather not send letters and feel more comfortable talking, please try and talk to someone in these offices. You can call their DC office and or their local office. I have been getting a lot of "thankyous" from people for working on this CGM. I truly appreciate that, but I want you to know that this certainly isn't all me. There are so many of you that contacted me and are helping by contacting your congressmen. It's only fair that all of you know who they are and that they are recognized as well. The people in the following list are the people that are working so hard to help this move forward. We wouldn't be here without their continued effort. I am sure there are more of you helping that I don't even know about. Please know that we all appreciate every effort that is being made. Honestly, I am relatively lazy. You see, with all of your help getting signatures, that is whole lot less walking I will have to do in DC this coming June to visit Congressmen that haven't signed up yet (ulterior motive here 😉).
Texas - Bill Magee, Bruce Molitor
California - Paul Sumrall
Washington - John and Linda Seebeth and Pete Leonard
North Carolina - John Joyce, Charles Harris and his daughter, Ginger Alabama - Bill Bergman
Pennsylvania - Jerry Lee
Hawaii - Vince Cedola (571st)
Kentucky - Jack Lykins (Son of our Medic)
Nebraska - Anonymous
Nevada - Ed Simmons
Oregon/Idaho - Gary Hagen
Massachusetts - Morton Dean
I hope I haven't missed anyone. I'm just so thankful for all of you and your efforts. Here are some things I have been doing to help urge co-sponsoring with letters. I always send follow-up letters in a week if I haven't heard anything from the ones that haven't signed yet. I have also called their offices again and gotten a different email address to email my letter to. I'm hoping they get tired of filling their "filing cabinets (or recycle bins)" with my emailed letters so that they just decide to co-sponsor. Pete Leonard let me know that he not only wrote requesting co-sponsorship, but he also wrote to all of those in Washington that had already co-sponsored to thank them for their supporting the Bill. That is such a good thing to do..... 236th members that will be going to Washington DC in June: Robin Hunt - 3rd trip Richard Claywell - 3rd trip Jerry Lee - 1st trip in June Anthony Lopez - 1st trip in June Gary Hagen - 3rd trip
Thanks again to all of you, I think I have gone on for way too long,
Gary
"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." Vince Lombardi
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From: Gary Hagen
Date: May 25, 2024
Hi All, It is my intention to be able to provide you with at least one update per week. This week has been incredibly busy with CGM matters. I wanted to leave the email below because the names and efforts apply to this week as. well. The sponsor/co-sponsor list for congress is at 164. Not the numbers I was hoping for but as they say, "Rome wasn't built in a day." I guess we have to be somewhat patient as we drive on with our cause. A very big thanks for joining in the "Operation Dustoff" mission by contacting Congressmen/women: Richard Claywell - Kentucky O.D. Tex Green - Louisiana Dr. Phill Moore - North Carolina Since none of the 6 Representatives from Kentucky had signed as of yet so Richard Claywell began working on contacting them. He did a great job getting letters out on top of Jack Lykin's letters. They should get the hint after a while. Thanks to Richard for this! Jack told me that he intends to continue contacting them as well. O.D. "Tex" Green sent letters and made some contacts to Congressman Clay Higgins, Louisiana, and a lobbyist friend of O.D.'s in Washington that will start contacting other Louisiana reps. Thank you, O.D.! Here is some amazing participation. Pat McGrath went to flight school with Phil Schmitz. Phil was killed 10 days after getting to his unit, the 237th Med Det, DMZ Dustoff. Phil's nephew, Dr. Phillip Moore sent out 12 letters (hard copy and email) to North Carolina Representatives that hadn't signed on. What a blessing having him help us with this. I inserted Dr. Phil's letter immediately below this email. There are a ton of other things going on with the Hunton Andrews Kurth attorneys (the pro bono attorneys that schedule our Wash DC meetings, write press articles, etc.) behind the scenes. We have many Vietnam Dustoff Association members participating in the effort as well. I have been very busy here in Oregon. I was invited to meet with Oregon Senator Wyden this morning at a press conference that recognized Vietnam Dustoff Crewmembers and the passage of the Senate bill for the Congressional Gold Medal. He assured me he would be doing everything he could to get the House to follow suit with the Senate and pass this legislation. When I was invited to meet with him, it was just me. His staff asked if I knew any other Vietnam Dustoff crew members that lived in Oregon. I was able to find two that were able to come this morning. In the Wyden/Merkley press release I sent out, there were four Oregon Dustoff crew members that were KIA in Vietnam. I was able to locate family members of all 4 of the men and they came to this event. It went from just me attending to 46 people that showed up. It turned out to be a great Memorial day program and the CGM received from great press. It has been televised on our local channels tonight. Thanks again for everyone's support and participation.
All my best, Gary
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Dr. Phil Moore's letter: Subject: H.R. 1015 – Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act Dear Congressman By way of introduction, my name is Phillip Schmitz Moore. I am a vascular surgeon at Novant Health in Winston-Salem, NC. But as you might expect, I am not writing to you today about healthcare. I’m writing to encourage your co-sponsorship of House Bill H.R. 1015, Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act. Recently, the Senate unanimously passed the companion Bill S. 2825. Along with Derek Kilmer, [Rep.-D-WA-6] the sponsor of H.R. 1015, there are currently 156 house representatives that are co-sponsors of this Bill (83 Democrats and 73 Republicans), demonstrating that this is a very bipartisan bill. This bill is very important to me and my family. My uncle (and namesake), Phillip Nicholas Schmitz was a Dustoff pilot in the Vietnam war. He and his crew were killed in action on May 10, 1970 when their unarmed medical evacuation helicopter was shot down. My uncle and his fellow crew members were awarded the Silver Star posthumously. I was not born for another 6 years, but I could sense the pain felt by my mother, grandparents, and aunt for the rest of their lives. But they knew that his actions prevented many American families from experiencing the same grief. I have been lucky enough to become friends with one of my uncle Phillip’s fellow Dustoff pilots over the past few years. Through this friendship I have learned so much about my uncle and the efforts of the all the Dustoff crews. “Dustoff” was the call sign used to request a helicopter aeromedical evacuation. Dustoff Crews flew their unarmed Huey helicopters into the middle of ongoing battles. Many times, there were multiple battles occurring simultaneously in which they would be called to evacuate the wounded. Often times, they would make multiple trips into these insecure landing zones to rescue the wounded and transport them to medical care. Dustoff helicopters were clearly marked with red crosses on the front, sides and bottom in accordance with the requirements of the Geneva Convention. The crews would fly day and night, into the middle of active battles to rescue the wounded and get them to a higher level of medical care within the “golden hour” to give them the best chance of survival. They administered life saving techniques. They dealt with all types of war wounds, including amputations, head and torso wounds, sucking chest wounds, etc. They gave intravenous injections, employed CPR, and some of the medics were even trained in applying chest tubes and tracheotomies, and would do so on the helicopters. They picked up and treated all branches of the United States military, as well as wounded soldiers from South Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the Phillipines, and Thailand. They also picked up South Vietnamese civilians, women and children included. Babies were born on the helicopters. If there was a medical need, Dustoff responded, no matter the situation, even if it was during the middle of a battle. There were an estimated 3,400 pilots, medics and crew chiefs that flew these missions for the 2.5 million soldiers that served in the Vietnam War. It is estimated that there are between 840 and 1,020 crew members alive today. In all, Dustoff crews rescued over 900,000 wounded in nearly 500,000 combat missions from 1962 to 1973. Dustoff crews had a 1 in 3 chance of severe injury or death. Dustoff crews were the pioneers in developing the tactics for the employment of the helicopter in a medical evacuation role. Their goal was to bring the crew and wounded back alive. Life and death decisions were made in the cockpit of a Huey by 21 year old aircraft commanders, and 18 or 19 year old medics and crew chiefs to keep the wounded alive until they reached higher level medical support. This had never happened before! The Congressional Gold Medal is recognition for these heroic efforts by these Dustoff crew members that saved so many lives allowing future generations to grow exponentially. I can’t think of a time in history where so many lives were saved by so few. As the Vietnam War was winding down, Dustoff units returned to the United States. With their expertise in flying day or night, in poor weather conditions and precarious landing zones, they started what was known as the MAST (Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic) program. Dustoff units would pick up serious casualties of major traffic accidents getting them to the hospital much quicker than an ambulance could. As a result of these programs, Life Flight was established and is thriving today, saving the lives of others. A Congressional Gold Medal Bill still needs co-sponsorship from two-thirds of the House. The crews involved in Dustoff exhibited the highest values we hold as a society, the humanity of our country, even in time of moral conflict. Please help the nation show recognition and appreciation by co-sponsoring H.R. 1015. If there is any additional information that you may want or need, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Respectfully, Phillip Moore, MD Winston-Salem, NC
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From: Gary Hagen
Date: June 1, 2024
Things are going very well with the House. They were all home from DC this past week, so I was actually amazed to see any additional members sign on. We are 60% on the way to our goal of 290. We are currently up to 172 co-sponsors plus the sponsor, Derick Kilmer, giving us 173.
In addition to the people listed in my last update, I have several family members writing their Representatives in California and Texas. Also, Patrick Murphy, the brother of a Dustoff KIA from Oregon is writing letters. We have only one Representative from Oregon that has yet to sign on, Cliff Bentz. Patrick lives in his district.
This week we had the following 9 Representatives co-sponsor:
California:
Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-21] 05/31/2024
Rep. Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15] 05/31/2024
Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52] 05/31/2024
Connecticut:
Rep. Courtney, Joe [D-CT-2] 05/31/2024
Kansas:
Rep. Davids, Sharice [D-KS-3] 05/31/2024
Northern Mariana Islands:
Del. Sablan, Gregorio Kilili Camacho [D-MP-At Large] 05/31/2024
Oregon:
Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] 05/31/2024
Pennsylvania:
Rep. Wild, Susan [D-PA-7] 05/31/2024
Texas:
Rep. McCaul, Michael T. [R-TX-10] 05/31/2024
Last Monday, a local station, KOIN TV, came to my home to interview me for their featured Memorial Day story. I guess it was picked up all over. I am attaching the MSN article and news piece that showed up on the Internet.
We leave for Washington DC on Monday and hope to have a very successful week in gaining more support. Hopefully the numbers will climb accordingly.
I want to thank you all for your help. It is so much help.
Gary
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June 9, 2024
Update from Steve Vermillion
Quick update to the members on our recent trip to DC to once again lobby for the Congressional Gold Medal honoring Dustoff and Medevac aircrews of the Vietnam War. To refresh memories, the Senate Bill S.2825 passed unanimously in May making that a completed effort. We have been working on the House Companion Bill HR1015. We need 290 House members to sign on as co-sponsors and currently have 203. When we arrived, we had 175 on the books and through the efforts of Representative Kilmer and the Hunton Law Group, pro bono lobbyists, we left at the 203 mark. These numbers are not reflective of our efforts over the two days of meetings. Those numbers will show towards the end of this week and next week.
We had 75 meetings to include a one on one with Representative Kilmer, the House Sponsor for this bill. Additionally, our team of 13 Dustoff guys completed at least another 70 to 80 drop-in meetings. Of the three trips we have made to DC on this effort, everyone feels this is the most productive meeting yet. House members know that the Senate Bill has passed--we have been to the Speaker's Office along with several high-ranking House members who won't sign until we are near or at 290--they do not want to bias the support of the bill. But they know who we are and what this legislation is about. We are confident that from this trip, we will obtain another 50 co-sponsors. You can track our progress by doing a google search: HR1015 of the 118th Congress. That will give you several choices. I like Govtrack.com and on that site click the link for co-sponsors. It will then give a list of all who have signed including the date of signing.
We are confident that this bill will pass this year and will be signed by the President before year's end.
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From: Gary Hagen
Date: June 15, 2024
Hi All,
Things are going very well this week. We are up 27 co-sponsors and stand at 231 including Derek Kilmer, the sponsor of the bill.
We have some additional help in Florida. Dave Ferrier of the 571 Med. Det. has offered to help by contacting the remaining Florida Representatives while Morton Dean has offered to call the Arizona Representatives that are still not aboard. I have family members that are writing emails to California, New York, Florida, Texas and Alaska.
In the meanwhile, I stopped by 57 offices while in Washington DC the first week of June. Most of the dust has settled after that visit. Although there are at least 5 Congressmen/women's staffers that told me they were positive their boss would definitely get behind this but haven't signed as yet. You just never know though.
I am currently going through all of those contacts and writing follow-up emails to the staffers I visited. The rest of the guys that went on the trip should be doing the same. I am also following up with those I visited in March. We have a lot of help with Congressman Kilmer's office as they are pushing hard to get co-sponsors. Hunton Andrews Kurth Attorneys and staff are going to events and meetings with people and pushing this effort as well. One of them met with a congresswoman who is anxious to help by taking the bill to the floor when they are in session and getting more co-sponsorship. So, the ball is definitely rolling along. It's hard to say at this point who exactly is responsible for getting which Representative to sign on. I would just say if you have participated in any way, by calling or writing you are definitely responsible for any activity. It is very likely that your email, note or call at the very least reminded them to get on board. I was told numerous times how these emails can get buried and it just takes one reminder for them to get the signature from their boss.
Keep up the good work. We are heading down the home stretch, only needing 59 more signatures. We will do this!
Thank you all again for helping out,
Gary
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From: Gary Hagen
Date: June 15, 2024
Hi All,
I wanted to give this next item some special attention.
What we are all doing pales in comparison to what Bob Brady has taken the time to do. He has written what I consider to be a phenomenal letter, in support of the Congressional Gold Medal for Dustoff. He is sending his letter to every member of congress whether they have or have yet to co-sponsor the Bill. This is a huge task and something I believe deserves special recognition. He is going beyond what anyone could or should expect. I wanted to be sure that his efforts don't go without recognition.
These are the types of things that will carry us over that finish line. Every week I discover more and more of what people have stepped up to do to help. Thank you all very much for your hard work. Because of all your efforts this will be a definite win for the Vietnam Dustoff community.
Gary
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From: Gary Hagen
Date: June 20, 2024
Bob has given permission to share his letter with all. This is what he wrote and sent to all of the House of Representatives. He does an excellent job of describing what Dustoff did in Vietnam.
Gary
________________________________________________________________
Dear Congressman/Congresswoman and Staff,
I want to take a moment to introduce some of you to and thank some of you for your interest in and hopefully your support for co-sponsoring the Congressional Gold Medal for the Vietnam War Dustoff Helicopter Crews.
House Bill HR-1015 needs your support and co-sponsorship. It is the epitome of a bipartisan movement to honor one of the most unique groups of soldiers in the annals of military history. A companion bill has already been unanimously passed by the US Senate.
During the Vietnam War, the helicopter Dustoff Crews did something that was never done before and will never be repeated. Please allow me just a few moments to tell you about these Dustoff pilots and crew who are what I call the last of the free flyers.
Dustoff was the call sign for the medical evacuation of the wounded from the battlefield regardless of the time of day or night, the weather conditions or the combat situation on the ground. Every pilot, medic and crew chief was a volunteer. Even the Army recognized the utmost danger of this job and required no soldier to participate. It was considered to be one of the most dangerous jobs in the Vietnam War. Every Dustoff participant knew the risk and accepted the danger. Not only was the real possibility of enemy fire a constant reality in every mission they flew but the missions often involved flying blacked out at night, in the mountains and in the worst possible weather. Missions were never scheduled in advance or evaluated by taking the terrain, weather and the combat status of the landing zone into account by a Headquarters before authorizing the mission. There was never advance notice of a mission and the calls came at all times of the day or night, in the worst of weather and often in the middle of a blistering firefight. The Dustoff crews made the decision to fly, not a Headquarters, not the medical corps, not meteorology, not combat arms. The crew and the crew alone made the decision. To my knowledge they never turned down a mission.
The helicopters were unarmed. There was no fighting back or the laying down of suppressive fire. So they developed flying techniques and skills never before used or taught. Exotic tactical approaches, low level flight and low level navigation, even in rain or fog, blacked out night flying even in the most dangerous of jungle mountains and the worst of weather. Most often these night flights had no means of navigation or locating the LZ. Sometimes they would spot and land to a lighted match held in a Helmet. There was no instrument flight following. No lights on the ground. No GPS or means of pinpointing the LZ. No night vision goggles. No onboard radar or other advanced technology. They always flew single ship with no lead aircraft or support craft. The Dustoff Crews flew at times and in conditions when no other aircraft flew. They would even fly when all other aircraft were grounded. They were required to land or hover in LZ’s deemed impossible for helicopter use. They would at times have to hover hundreds of feet in the air, hiding in the top layer of triple canopy jungle and using a hoist to rescue the wounded. They could not move even when being peppered with enemy fire. Hence, they were the last of the free flyers, making their own decisions and doing what no aircrew had done before or since. Unrestrained, uncontrolled, unsupervised, without hesitation or reservation they flew and did whatever was necessary to retrieve the wounded and get them back to a hospital. Giving the troops the peace of mind and security knowing that in the worst case scenario Dustoff would come.
WWII pilots and crew wartime tours would end after completing 25 combat missions which also awarded them an Air Medal. I mean no disrespect or intention to minimize the extreme danger of those missions but one has to consider that the Dustoff Crews in Vietnam would exceed that number of missions in less than their first week in Vietnam. Many didn’t even survive that many missions and those still alive had a year or more to go. There was no behind the lines safety. When not in the air, they were stationed and flew out of remote field sites often insecure in their own right and with helicopters always the target of the enemy, there was no downtime.
The actions of the Dustoff Crews established new standards of heroic conduct and set the stage for how all future first responders should aspire to and act. To the Dustoff pilots and crews these were not considered heroic acts. They were the everyday routine, they were the standard. They had a far greater impact on society than just starting the air ambulance service of today. Today’s first responders, whether search and rescue, EMT, ambulance, firefighter, police officer and/or others, pattern themselves after the example of the Vietnam Dustoff Crews. Both military and civilian customs were modified. Military tactics on the battlefield were forever changed.
Free to fly and they did, like no one had ever done before or since. The last of the free flyers.
Thank you so much for your attention and support. This Congress will forever be remembered for the recognition of the Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War. These crews set the standard for what it means to act selflessly and embody the essence of what it means to be an American soldier.
My name is Bob Brady. I’m presently living in Thailand and regrettably now in very poor health. The effects of Agent Orange from my days in Vietnam have finally caught up with me. You see, when you send an 18yr old off to war, regardless of the length of the tour, it’s a life sentence.
Thanks again for your support,
Bob Brady
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From: Gary Hagen
Sent: June 28, 2024
To All,
Well, we did it. As many of you have seen we went over 290 today. With everyone's help we sit at 293 today. It will be scheduled to be voted on by the House. After it passes, it will then go to the President for his signature, then it becomes law. It will then be a year to a year and a half before the coin is made and then a ceremony.
I want to thank all of you for all of your hard work that made this possible.
All my best,
Gary
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From: Richard Claywell
Date: June 28, 2024
To all:
I know everyone has put a lot of time and effort for the Dustoff Crews to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. I want to thank everyone for their efforts and putting the world on notice of what we did. Prior to this, in my opinion, only the guys in the rice paddy’s, jungles and hospital staff were the only one that had any idea of what Dustoff was about. Flying Dustoff is the most significant thing I have done in my lifetime and I am proud to know my fellow Dustoff crew members.
Again, thanks to everyone for their support.
Richard Claywell
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From: John Seebeth
Date: June 28, 2024
A very appreciative thank you to Gary and all the others who made this effort possible.
Our nation—through the adopted Senate and House bills—acknowledges Dustoff and its role in saving many, many lives under extreme circumstances during the Vietnam War.
It also gives special honor to those crew members who paid the ultimate sacrifice performing their duties of saving the lives of others.
A most courageous and noble act.
"Fly the mission, so others may live.”
Respectfully,
John Seebeth, 236th medic
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Gary Hagen
Date: June 29, 2024
Hi All,
As you all know the Hunton Andrews Kurth Law Firm has assisted us relentlessly and gone to great lengths to help us get the Congressional Gold Medal. They have spent hundreds and possibly thousands of hours and printed thousands of documents for our presentations to Congress. They have had people (Sherpas) go with us to introduce us with the appointments they arranged with different Senators, Congressmen and staffers. One of our members has tried to calculate their actual costs for their work and believes it would exceed a million dollars if we were to be charged. They told us they worked pro-bono. They don't want or expect anything, not a penny, not a cup of coffee.
Several of us that have worked with this law firm came together and suggested that we may be nice to at least take them out to dinner. It would be at a nice restaurant in Washington DC. During our last 236th Zoom meeting, I mentioned taking up donations from our group. I would like to have any of you that feel so inclined to donate let me know if you would like to pledge a donation toward this dinner to show our appreciation for all they have done. I believe that we might be able to gather enough commitments/pledges not only to pay for the dinner but possibly be able to have a plaque made for the Hunton team for their efforts…
…The Hunton Group organized three trips where we went to Washington DC to walk the halls of the Senate and Congress. The participants, Dustoff representatives and wives, in the trips to Washington would be invited along with the Hunton staff that worked on this project. The Dustoff representatives that want to go to the dinner would pay their own way to Washington and pay for their own dinner(s).
Thank you all for your support,
Gary Hagen
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Gary Hagen
Date: July 2, 2024
Hi All,
Here is a quick update.
Vince Cedola wrote to me today and let me know that the email I sent (see below) was misleading because of my subject line. I apologize. I had meant to write that it passed the house minimum of 290 cosponsors. Too many days typing emails, I guess, and it was too early that morning. In the body of the email I explained the process that needs to take place since reaching the House Super Majority of 290.
Here is a paragraph explaining the process that I received from one of the pro bono attorneys last week and what is expected to come up next;
"Here’s what we anticipate will happen next. The House and Senate are in recess next week for Independence Day. Having already talked to the Financial Services Committee staff (the committee to which H.R. 1015 is jurisdictional), I suspect they will want to bring it up promptly, perhaps as soon as the week of the 8th. They may not feel the need to have a committee vote – that part of the process I don’t recall. Regardless, this bill could be on the House floor within the next few weeks. It will come up under what the House terms “suspension of the rules.” Technically, that refers not to a true suspension of House rules, but the application of a cookie-cutter rule used only for non-controversial bills. The bill will get up to 40 minutes of debate, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. No amendments will be able to be offered. The controllers of the time – i.e., the members who get to decide who else gets to speak – will be the Chairman and Ranking Democrat of the Financial Services Committee. That would be Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Maxine Waters (D-CA). Certainly they will yield time to Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the two lead sponsors of the bill. Others will have to compete for time, but they’ll probably give time to members who are veterans, perhaps Jen Kiggans (R-VA) because of her involvement. Those who aren’t given time can submit statements to be inserted into the Congressional Record. Then the bill will have to pass either by voice vote, or by a two-thirds approval of the House. Since the bill is non-controversial, if they have a recorded vote, we can expect that it will be overwhelmingly in favor."
It is my understanding, that once a bill passes the Congress it goes to the President and he has approximately 2 weeks to sign itI hope this brings some clarity to where we are at and the legislative process.
Thank you and I will send more updates as the process continues. I am still getting representatives, even today, telling me their Representatives are going to cosponsor, which they can do until it goes to the floor.
All my best,
Gary
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Gary Hagen
Date: July 11, 2024
Hi All,
I wanted to let you know what I know about the CGM and where we stand. As of today, we are at 308 cosponsors plus the sponsor, Derek Kilmer we are at 309. We have pretty much quit writing emails and the numbers are still drizzling in. However, I am bound and determined to get the last Idaho Congressman, Rep. Fulcher, on board. I wrote to his office again this morning.
It is expected that that the bill will go to the floor this month. Congressman Scalise and staff make the schedule as far as what goes to the floor for a vote. His staff are apparently on it and are supposedly getting it on the schedule.
It is a wait and see game now. There is no doubt in anyone's mind (that I have heard about) that this will pass. I have been told that the mint has been notified and people are working on this getting ready for it to come to them. The bottom line is that it seems everyone feels good about it going through.
I'll keep you all posted as we go. If you would like to watch when it goes to a House vote you can go to this site and watch for it to show up on the schedule.
Gary
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Gary Hagen
Date: July 23, 2024
Hi All,
The House numbers keep climbing. It is at 315 co sponsors today.
I found out today that due to the Trump shooting, the Secret Service and Democrat nominee problems, the House is leaving early for their August break. Our lobbyists are in constant contact with Congressman Scalise's office about the CGM. It is his office that makes the floor schedule for voting, etc. They assured us that they would get to our vote in September, and not to lose sleep over it.
So....we wait. It just seems odd to me that because they had additional work, they decided to leave a week early. Oh well, that's government, I guess.
Have a great week,
Gary Hagen
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Gary Hagen
Subject: CGM Update
Date: August 31, 2024
Hi All,
As of this morning we are at 328 cosponsors in the House. Nancy (my wife) and I sent out about 115 emails earlier in the week trying to garner more support. I think it bodes well to have a large excess so we can show strength for the bill when it comes to voting time. I have it from a good source that we should see our bill on the floor schedule the second week of September to be put to a vote. After that the Senate bill will go forward, with the House support, to the President for a signature. When that is done, it goes to the U.S. Mint to begin the design process. I am watching closely and will let you know as things progress.
All my best,
Gary
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Gary Hagen
Subject: CGM Update
Date: September 11, 2024 at 8:32:37 PM PDT
Hi All,
Sorry for such a long absence. Not much has been going on that has been of importance regarding the CGM; Until today…..
As you all know the Senate passed their bill, S. 2825, on May 10th. Since that time, we started working on getting the 290 co-sponsors needed for the House to take it to the floor for a vote. We reached 290 co-sponsors in the House on June 28th. The House has been busy, and they were on break most all of the month of August. In the meantime, our co-sponsor list has grown. We will have one more representative added tomorrow bringing the total of the House co-sponsors to 330.
Today we were notified that the House will be taking up the Dustoff Bill on Tuesday, September 17th. They will be taking up the Senate Bill since that is the one that will go forward to the President for a signature. The House and Senate Bills are virtually identical so they will be using the Senate Bill not the House version. It will be brought up under suspension of the rules. What that means is that once the House passes it, which it will do without amending it, the House and Senate will have passed the bill, and the Congress’s work is done, other than forwarding it on to the President for his signature.
I know the House still has to vote to solidify the Bill, but at this point I feel it is just a matter of protocol. I really want to take a moment to thank all of you for your involvement in sending emails, calling congressional staff members, and supporting the "Thank you" dinner for the Hunton folks. Who by the way were beyond stellar in their involvement in getting the Bills pushed forward. I just can't say enough about what they have done. This has been a true adventure and the CGM would not have succeeded without all of your help.
Aside from the CGM and with or without this recognition, I can't tell you how proud I am to be a part of Dustoff. This experience gave me so much more insight about Vietnam Dustoff and what all it encompassed. Previously, my image of Dustoff was mostly constrained to my own experiences. I have been able to see the bigger picture and have learned so much. My respect for all of you is beyond measure.
Link to the House floor schedule:
https://docs.house.gov/floor/Default.aspx?date=2024-09-16
If you want to stream the live House session on Tuesday you can go to this link:
https://live.house.gov/
My best to you all,
Gary Hagen
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Gary Hagen
Subject: CGM passed the house.
Date: September 17, 2024 at 8:28:31 PM PDT
We did it !!!! With everyone's help we have finally passed the House bill. It's off to the President for his signature. Once the President receives the bill to sign, he has 10 days (not including Sundays) to sign the bill. Congratulations and thank you to all of you for your help!!!
In case you are unaware, the Congressional Gold Medal has 184 recipients since 1776. We, if done in order will be the 185th. It is such a great honor to have a place in history with the likes of George Washington, Andrew Jackson, John Paul Jones and the list goes on.
Here is a portion of an email Steve Vermillion (Vietnam Dustoff Association President) sent out to us today:
"Today marks a milestone that most of us thought would never come. The House of Representative convened in session at 2:00 PM EDST today. Representatives Kim, Waters and Kilmer spoke to SB 2825/HR1015 (the Senate bill is moving forward into law and had to be approved by the House) for a combined ten minutes. Their words were heartfelt and genuine in nature. Speaking to the courage and commitment to the mission, they spoke of the heroism of medical evacuation aircrews in Vietnam, rescuing 900,000 wounded and injured.
We reached this objective today because the bill was created in 2015 by Senator Cornyn (Texas) through the urging of MG(R) Brady. That bill languished until the 118th Congress when our association engaged the services, thankfully pro bono, of the Hunton Andrews Kurth Law Group. They created access for our association’s members to meet with congressional representatives and their staff members to tell our story. Without the Hunton Group, this would not have happened! Nor without the commitment and tenacity of those addressed herein who contributed an enormous amount of personal money, time and effort to not only telling our story, but seeking out the elusive congressional representatives in dining facilities, elevators and escalators, airports and airplanes, parades and elsewhere—done so with the highest degree of professionalism.
In 2022 Chris Siedor wrote a paper, “There’s a Story That Needs to be Told”. Through an editing process, it became an introductory marking tool for us. On Friday, Representative Kilmer’s officer contacted me and wanted input from which they could formulate a speech for today’s event. Along with our tried and true PowerPoint presentation, went this ‘story that needed to be told’. Ironically, this story has come full circle and has been told to a listening nation. And you were the storytellers!
We did close out this process with 332 co-sponsors to include Representative Kilmer."
Here is link to Representative Kilmer's web page press release that Pete Leonard sent me:
https://kilmer.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-passes-kilmers-bipartisan-legislation-to-honor-vietnam-veterans
After the President's signature the Bill becomes law and moves on to the design process with the US Mint. The Vietnam Dustoff Association along with the Dustoff Association are writing a joint letter to Senator Cornyn's office with suggestions and ideas for the medal design and requesting to be involved in the design process.
Gary
>>>>>>>>>>>>From: Gary Hagen
Subject: Link to text of House passing S2825
Date: September 18, 2024 at 10:21:47 PM PDT
Here are the transcripts of the Congressional Record on the CGM for Dustoff
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-170/issue-144/house-section/article/H5248-1
https://www.congress.gov/118/crec/2024/09/17/170/144/CREC-2024-09-17-pt1-PgH5248.pdf
Gary
>>>>>>>>>>>
HOUSE PASSES KILMER’S BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION TO HONOR VIETNAM VETERANS
https://kilmer.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-passes-kilmers-bipartisan-legislation-to-honor-vietnam-veterans
>>>>>>>>>>>
McMorris Rodgers, Kilmer Legislation Honoring Vietnam Veterans Passes House, Heads to President’s Desk
https://mcmorris.house.gov/posts/mcmorris-rodgers-kilmer-legislation-honoring-vietnam-veterans-passes-house-heads-to-presidents-desk
>>>>>>>>>>>
Vietnam War Veterans to Receive Congressional Gold Medal
https://www.huntonak.com/news/vietnam-war-veterans-to-receive-congressional-gold-medal
>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Gary Hagen
Subject: Fw: Passage of the Dustoff/Medevac Congressional Gold Medal
Date: September 19, 2024 at 8:18:05 AM PDT
I wanted to share Steve Vermillion's, President of the Vietnam Dustoff Association, message with all of you. Achieving the successful passage of the CGM took the village, and you are all part of that. I want to personally thank you for all of your help and support during the past couple of years as we saw the passage of the CGM to fruition. As it was in Vietnam, our team flew the mission, and we prevailed.
All my best,
Gary
From: Steve Vermillion
Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2024 5:06 PM
To:
Subject: Passage of the Dustoff/Medevac Congressional Gold Medal
Press releases are just beginning to hit the street and posted on Congressional webpages and other multi-media connections. This email is a tad bit long, but I want to share some insight on where we started and how we got to the finish line. Its important to understand that it has been a long journey with the community majority having never been involved with the process or with a few standing on the sidelines castigating those in the swamp. At the same time there have been many people involved all contributing in the best way they could. There has been awesome team cohesiveness, joy and celebration over small successes and there has been personal loss along the way.
The members of 118th Congress and the nation it represents has finally stood up and recognized a group of people whose general moto was ‘so that others may live.” No CGM or other tangible gift will ever replace what you accomplished, and that is providing the gift of life. That is the most precious gift that one can ever give as well as receive. As Doug Peterson so eloquently speaks to; ‘take one person from that group of 900,000 and now, that one person has potentially contributed to the addition of three to four generations of people walking on this earth. Multiply those times 900,000, assuming all survived, and you can see the incredible contribution you are of making in this world.’
On September 16, 2024, the House of Representatives came into session at 2:00 PM and at 2:21PM, Representatives Kim, Waters and Kilmer spoke eloquently about Senate Bill 2825/HR1015 each briefly talking about the valor and heroism of the nearly 3000 Dustoff/Medevac aircrew members of the Vietnam War. At approximately 2:30 PM the bills passed unanimously by voice vote. SB2825 now moves forward for the Presidents’ signature which should occur by month's end. From there, the process goes to the US Mint for the design and striking of the medal. Then finally to the House for the recognition ceremony.
The initial bill was introduced by MG(R) Brady and Senator Cornyn in 2014--yes that is 10 years ago. The bills subsequently languished with minimal support through the various congresses until 2022. Out of frustration, members of the Vietnam Dustoff Association charted a new course towards what they believed to be the best pathway to success. What was lacking along the initial journey was “access” to staff and representatives. A contract was signed with the Hunton Andrews Kurth Law Group, one of the premiere law firms in the nation to provide pro bono consulting services to bring the legislation to fruition. Two members signed the contract assuming financial responsibility for breach of contract should something go south.
After three weeks, we knew this was the right decision. From a flatline in co-sponsors in both legislative bodies, the numbers began to rise almost exponentially over the last 18 months. The Senate Bill was passed in May 2024 with the major effort initially in the Senate due to a lower 2/3d majority requirement. The House followed and when we hit certain marker points on the number of cosponsors, Senator Cornyn and Representative Kilmer, respectively, pitched in by taking "signup sheets" to the floor of the House and Senate gaining cosponsors to sign on. For House Bill 1015, our target was 290 cosponsors. Upon bill signing, we had 332 cosponsors.
Regardless of what you may see published by other entities about who did what during this process, rest assured, had the Hunton Group not contracted with us, the CGM would not have been approved. At its peak period, the Hunton Group had 80 staff attorneys/lobbyists along with a few general lobbyists who wanted to pitch in their time to make this effort successful. By the time the President signs this bill into law, they will have invested nearly 1600 hours of pro bono time or nearly $1.7M worth of lost revenue (non-billable hours). The key to successful legislation is to have expert lobbyists working on your behalf. If you feel inclined to reach out and thank the leadership of the law firm team, contact me directly and I will provide an email link.
Folks that have not been recognized for their efforts are the silent majority--those of you who flooded your Congressional Representative's mailboxes; email accounts, phone messages and in person meetings to drive the message home. Many of these letters, which I read, were written with such passion and strong commitment to not only the mission and the sacrifices of the crewmembers but spoke also of the love and loyalty to their fellow crew members, generated a great deal of emotion and pride in being part of such a great team. I used many of the ‘comments’ from these letters and emails when talking with the representatives to give them a personal perspective. Speaking of commitment, one of our fellows now living in Thailand wrote an email to each Congressional House Member--all 435. Know it as well, without your passion and commitment to be part of this effort, success would not have been achieved. Thank you for stepping up.
From the Vietnam Dustoff Association, within 90 days of contracting with the Hunton Group, we realized success would soon require walking the halls of Congress Our initial group comprised ten members traveling for our first visit, accomplishing more than 70 meetings over two days with staff and members. Many offices not scheduled for a meeting became “targets of opportunity” for drop in visits. Those hidden gems often produced results. For the second and third trips we grew to 12 and then 14 team members respectively as did our number of meetings and drop ins. On all visits, each team was guided through the legislative nuisances and meetings with at least one Hunton Group member with each team. The team members paid their own expenses with a total expenditure of $58,000. After each meeting, team members spent countless hours doing follow up work, messaging and calling the staff members they met with. It easily turned into an eight hour a day job for nearly a year.
Chris Wingate from the Dustoff Association joined us on the second and third trips with the Association adding two more of their members to the third visit. Chris could speak from his Dad's perspective as a Vietnam Dustoff pilot along with his own perspective as a modern day Dustoff pilot. It has been beneficial to have him on the team as he works in Senator Cruz’s office and in return we gain better insight on the functioning of Congress. Moving forward in the design phase as well as the planning for the ceremony, we will have more of a unified voice than we had before entering this legislative process.
The offices staff from Representative Kilmer and Senator Cornyn’s offices in the 118th Congress turned out to be awesome team players. They shared a great deal of insight with us, offered solutions to what we were dealing with and must receive a great deal of recognition for their contributions. They made life much easier.
Senator Cornyn and Representative Kilmer deserve credit for their efforts as well. One of the buzz words we learned was ‘political capital’. Kind of an imaginary resource to be used only when a successful return on investment is almost guaranteed. Other than sponsoring the respective bills, there wasn’t a great deal of effort being expended towards making this successful. Just looking at the flat line over 6-7 years clearly shows this. With the Hunton Group on board and the numbers increasing, both representatives gave us a number that we needed to reach; whereupon, ‘political capital’ would be spent. With their ‘expenditure’, numbers rose quickly saving us from a fourth trip to DC to meet with representatives. Plus, both deserve great credit for being willing to pursue the legislation and to renew over four different Congresses.
A great deal of effort went into this legislation. Please reach out to those in your networks, let them know this legislation passed and let everyone know when and where the final ceremony will be held. In the interim, contact your local media, let them know about the bill’s passage. And I encourage you to reach out to your local Congressional office and ask them to conduct a local ceremony acknowledging those who flew these missions that are from your locale whether they died in combat, after tour or are still among us. Two or three of these have been conducted based on the approval of the earlier Senate bill—all proved to be very rewarding.
Respectfully,
Steve Vermillion
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Gary Hagen
Subject: CSPAN video - Passage of S.2825 Dustoff CGM
Date: September 20, 2024 at 8:23:12 AM PDT
For any of you that may be interested or want to share with others. Here is a link to the CSPAN video of the passage of the bill:
The Dustoff presentation begins at 24:08:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?538443-2/house-session
All my best,
Gary
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Vietnam War “Dustoff” helicopter crews to receive Congressional Gold Medal
https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2024-09-20/dustoff-crews-vietnam-congressional-medal-15236668.html
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'No Hesitation': Vietnam's Lifesaving 'Dustoff' Medevac Crews to Get Congressional Gold Medal
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/09/23/congressional-gold-medal-going-dustoff-medevac-crews-who-saved-thousands-vietnam.html
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Gary Hagen
Subject: Dustoff
Date: September 24, 2024 at 10:04:11 PM PDT
Hi All,
I wanted to let you know that you may be seeing more and more media reports about the Dustoff Congressional Gold Medal.
This following link is the press release from the Dustoff Association:
https://dustoff.org/dustoffer-newsletter/congressional-gold-medal-for-vietnam-army-air-ambulance-crews/
In May Mike Logan (Medic), Doug Petersen (Pilot) and I participated in a podcast with VVMF. This is a 3 episode podcast. Two have come out and the 3rd one is suppose to be out within the next week or so.
https://www.vvmf.org/echoes/
Take care and stay well,
Gary
>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Vietnam War’s Heroic ‘Dustoff’ MEDEVAC Crews to Receive Congressional Gold Medal
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/news/vietnam-war-congressional-gold-medal-act.html
>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Gary Hagen
Subject: Dustoff Congressional Gold Medal Bill
Date: September 26, 2024 at 8:42:00 PM PDT
Hi All,
I wanted to let you know that the President signed the Bill today. It is now law and it's onto the design process with the US Mint.
Congratulations to you all and thank you for all you did in Vietnam. You absolutely deserve to receive this medal and the recognition for your selfless bravery in saving the lives of others.
You are all my heroes....
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/legislation/2024/09/26/press-release-bills-signed-s-2825-s-2861/
Gary
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Saratoga County veteran receives Congressional Gold Medal for heroic service
https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/saratoga-county-veteran-receives-congressional-gold-medal-for-heroic-service
>>>>>>>>>>>>
GOLD MEDAL APPROVED FOR ARMY DUSTOFF CREWS
https://www.ausa.org/news/gold-medal-approved-army-dustoff-crews
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Cornyn, Warren Bill to Award Congressional Gold Medal to U.S. Army ‘Dustoff’ Crews Signed Into Law
https://www.texasgopvote.com/family/cornyn-warren-bill-award-congressional-gold-medal-us-army-dustoff-crews-signed-0015904
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Vietnam 'Dustoff' Crews to be honored - VIDEO
https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/national/new-orleans-congress-passes-dustoff-crews-of-the-vietnam-war-congressional-gold-medal-act/289-9d08b957-dd79-4a81-8614-80c481f4cb9b
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Vietnam Dustoff crews entitled to Congressional Gold Medal
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/vietnam-dustoff-crews-entitled-congressional-gold-19831751.php
Former medevac pilot one of many to receive Congressional Gold Medal
https://www.parkrecord.com/2024/10/15/former-medevac-pilot-one-of-many-to-receive-congressional-medal/
>>>>>>>>>>>>
VIETNAM’S HEROIC ‘DUSTOFF’ CREWS TO RECEIVE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL
https://www.legion.org/information-center/news/honor/2024/october/vietnams-heroic-dustoff-crews-to-receive-congressional-gold-medal
CONGRESSIONAL GOLD: Rex Earl Starr reflects on long military career
https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/congressional-gold-rex-earl-starr-reflects-on-long-military-career/article_cf693b54-8a39-11ef-ae4e-7b173c6c191e.html
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dustoff crews honored with Congressional Gold Medal
https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/dustoff-crews-honored-with-congressional-gold-medal-veterans-vietnam-war-honor
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Forefathers of modern MEDEVAC crews flew through hell for their soldiers in Vietnam
https://taskandpurpose.com/history/medevac-vietnam-war-congressional-gold-medal/
>>>>>>>>>>>>
‘Moments of sheer terror’
https://columbiabasinherald.com/news/2024/nov/11/moments-of-sheer-terror/
Vietnam War’s ‘Dustoff’ crews to receive highest civilian honor - VIDEO
https://www.king5.com/video/news/local/vietnam-wars-dustoff-crews-to-receive-highest-civilian-honor/281-f31a5b7d-b935-4da1-80be-a38450391fbd
Vietnam War era dustoff crews honored with Congressional Gold Medal in Texas - VIDEO
https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/vietnam-war-era-dustoff-crews-honored-with-congressional-gold-medal-in-texas/
Vietnam War-era "Dustoff" crews honored with Congressional Gold Medal - VIDEO
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/vietnam-war-era-dustoff-crews-honored-with-congressional-gold-medal/
>>>>>>>>>>>>