A bill to designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the "Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center".

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4070 To designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the ‘‘Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center’’. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 25, 2020 Mr. PETERS (for himself and Ms. STABENOW) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To designate the medical center of the Department of Vet- erans Affairs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the ‘‘Lieuten- ant Colonel Charles S. Kettles Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center’’. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL 3 CHARLES S. KETTLES DEPARTMENT OF VET- 4 ERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER. 5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 6 (1) Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles was 7 born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on January 9, 1930. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Jul 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4070.IS S4070 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4070 IS (2) Lieutenant Colonel Kettles was drafted to 1 the Army at age 21, and after attending Officer 2 Candidate School, earned his commission as an 3 armor officer in the United States Army Reserve on 4 February 28, 1953. 5 (3) Lieutenant Colonel Kettles graduated from 6 the Army Aviation School in 1953 before serving ac- 7 tive duty tours in South Korea, Japan, and Thai- 8 land. 9 (4) Lieutenant Colonel Kettles volunteered for 10 active duty in 1963 when the United States was en- 11 gaged in the Vietnam War. 12 (5) Some of the awards and decorations earned 13 by Lieutenant Colonel Kettles include the following: 14 (A) The Medal of Honor. 15 (B) The Distinguished Service Cross. 16 (C) The Legion of Merit. 17 (D) The Distinguished Flying Cross. 18 (E) The Bronze Star Medal with one oak 19 leaf cluster. 20 (F) The Air Medal with numeral 27. 21 (G) The Korean Service Medal. 22 (H) The Vietnam Service Medal with one 23 silver service star and one bronze service star. 24 (I) The Master Aviator Badge. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Jul 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4070.IS S4070 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4070 IS (6) The Medal of Honor citation for Lieutenant 1 Colonel Kettles states, ‘‘Major Charles S. Kettles 2 distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and 3 intrepidity while serving as Flight Commander, 4 176th Aviation Company (Airmobile) (Light), 14th 5 Combat Aviation Battalion, Americal Division near 6 Duc Pho, Republic of Vietnam. On 15 May 1967, 7 Major Kettles, upon learning that an airborne infan- 8 try unit had suffered casualties during an intense 9 firefight with the enemy, immediately volunteered to 10 lead a flight of six UH–1D helicopters to carry rein- 11 forcements to the embattled force and to evacuate 12 wounded personnel. Enemy small arms, automatic 13 weapons, and mortar fire raked the landing zone, in- 14 flicting heavy damage to the helicopters; however, 15 Major Kettles refused to depart until all helicopters 16 were loaded to capacity. He then returned to the 17 battlefield, with full knowledge of the intense enemy 18 fire awaiting his arrival, to bring more reinforce- 19 ments, landing in the midst of enemy mortar and 20 automatic weapons fire that seriously wounded his 21 gunner and severely damaged his aircraft. Upon de- 22 parting, Major Kettles was advised by another heli- 23 copter crew that he had fuel streaming out of his 24 aircraft. Despite the risk posed by the leaking fuel, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Jul 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4070.IS S4070 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4070 IS he nursed the damaged aircraft back to base. Later 1 that day, the Infantry Battalion Commander re- 2 quested immediate, emergency extraction of the re- 3 maining 40 troops, including four members of Major 4 Kettles’ unit who were stranded when their heli- 5 copter was destroyed by enemy fire. With only one 6 flyable UH–1 helicopter remaining, Major Kettles 7 volunteered to return to the deadly landing zone for 8 a third time, leading a flight of six evacuation heli- 9 copters, five of which were from the 161st Aviation 10 Company. During the extraction, Major Kettles was 11 informed by the last helicopter that all personnel 12 were onboard, and departed the landing zone accord- 13 ingly. Army gunships supporting the evacuation also 14 departed the area. Once airborne, Major Kettles was 15 advised that eight troops had been unable to reach 16 the evacuation helicopters due to the intense enemy 17 fire. With complete disregard for his own safety, 18 Major Kettles passed the lead to another helicopter 19 and returned to the landing zone to rescue the re- 20 maining troops. Without gunship, artillery, or tac- 21 tical aircraft support, the enemy concentrated all 22 firepower on his lone aircraft, which was imme- 23 diately damaged by a mortar round that shattered 24 both front windshields and the chin bubble and was 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Jul 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4070.IS S4070 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4070 IS further raked by small arms and machine gun fire. 1 Despite the intense enemy fire, Major Kettles main- 2 tained control of the aircraft and situation, allowing 3 time for the remaining eight soldiers to board the 4 aircraft. In spite of the severe damage to his heli- 5 copter, Major Kettles once more skillfully guided his 6 heavily damaged aircraft to safety. Without his cou- 7 rageous actions and superior flying skills, the last 8 group of soldiers and his crew would never have 9 made it off the battlefield. Major Kettles’ selfless 10 acts of repeated valor and determination are in 11 keeping with the highest traditions of military serv- 12 ice and reflect great credit upon himself and the 13 United States Army.’’. 14 (b) DESIGNATION.—The medical center of the De- 15 partment of Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 16 shall after the date of the enactment of this Act be known 17 and designated as the ‘‘Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Ket- 18 tles Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center’’ or 19 the ‘‘Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles VA Medical 20 Center’’. 21 (c) REFERENCE.—Any reference in any law, regula- 22 tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 23 States to the medical center referred to in subsection (b) 24 shall be considered to be a reference to the Lieutenant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Jul 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4070.IS S4070 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4070 IS Colonel Charles S. Kettles Department of Veterans Affairs 1 Medical Center. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Jul 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4070.IS S4070 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS