Charles L. Kelly

He used a birth date of 22 December 1922 and enlisted under the name "Charles L. Kelley".

Major Charles Livingston Kelly (10 April 1925 – 1 July 1964) was a United States Army helicopter pilot and medical evacuation unit commander during the Vietnam War.

Because of the central role he played in the development of early battlefield evacuation techniques during the war—and the central role his death on the battlefield played in cementing those techniques in Army doctrine at a time they were being questioned by line commanders—he earned the sobriquet "The Father of Dustoff".

Charles Livingston Kelly was born on 10 April 1925 in Wadley, Georgia, the eldest of three sons born to Charlton L. Kelly and Ruth Amelia Moore Kelly.

His father died when he was six years old, and his mother never remarried.

He was raised in Sylvania, Georgia.

Kelly was of Irish descent.

Kelly dropped out of high school and lied about his age in order to enlist in the Army at the age of 15.

He reported for active duty at Fort Screven, Georgia, on 25 February 1941 for 1 year of service as an army medic.

He served overseas with the 30th Infantry Division and, although he was listed as a medic as late as May 1944, he was serving as an infantryman when he was wounded by an artillery shell fragment during the battle for Aachen, Germany.

Kelly's injury was a severe one, a compound fracture of the fibula which kept him hospitalized for treatment and recovery from the time he was wounded in October 1944 until June 1945.

Patrick Henry Brady, who served under Kelly in South Vietnam, said that Kelly's experience as a wounded infantryman was what would later drive him as a medical evacuation pilot.

After his discharge from the Army, Kelly returned to Sylvania, Georgia.

As enlistment contracts at that time included an "or duration plus six months" clause, Kelly left the service as a corporal on 3 August 1945.

He completed his education at the Sylvania High School, participating in the senior play and graduating in 1947 as the class President.

He was also active in the Sylvania Junior Chamber of Commerce, where he served as Secretary-Treasurer, and in the George Alexander Post of the American Legion.

It was also during this time that he courted, and married, Jessie Hillis of Sylvania.

They had a son, Charles Kelly Jr., and two daughters, Carol and Barbara.

Following his graduation from high school, Kelly enrolled in the Georgia Teachers College in Statesboro, Georgia, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1950.

He then followed that by obtaining a Master of Arts in geology from the George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee.

After obtaining his master's degree, Kelly taught for a short time in Warm Springs, Georgia, before applying for a commission in the Army.

He accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve on 25 October 1951 and was ordered to active duty—the customary career path for a Medical Service Corps Officer at the time.

The 57th Medical Detachment was activated at Fort Sam Houston on 6 April 1953.

He accepted a Regular Army commission in the Medical Service Corps on 16 June 1954.

The table below lists Kelly's assignments with details where available.

His service as commander of the 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) in South Vietnam is covered in greater detail in subsequent sections.

Kelly is often erroneously credited with being the first commander of the 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) in South Vietnam, or of selecting the callsign "Dustoff" for the 57th.

Neither is true.

The detachment departed Fort Sam Houston on a permanent Change of station move on 5 November 1957, arriving at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland on 20 November 1957.

It was Spencer who would select the callsign "Dustoff" for the 57th.

During its first year in country, the 57th worked without a tactical call sign, simply using "Army" and the tail number of the aircraft.

For example, if a pilot were flying a helicopter with the serial number 62-12345, his call sign would be "Army 12345".

The 57th communicated internally on any vacant frequency it could find.

Major Spencer decided that this improvised system needed to be replaced by something more formal.

He visited the Navy Support Activity, Saigon, which controlled all the call signs in South Vietnam.

He received a Signal Operations Instructions book that listed all the unused call signs.

Most, like "Bandit", were more suitable for assault units than for medical evacuation units.

The detachment, under the command of Captain John P. Temperilli Jr., MSC, was alerted for overseas movement on 15 February 1962 and departed the Continental United States aboard the USS Croatan (CVE-25) on 8 March 1962 and arrived in South Vietnam on 26 April 1962, bringing with it the first five UH-1s to deploy to Vietnam.

Upon arrival the detachment, among the very first units of the Army Medical Department to arrive in Vietnam, was placed under the command and control of the 8th Field Hospital, whose commander was also assigned the role of Surgeon, United States Army Support Command, Vietnam.

Temperelli was replaced on 26 February 1963 by Major Lloyd E. Spencer.