Dust-Off Three-One

A telephone call to Senator J. William Fulbright's Washington D.C. office affected a change of assignment for new Warrant Officer Pilot Thomas Butler to Medical Evacuation School. He could not have known how this 'favor' would effect his future and the decisions he would make in combat. With only minor glimpses into the struggles of an African American as a Warrant Officer Cadet during the late 1960's, we are catapulted into the jungles of Vietnam. Mr. Butler presents a rare look into the lives of the men whose task it was to retrieve the wounded from the battlefields and jungles of Vietnam. He tells the story like none other has, very effectively including the writings of a North Vietnamese officer, Captain Trang.

Thomas Butler's father's death during his fl ight school training may have been a contributing factor in his sometimes reckless, always daring behavior as an Aircraft Commander for the 498th Medical Company (Air Ambulance). His citations include the Bronze Star Medal with "V" device for valor, the Purple Heart Medal, the Air Medal, and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry.