Mix,

Never had a beef with any of the Dust-Off crews or anybody else who served in Nam. Each of us had a job to do and the war touched each of us in some way or another.

For the past year, certain people have been pushing to get Combat Medic Badges awarded to the medics which served on the Dust-Offs. To me, the CMB is the same as a Combat Infantry Badge. They are awarded to certain MOS's that served in line companies. Those guys served in the heart of the hell which is war. They humped the Boonies during the day and at night remained in "Harm's Way" in some small hole or bunker. Their war was 24-7.

In order to get these awards, some body have chose the route as to say that their missions were of greater risk then the missions of the "Slick and Gun" crews. A kind of "MY balls were bigger then your balls" type of crap. These are the ones I have a problem with. Don't tell me that assault companies crews didn't face the same dangers as they did. The medics on the ground stayed with their units once the wounded were out. That medic on the Dust-Off returned to base and slept in a bed and enjoyed some time off. I could go on and on by comparing hours flown and ships damaged due to enemy action to make a point but then I would be guilty on the same bullshit that these guys are.

Anybody that flew in the "Friendly Skies" of Southeast Asia and earned air crewmember wings should feel a sense of pride knowing that we tried to help the guys on the ground. I always believed that our pilots were the best in the world. Their skills and courage under fire were at times unmatched. Don't tell me that there were people that were better and faced greater dangers just to receive a personal award for a job that they were trained to do. The only heroes in the Vietnam War have their names on the "Long Black Wall" in Washington DC.