[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8396-8397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           COMBAT MEDIC BADGE

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the combat medic badge was first awarded in 
1945 to medics who served in combat while in or attached to a combat 
unit. As times changed, the role of the medic changed with them. In 
Vietnam, medics served in units, but some also flew in helicopter 
medical evacuation ambulance units, called medivacs.
  DUSTOFF was the call sign that we gave this mission, and they saved 
nearly a million people during the Vietnam war by flying unarmed onto 
the battlefield to treat and save our wounded soldiers, most often 
under fire.

[[Page 8397]]

  The average DUSTOFF medic treated nearly 2,000 troops in a 1-year 
tour. Currently, there is no unique way to honor these brave men and 
women. Although they flew in and out of combat every day, they are not 
eligible for the combat medic badge, because they were not attached to 
a combat unit; often the medivac unit was another unit.
  And my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Holden), has legislation to correct this by directing the Army, Navy, 
Air Force, and Marines to develop the combat medivac badge. The badge 
will be awarded to anyone who has served in combat as a pilot or crew 
member of a helicopter medical evacuation ambulance since 1950.
  I urge the body to pass this, give the DUSTOFF veterans the honor 
they deserve.

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