On May 15, 1967, personnel of the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, were ambushed in the Song Tra Cau riverbed by an estimated battalion-sized force of North Vietnamese army regulars with numerous automatic weapons, machine guns, mortars, and recoilless rifles. The enemy force fired from a fortified complex of deeply embedded tunnels and bunkers, and was shielded from suppressive fire. Upon hearing that the 1st Brigade had suffered casualties during an intense firefight with the enemy, then-Major Kettles volunteered to lead a flight of six UH-1D helicopters to bring reinforcements to the embattled force and to evacuate wounded personnel. As the flight approached the landing zone, it came under heavy enemy attack. Deadly fire was received from multiple directions and soldiers were hit and killed before they could dismount the arriving helicopters.
Small arms and automatic weapons fire continued to rake the landing zone, inflicting heavy damage to the helicopters and soldiers. Kettles, however, refused to depart until all reinforcements and supplies were off-loaded and wounded personnel were loaded on the helicopters to capacity. Kettles then led the flight out of the battle area and back to the staging area to pick up additional reinforcements.
With full knowledge of the intense enemy fire awaiting his arrival, Kettles returned to the battlefield. Bringing additional reinforcements, he landed in the midst of enemy mortar and automatic weapons fire that seriously wounded his gunner and severely damaged his aircraft. Upon departing, Kettles was advised by another helicopter crew that he had fuel streaming out of his aircraft. Despite the risk posed by the leaking fuel, he nursed the damaged aircraft back to base.
Later that day, the infantry battalion commander requested immediate, emergency extraction of the remaining 40 troops as well as four members of Kettles’ unit who had become stranded when their helicopter was destroyed by enemy fire. With only one flyable UH-1 helicopter remaining in his company, Kettles volunteered to return to the deadly landing zone for a third time, leading a flight of six evacuation helicopters, five of which were from the 161st Aviation Company. During the extraction, Kettles was informed by the last helicopter that all personnel were onboard, and departed the landing zone accordingly. Army gunships supporting the evacuation also departed the area.
While returning to base, Kettles was advised that eight troops had been unable to reach the evacuation helicopters due to the intense enemy fire. With complete disregard for his own safety, Kettles passed the lead to another helicopter and returned to the landing zone to rescue the remaining troops. Without gunship, artillery, or tactical aircraft support, the enemy concentrated all firepower on his lone aircraft, which was immediately hit by a mortar round that damaged the tail boom and a main rotor blade and shattered both front windshields and the chin bubble. His aircraft was further raked by small arms and machine gun fire.
Despite the intense enemy fire, Kettles maintained control of the aircraft and situation, allowing time for the remaining eight soldiers to board the aircraft. In spite of the severe damage to his helicopter, Kettles once more skillfully guided his heavily damaged aircraft to safety. Without his courageous actions and superior flying skills, the last group of soldiers and his crew would never have made it off the battlefield.[3]
In 1968, Kettles received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for these actions, and on 18 July 2016, following a special Act of Congress to extend the time limit for awarding the Medal of Honor (for this particular case only), his DSC was upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
