Washington D.C. Vietnam WALL Ceremony

On Tuesday May 3rd at 12:00 noon at the Vietnam Memorial WALL there will be a ceremony where the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 542 will place the Combat Aeromedic Badge at the base of the panels containing the names of the Fallen Dustoff crewmembers of the Vietnam War.

The badge is based on a design rendered by Billy Cunningham a medic who served with the 57th Med Det Republic of Vietnam. The badges will be contained in jewelry cases and after the ceremony forwarded to those relatives of the men on the Wall who requested them.

This ceremony will highlight the new Bills that have been placed in both the House and Senate calling for the Army to officially recognize the service of Dustoff both past and present.

Present at the ceremony to help place the badges will be Congressional Medal Of Honor recepitiant Mike Novosel, former Vietnam Prisioner of War for over 7 years US Navy Cpt. ( Ret) Ed Davis, double amputee infantry solider Fred Castleberry, and many other Vietnam veterans including Congressman Joesph Pitts of Pennsylvaniaa former B52 crewmember during the Vietnam War, and co sponser of the new Bill in the House.

With the advent of the new "Close Combat Badge" the Vietnam Veterans of America feel time has come to bring this matter to public attention. We expect a media presence and are ready to state our case to the public. To all who can attend we welcome you to join us. To those currently serving with Dustoff we especially would love to have you attend as the new bills in Congress affect you as well

The headquarters hotel for the event Tuesday May 3rd is the Silver Spring Hilton--not downtown--phone is 301-589-5200--if you encounter difficulty getting with the "VVA Group--Dustoff ceremony" make your reservation anyway (group rate is $119. some have been told the block is no longer there and quoted $189.)then call back and ask for Nicole Neale or Jaime DeChent 301-563-3801.