Bruckner, William Joseph; Hilliard, Tony

Description

In this interview, Craig Honaman recalls his experiences serving as a DUSTOFF pilot during the Vietnam War. He remembers his upbringing, education, and enrollment in an ROTC program at North Carolina State University. The Army was looking for volunteers to fly and when Honaman agreed, the Army paid for him to obtain his private pilot's license. He requested the Medical Service Corps and was assigned to the 57th Medical Detachment, flying Huey helicopters to evacuate wounded soldiers from battle zones to field hospitals. He describes the day to day operations of his crew; how the call sign "DUSTOFF" came to be; how the Huey helicopter was originally designed for medical evacuations; and the excellent medical care that soldiers would receive while in the air. After the war, he attended graduate school at the University of Alabama in Birmingham and worked for Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, where he pioneered the use of helicopters in civilian hospitals.Craig Honaman served as an air ambulance pilot in the United States Army during the Vietnam War.

Record Contributed By

Atlanta History Center

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia