Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Justin Geiger | Retired Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady, a Medal of Honor recipient, displays the prestigious...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas-- A handcrafted quilt lays over the backrest of retired Maj. Gen. Patrick H. Brady's couch, a tribute to his heroic feats during the Vietnam War. Sewn on the 60-by-60 inch white quilt are eight vibrant red stars with eight matching majestic blue stars, centered and aligned in a symmetrical pattern. Encased in each of the 16 stars was a galaxy of smaller white stars.
Respectively, every star, large or small, had a significant meaning inspired by the bravery, selfless-service, personal courage and patriotism Brady displayed on Jan. 6, 1968 earning him the Congressional Medal of Honor, our nation's highest award for valor.
Brady went to Vietnam directly after flight school. During his tour, he exclusively flew helicopter ambulance evacuations, better known on the battlefield as "Dust Off."
"The missions that we flew were the most dangerous kinds of flying, because we were required to land on the battlefield but they were also very effective," Brady explained. "You had a better chance of survival if you were wounded in the jungles of Vietnam than if you were in a car crash. Simply because of that dedicated resource and a well-trained crew to fly those missions."
Brady quickly earned the reputation of one of the most skilled evacuation pilots in Vietnam. His fearless, innovative flying techniques enabled him to operate in conditions that turned most pilots around.
It was for this reason that Brady was called on to make a series of difficult evacuations behind enemy lines, Jan. 6 1968.
On that day, two badly wounded South Vietnamese Soldiers, stranded in enemy territory, covered in dense fog and smoke needed immediate evacuation.
Despite the adverse conditions, Brady slowly descended, turning the aircraft sideward to blow away the fog and smoke with the backwash from the blades. At the next site, he faced the same challenges while braving the hostile conditions, despite two helicopters being shot down on previous attempts earlier that day.
Landing the aircraft in close-range enemy fire, Brady made multiple evacuations to rescue each patient while his helicopter sustained heavy damage.
After switching helicopters in preparation for his third mission of the day, Brady was called on to evacuate American Soldiers trapped on a minefield.
During the evacuation, a crewmember detonated a mine near the aircraft, wounding both crewmembers and damaging yet another aircraft.
Despite all this adversity, he was still able to evacuate six severely-injured patients.
At the end of the day, Brady used three helicopters to evacuate a total of 51 Soldiers.
"As far as fear goes, I never experienced it on the battlefield, for me it was a matter of my faith," said Brady. "My faith was a substitute for fear and I just knew that if I died doing what I was doing, what better way to die? I mean, what better way for a Soldier to die than to be saving the lives of his fellow Soldiers?"
Brady is often asked did he volunteer to do what he did during the Vietnam War. His reply each and every time is "no." According to Brady, there was no question about doing what he did, he didn't have to be asked twice to do what he did and he didn't volunteer to do what he did. He just did it.
He believes all veterans share that same attitude toward duty. Veterans don't have to be asked to do the hard things, they just do it because they're patriots, they love their country, and they support and defend their country.
On Nov. 11th the U.S. honors all American veterans, both past and present, to thank them for defending and protecting the United States of America.
It was in this same spirit of commemoration, and patriotism that Brady received the star- spangled quilt that rests upon his couch. But this quilt's stars hold more meaning than just placeholders of freedom.
During a veteran's commemoration event, veterans of all branches, service members and roughly 50 Medal of Honor recipients met at the Knoxville Convention Center to commemorate their selfless actions. The Smoky Mountain chapter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation created customized quilts and hung them around the convention center, on display for everyone to view.
"Some guys had quilts with helicopters, Marine symbols and all these beautiful things on it and I got to my quilt and thought, 'what the hell it's nothing, it's just a bunch of big and little stars,' however, the quilter wrote me a letter explaining the meaning of the design," a choked up Brady said. "The big stars are the lives you saved and the little stars are the children and grandchildren that came because of those saved lives. And here I am complaining about that quilt."
Brady related that no one asked veterans to do what they did, they did it because of their values.
"Veterans are the vault of values," Brady said. "Values are important to veterans, values are the shining example for all American citizens especially for our children."
As Brady folded the quilt, the stars shown through his wrinkled hands, hands of a hero forged on the battlefield a world and a lifetime away.
| Date Taken: | 11.08.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 11.09.2016 15:35 |
| Story ID: | 214274 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 116 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Veterans Day; A Medal of Honor recipient's perspective, by SFC Justin Geiger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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