Southern Cross information
for 236 MED DET
196 BDE 23 INF
For date 710115
236 MED DET was a US Army unit
196 BDE 23 INF was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Quang Tin Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Hawk Hill
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "A dust-off medic also sees action" by SP4 Robert Spangler.
LZ HAWK HILL, (196th Inf. Bde. IO) - What does 22 months in Vietnam meant to a non-combatant? Well, it means five purple hearts, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, the basic air medal with 25 clusters, air medal with V device, and two Vietnamese Crosses of Galantry, as well as being fired at over 1,000 times to SP5 Delmar V. Pickett of Olsburg, Kan., a dustoff medic with the 236th Medical Detachment. Pickett is probably the only dustoff medic in Vietnam who wears a camouflaged cover on his head gear. "When I first came in-country I wore a red flight helmet, but after a few missions we were shot down and I lost the helmet. I got a new red helmet and after a few more missions a caught a round through the top of that one. It just grazed my head, but I decided that it was time to change colors and I got an olive drab helmet and put a camouflage cover over it," recalled Pickett. Pickett has had quite a few hair-raising experiences during his 22 months here. When asked what some of his most memorable experiences were, he recollected one mission during which his ship had picked up 12 U.S. casualties and was returning to Hawk Hill when they were notified that an ARVN unit in the area had several serious injuries. Pickett went on to explain that their dustoff ship was the only one in the area so they changed course and picked up 20 injured ARVN's making a total of 32 patients and a crew of four on the chopper. On another hair raising mission Pickett took a round through the side of his armor plating that ripped the back of his shirt out. He said he only received a minor scratch from that one." Pickett now wears a small "Gimlet" on his helmet in hopes of improving his luck. He said his younger brother sent him the figurine telling him that it was a bad luck piece. Since he's been wearing the piece he hasn't been hit by enemy fire, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been fired at.
Photo Caption: SP5 Delmar V. Pickett, dustoff medic with the 236th Medical Detachment, gazes into the unknown during a routine flight west of Hawk Hill. (U.S. Army Photo by SP4 Robert Spangler)
Comments: SP5 Pickett; Delmar V.; 236 MED DET Medic; ;
The source for this information was 7101_402_scr supplied by Les Hines 04/05/2000
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
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Last updated
12/11/2000
Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023