Vietnam vets meet 54 years after one rescues the other

SHELBY TWP., Mich. (FOX 2) -
Dave Luetkenhaus is a certified hero, and not just from the United States Army.

Not because of his three Distinguished Flying Crosses for several especially dangerous and challenging missions, but because Dave Berlinghoff, a retired Army corporal, is alive to tell his own story. 

Luetkenhaus, who retired from the Army as a major after nearly 21 years, earned many accommodations during his service. While those are a point of pride, they pale in comparison to knowing that he saved lives. 

After 54 years, he met Berlinghoff, a man whose life he saved during the Vietnam War. 

Berlinghoff was one of about 1,000 soldiers he saved. 

In addition to the three Distinguished Flying Crosses, Luetkenhaus earned a Bronze Star for valor and service and 19 Air Medals for flying in combat conditions. He also received two Army Commendation Medals, a National Defense Service Medal, four Vietnam Service Medals, two Armed Forces Reserve Medals, an Army Service Ribbon, three Overseas Service Ribbons, the Vietnam Campaign Medal for participating in 60 campaigns/large combat operations providing aeromedical coverage, a Combat Medical Badge, the Senior Army Aviator Badge, a Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Medal, two Unit Citation Medals, two Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Crosses, and a Meritorious Service Medal.

When he returned from Vietnam, he was assigned to the aeromedical evacuation unit at Ft. Carson, CO. This unit was one of five in the nation for Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic, more commonly known as MAST.

This allowed Luetkenhaus to help set up the first hospital-based Flight for Life in the nation at St. Anthony's Hospital in Denver on Oct. 12, 1972. 

The 50th reunion in 2022 revealed that over 150,000 lives were saved by St. Anthony’s Hospital’s Flight for Life.

While Luetkenhaus doesn’t specifically recall the mission that saved Berlinghoff's life, and Berlinhoff doesn’t remember the specifics of the day, they were able to figure out their connection thanks to Dan Creed, a soldier who was there that day, and was able to connect the dots between the two Daves. 

Two years ago, Creed and Berlinghoff were at a reunion when Berlinhoff told Creed he’d like to thank the pilot who saved his life. That’s when Creed, who lives near the National Archives, decided to do what he could to reconnect the two men. 

After a few hours of research, Creed found the call sign of the man flying the medevac that day, his real name and where he was currently living. 

That’s when the tears started to flow for both of the Daves. They had never met each other but were an integral part of each other’s lives. 

Berlinhoff had been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, along with two other soldiers, on that day in 1970. He was in bad shape, but the injuries were mostly to his lower body. Eventually, he had his leg amputated. Another soldier they were with was killed, and the third was mostly uninjured.

"Without him, I wouldn’t be here," Berlinhoff said. "I owe him everything." 

Berlinhoff recalled the day that changed his life.

"It was first thing in the morning," Berlinghoff said. "There was a tremendous explosion and a flash of light. I remember being in the air and felt the thump when I came back down."

Berlinhoff said he saw his leg, mangled, and reached for his M-16, which was damaged beyond use.

"I don’t know how long it was, from when they radioed in for a medevac, it didn’t seem like long," Berlinghoff said.

Creed was one of the soldiers who was there on the ground with Berlinghoff in Vietnam, but had lost touch over the last 50 years, before that reunion. 

Creed said that Berlinghoff had been offered the opportunity to leave Vietnam before he was hurt but chose to stay. Luetkenhaus had also extended his tour in Vietnam by six months, to help train others. 

"These two men are cut from the same cloth," Creed said, "as far as duty and selfless service. I am very proud to know them both."

The medevac could have turned down the mission that saved Berlinghoff's life. Conditions were bad enough that it was almost too risky to fly, but Luetkenhaus and the rest of his flight crew refused to leave anyone behind. 

"My name would be on the black marble wall in Washington, D.C., and nothing that I have produced in the last 54 years would exist if not for his courage and skill as a helicopter pilot. He is the leading character in this story. I was just another grateful rescue," Berlinghoffsaid.

Luetkenhaus said that in a single month, his unit pulled 124 hoist missions, near the front lines of the war, which was more than all the other pilots in Vietnam combined.

"The mountains were covered with clouds, we learned to hover slowly until we got to the top of the mountain," Luetkenhaus said.

When Creed, along with the help of Steve Vermillion, president of the Vietnam Dustoff Association, found Luetkenhaus, it set off a series of coincidences that tied the men together even more tightly.

The Dustoff Association is what the pilots from various wars call themselves. While in Vietnam, Luetkenhaus was known as Dustoff 99. 

The flight crews came up with an acronym for what "Dustoff" means: "Dedicated, Unhesitating Service to our Fighting Forces.

"One of the patches that we wore on our flight suits said, ‘If we can’t, no one can,’" Luetkenhaus said.

While Berlinghoff was born in Canada and moved to the U.S. when he was 5 years old, and Luetkenhaus was born in Humphrey, Nebraska, and has lived in Colorado most of his life, they both had ties to Michigan. 

Berlinhoff lives I Shelby Township with his wife, and Luetkenhaus’s wife is from the Lansing area, something they discovered while Facetiming.

That Facetime meeting allowed them to get to know each other and "get the tears out of the way" before they met in person. The duo first met in person during a private "reunion" at Berlinghoff's house on June 1. 

That was also the day Berlinghoff met his newest grandchild, who was born just before the meeting. His three daughters, who live in various parts of the country and Canada, also came in for the occasion. 

Both men said they hope that the story of their reunion encourages more soldiers to seek out reunions like this of their own. 

"It’s the opportunity of a lifetime that very few injured soldiers get," Berlinghoff said.

Luetkenhaus, who flew over 1,000 hours in Vietnam, said this was the first time he’d met someone he’d previously saved. 

"One of the things we want to do today is to inspire others to find who rescued them and have that tremendous emotional feeling of gratitude," Luetkenhaus said. "It’s just an indescribable positive emotional experience to close the loop and find someone who rescued you."

It won’t take another 54 years for them to meet back up. Plans are already being made, and a visit to Colorado is in store soon for the Berlinghoff family.