{"id":6222,"date":"2025-05-21T18:00:57","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T18:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/?page_id=6222"},"modified":"2025-05-22T01:22:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T01:22:02","slug":"col-otis-evans-story","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/col-otis-evans-story\/","title":{"rendered":"COL OTIS EVANS&#8217; STORY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div  class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-parallax has-aspect-ratio\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-media-card has-video\" style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/13_Jack-Moran-720x480.jpg');\">\n        \n                    <div class=\"responsive_embed\">\n                <div class=\"responsive_embed_inner\">\n                                        <iframe id=\"video_6183\"\n                    width=\"100%\"\n                    allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\n                            frameborder=\"0\"\n                            src=\"https:\/\/player.pbs.org\/partnerplayer\/aSGq5rkXHfonke1uMVJ2oQ==\/?start=0&amp;end=0&amp;topbar=false&amp;autoplay=false&amp;muted=false&amp;endscreen=true\">\n                    <\/iframe>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                \n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-aspect-ratio has-blue-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#1c2838;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<h1 class=\"has-gold-color has-text-color has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\"><strong>VIETNAM DUSTOFF PILOT<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-text-align-center has-gold-color\">COL OTIS EVANS&#8217; STORY<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#e1e7ec;\" class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image has-light-gray-background-color\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">During the Vietnam War, Colonel Otis Evans served in one of the most dangerous and vital roles on the battlefield: as a member of the Army\u2019s Air Ambulance units, known by their radio call sign \u201cDustoff.\u201d These medevac crews flew into active combat zones to rescue the wounded\u2014often risking their own lives to save others. It\u2019s estimated that these life-saving helicopter crews evacuated nearly 900,000 casualties during the war.<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col has-image has-background-size-small has-background-top-center-position\" style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/DSC05709-scaled.jpg');\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div  class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col has-image has-background-size-large has-background-center-position\" style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/medevac.jpg');\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-dark-gold-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#91816d;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p><span style=\"color:#ffffff\" class=\"tadv-color\">Guided by the legacy of Charles Kelly, who led the first medical evacuation air ambulance detachment in Vietnam, Dustoff pilots\u2019 dedication to the mission is defined in the words of Kelly, \u201c<strong>when I have your wounded<\/strong>\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><span style=\"color:#ffffff\" class=\"tadv-color\"><em>\u201cAny pilot who used the call sign DUSTOFF felt we had to live up to the model that he left for us, so you didn\u2019t turn a mission down.\u201d <\/em><\/span><br><span style=\"color:#ffffff\" class=\"tadv-color\"><em>&#8211; Otis Evans<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#6D5F4F;\" class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image has-darker-brown-background-color\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-huge-font-size\">For More Resources<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/help-military-families\/support-volunteer\/\">Support\/Volunteer<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalww2museum.org\/\">The National World War II Museum<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-huge-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/\">Return to 2025 Featured Stories<\/a><\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"parent":6174,"menu_order":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6222","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>COL OTIS EVANS&#039; STORY - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gold Star families forever carry the pain of having lost their loved ones. 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