Today’s Star Spangled Salute honors Vietnam War Veteran David Chaffin. David was a combat medic with B Company, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, First Air Cavalry Division. On July 15th, 1969 David and his fellow soldiers were waiting for extraction. During the extraction one of the helicopters crashed and David rushed to help. He dragged the pilot, Ronald Hope to safety but Ronald had suffered burns, broken bones and other severe injuries. David got him to the safety of a MASH unit then the 2 went their separate ways. David had always wondered what happened to Ronald. More than 5 decades later, the 2 men reunited for the first time. Thank you David and thank you Ronald for your service.
