Patrick Henry Brady-Cedar Herald Index

Patrick Henry Brady (born October 1, 1936), is a retired United States Army major general. While serving as a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War, he received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration for valor.

Early life

Brady attended O'Dea High School in Seattle, Washington, an all-boys school run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, where he was active in sports.

Patrick Henry Brady

Military career

While in college at Seattle University, Brady initially hated the compulsory Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program and was kicked out. Brady realized he would probably be drafted after graduation and reentered the ROTC program in order to enter military service as an officer. After graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Medical Service Corps on March 20, 1959. On April 4, he went on active duty. He served in West Berlin from September 1959 to August 1961 with the 6th Infantry Brigade. In August 1961, he became the Motor Pool Officer of the hospital in the 279th Station Hospital in West Berlin. He became the Detachment Commander in June 1962 until October 1962. In December 1963, he graduated from the United States Army Aviation School at Fort Rucker, Alabama. In January 1964, he deployed to Vietnam.

Patrick Henry Brady

During his first tour in Vietnam, from January 1964 to January 1965, then-Captain Brady served as a Dust Off pilot with the 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance), where his commanding officer was Major Charles L. Kelly. After Kelly's death on July 1, 1964, Brady took command of Detachment A, 57th Medical Detachment, at Sóc Trăng. The following day, a commander tossed the bullet that killed Kelly on Brady's desk in front of Captain Brady and asked if they were going to stop flying so aggressively. Brady picked up the bullet and replied, "we are going to keep flying exactly the way Kelly taught us to fly, without hesitation, anytime, anywhere."

Patrick Henry Brady

On his second tour of duty in Vietnam, 1967 to 1968, Brady, now a major, was second in command of the 54th Medical Detachment. It was during this second tour in Vietnam that Brady was awarded the Medal of Honor. Brady flew over 2,000 combat missions and evacuated more than 5000 wounded during his two tours of duty in South Vietnam.

Brady retired from the United States Army as a major general on September 1, 1993, after 34 years of service.