31 Years Later, C-17 Employee Receives Vietnam Medal

by Gary Lesser

 A C-17 quality administrator who served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam more than 30 years ago received long-overdue recognition yesterday for his service.

In a Long Beach, Calif., ceremony on a C-17 being readied for delivery to the U.S. Air Force, Tom MacDonald formally received an Air Medal with 5 awards, recognizing the more-than 125 missions he flew as a flight engineer on Boeing CH-47C Chinook helicopters in Vietnam.  The missions included combat assaults, re-supply, rescuing downed pilots and crews, and recovering damaged aircraft.

“Even though Vietnam seems like a distant memory, I’m very pleased to have received this medal – and in such a memorable way,” said MacDonald.  “It brings a sense of recognition and closure to an era of my life I’m very proud of.”

What made the day memorable was how MacDonald got the medal: it was pinned on his chest by Army Lt. Gen. John Riggs, in Long Beach to tour the C-17 production facility.  In an ironic twist, Lt. Gen. Riggs is a former Chinook pilot who flew in same area, at the same time and on the same operations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia as MacDonald.  Lt. Gen. Riggs, who has 23 Air Medal awards, is now director of the Army’s Objective Force Task Force.

“My relationship with Boeing was forged initially in the fall of 1969, when I was trained to maintain and operate the Chinook,” said MacDonald, an 18-year Boeing veteran assigned to C-17 commercial programs.  “To show you the longevity and durability of Boeing products, the last CH-47C I flew on is still in service today, flying with the Oregon National Guard after being remanufactured into a CH-47D in the 1980s.”

You might wonder -- why someone who earned a military medal in the early 1970s receives it 31 years later.  An unfortunate bureaucratic oversight is responsible for not getting the medal to MacDonald before his discharge from the Army in 1972.  MacDonald can thank his former Army colleagues and the Boeing Veterans’ Committee for making today’s ceremony happen.

After a 30-year reunion of MacDonald’s Vietnam unit, the 213th, ASHC, BlackCats, one of his old Army buddies did some research and found that MacDonald had received orders for a medal in 1972, but didn’t receive it because he’d already been discharged and the paperwork never caught up with him.

MacDonald filled out some forms, experienced some red tape, and eventually received his Air Medal in the mail last year – with a formal letter from the Department of Defense – but without the fanfare and ceremony so often accorded combat awards.

In stepped Craig Mandeville, C-17 FOD (foreign object debris) senior manager – and an active participant in Boeing Veterans’ Committee affairs in Southern California.  “It’s important and appropriate to properly recognize those who’ve served the country in combat, even if it’s 30 years later,” said Mandeville, himself a decorated veteran with four Purple Hearts.  “Tom earned the medal and this day was richly deserved and long overdue.”

Ever passionate about veterans’ issues and making sure those who serve are not forgotten, Mandeville called in the troops, literally, to give MacDonald his due.

So Thursday afternoon under sunny California skies, thousands of miles and 30 years from Vietnam, with his wife Cheryl and C-17 leaders and teammates looking on, and a three-star general saluting him, a proud and humble Tom MacDonald finally received his Air Medal, symbolic of distinguished service in aerial flight.

“It was worth the wait,” he said. “Today was my ‘welcome home.’  I hope all Vietnam Vets have theirs, too.”

To learn more about the Air Medal, see https://www.perscomonline.army.mil/tagd/tioh/Awards/AIR%20MEDAL1.html