Classic T-Shirt
- Solid-colored t-shirts are 100% combed ringspun cotton, however, heathered colors could contain a cotton/polyester blend
- Preshrunk to minimize shrinkage
- Double-needle sleeve and bottom hems
Unit History
The Association derives its name, DUSTOFF, from the radio call sign given to the first aeromedical helicopter evacuation unit in Vietnam, the 57th Medical Detachment (Hel Amb), which arrived in-country in 1962. The 57th initially communicated internally on any vacant frequency it could find. In Saigon, the Navy Support Activity, which controlled all call words used in call signs in South Vietnam, allowed the 57th to adopt the callsign “DUSTOFF.” This callsign epitomized the 57th’s medical evacuation missions. Since the countryside was then dry and dusty, helicopter pickups in the fields often blew dust, dirt, blankets, and shelter halves all over the men on the ground. Throughout Vietnam all evacuation helicopters assumed the call sign “DUSTOFF” followed be a numerical designation (the exception being the air ambulances of the 1st Cavalry Division which used the call sign Medevac) and no one ever attempted to change this during the remainder of the conflict.