Figure 9: Colonel George E. "Bud" Day is the most highly

decorated living American, credit: United States Air Force.

badly sprained. He also was blind in the left eye due to a blood clot or bruise. Day was immediately captured by North Vietnamese militia, taken to a prison camp, interrogated, and severely tortured.

After his guards relaxed their vigilance, Day escaped into the jungle and began the trek toward South Vietnam. Despite injuries inflicted by fragments of a bomb or rocket, he continued southward on foot. He survived only on a few berries and uncooked frogs. Day managed to evade enemy patrols and reached the Ben Hai River where he encountered United States artillery barrages. Then, using a bamboo log float, Day swam across the river and entered the demilitarized zone.

Due to delirium, he lost his sense of direction and wandered aimlessly for several days. After a number of unsuccessful attempts to signal United States aircraft, Day ran "right into the path of the Viet Cong ... he tried to take off running, but after the fourth or fifth step, the enemy started firing at him.’’~8 Day was shot in the hand and leg and was recaptured.

He was returned to the prison from which he had escaped and later was moved to Hanoi after giving his captors false information. By now, Day was totally debilitated and unable to perform even the simplest physical task for

himself. Yet, despite his maIly injuries, he continued to offer maximum resistance. His personal bravery in the face of deadly enemy pressure was significant in saving the lives of fellow airmen who were still flying against the enemy.

Day remained a prisoner of war in North Vietnam until his release on March 14, 1973. Aphotograph of Day is at Figure 9; he is the most highly decorated living American.

Major Mer|yn H. Dethlefsen, March 10, 1967

On March 10, 1967, then Captain Dethlefsen was participating in an attack against the steel works at Thai Nguyen, located about 50 miles north of Hanoi, North Vietnam. He was piloting one of four F-105 "Thunderchiefs." and their task was to go in ahead of a strike force of fighter-bombers and attack the SAM complex, antiaircraft guns, and automatic weapons ringing the target.

On the first pass against these enemy defenses, the F- 105 flight leader was shot down and his wing man was forced to withdraw with severe battle damage. Dethlefsen, however, decided to continue the attack on his own. He managed to evade an intercepting MiG-21 by flying into heavy enemy antiaircraft fire, but his F- 105 was seriously damaged.

Captain Dethlefsen nonetheless made repeated strikes with his wingman against the defense positions, even after they became obscured by the smoke and dust of the exploding bombs being dropped by friendly fighter- bombers.

Figure 10: Major Dethlefsen receives the Medal of Honor from President Lyndon B. Johnson, credit: United States Air Force.

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Then, after evading a second MiG-21, Dethlefsen was diving through the smoke and haze to locate the missile complex when he was again hit by flak. Ignoring the danger, Dethlefsen made a final dive bombing attack and a strafing run with 20-1rim cannon fire, which effectively destroyed two missile sites. He then returned to Takhli Air Base in Thailand with his crippled airplane.

For this action over North Vietnam, Dethlefsen was awarded the Medal of Honor. It was the third award to an airman for the Vietnam War. The presentation was made at the White House by President Lyndon B. Johnson February 1, 1968. Figure 10 shows Dethlefsen receiving the decoration from President Johnson. ~9

Chief Master Sergeant Richard Etchberger, March 11, 1968

Chief Master Sergeant "Dick" Etchberger is the most recent Air Force Medal of Honor recipient. His Air Force Crosss was upgraded to a Medal of Honor using the provisions of Title 10, U.S.C. Section 1130 (permitting a Member of Congress to request that a military decoration be awarded regardless of time limitations; see earlier above). Etchberger’s widow had received his posthumously awarded Air Force Cross in 1968; the Medal of Honor was presented to Etchberger’s three sons in 2010. Etchberger’s Medal of Honor is unique: it is the first Medal of Honor to an individual serving in the highest enlisted grade in any service; no other E-9 has been awarded the decoration.

In March 1968, Etchberger and 15 airmen, along with two CIA officers and a forward air controller, were living at Lima Site 85 in Laos. This was a highly secret radar facility needed by the United States Air Force to direct strike missions in Laos and North Vietnam. Just 15 miles from the North Vietnamese border, the radar site was critical to the success of Operation Rolling Thunder, the ongoing bombing campaign begun by the Air Force in March 1965. But the site was highly classified because it was illegal, since an international agreement, signed by 14 countries in Geneva in 1962, prohibited the stationing of any military personnel in Laos. In fact, concerned about the legality of the radar site, the Air Force had ’honorably discharged’ Etchberger and the other airmen and they were working at Lima Site 85 as ’civilian employees’ of Lockheed Aircraft Services.

Determined to eliminate the threat posed by the secret installation, the North Vietnamese attacked Etchberger and his fellow Americans on March 11, 1968. During the night, hundreds of enemy soldiers climbed the 5,600 foot mountain on which the radar site was built and, in the darkness, attacked with automatic weapons and rocket

propelled grenades.

The Americans operating the radar that night were killed ahnost ilnmediately. Etchberger’s team, which was resting nearby, managed to escape the initial slaughter and take cover on a ledge at about 3 a.m. After a short time, everybody was wounded or dead except Etchberger, who singlehandedly held off the North Vietnamese with an M-16.

As dawn broke, a CIA-operated UH- 1H Huey helicopter managed to reach the stranded Americans. Ignoring the hail of bullets pinging all around him, Etchberger now carried one injured comrade to the helicopter; he also helped another to reach safety.

As the CIA helicopter began to fly away, the enemy let loose a hail of fire. At least one round hit Etchberger as he was being raised into the aircraft or just after he had been pulled inside. He bled to death before he could reach medical care in Thailand.

A total of 12 Americans had been killed, as well as 42 Thai and Laotian army personnel, but seven had smwived, three of them as a direct result of Dick Etchberger’s bravery under fire.2°

1st Lieutenant James P. Fleming, November 26, 1968

James P. Fleming is one of two helicopter pilots to be awarded the Air Force Medal of Honor. He received it for the daring rescue of an Army long range reconnaissance patrol on November 26, 1968. On that day, then 1 st Lieutenant Fleming was piloting a UH-1F light utility transport helicopter. His aircraft, and four other helicopters (two of which were gunships), were returning to their base for refueling and rearming when an emergency call for help was received from a six-man Special Forces reconnaissance team. The Green Berets were penned up next to a river near the Cambodian border, with enemy forces on the three remaining sides.

Despite being low on fuel, Fleming and the four helicopters ilmnediately changed course and sped to the area. As Fleming and the other aircraft descended to attack the enemy positions, one was struck by enemy fire and crash-landed. Its crew was picked up by one of the transport helicopters which, low on fuel and carrying extra personnel, returned to its base. A second helicopter, dangerously low on fuel, also had to pull out of formation and return to base. The remaining gunship made several passes, firing away with its mini-guns, but the intense return fire from enemy machine guns continued.

Fleming, piloting the only remaining transport helicopter,

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descended over the river to evacuate the team. Unable to land because of the dense foliage, he hovered just above the river with his landing skids braced against the bank. The lone remaining gunship continued its strafing runs, but heavy enemy fire prevented the Special Forces team from reaching Fleming’s helicopter.

Although advised by radio to withdraw, Fleming decided to make another rescue attempt before completely exhausting his fuel. He dropped down to the same spot and found that the American soldiers had managed to move closer to the river bank. The men dashed out and clambered aboard as bullets pierced the air, some smashing into the helicopter.

But Fleming and his UH-1F made it into the air, and the gunship then returned safely to Duc Co, arriving with their fuel tanks nearly empty. For his role in this miraculous rescue, in which not a single life was lost, Fleming was awarded the Medal of Honor. He received the decoration at the White House from President Richard M. Nixon on May 14, 1970.21

Colonel Joe M. Jackson, March 12, 1968

On May 12, 1968, then Lieutenant Colonel Jackson, piloting an unarmed C- 123 transport aircraft, performed a daring rescue of a three-man Air Force Combat Control Team at Kham Duc, South Vietnam.

On that day, an Army Special Forces camp located at Kham Duc was overrun by enemy forces, who had taken the forward outpost and were in complete control of the air strip. Located in a valley, the airstrip was surrounded on all sides by mountainous terrain.

Jackson, who had flown from Da Nang to Kham Duc, was orbiting over the battle area when he learned that, in the evacuation of the camp by air, a three-man Combat Control Team had inadvertently been left behind. Another C-123 transport, ahead of Jackson in the traffic pattern, managed to land successfully on the airstrip littered with debris, including a wrecked helicopter, but failed to evacuate the team.

Jackson then descended rapidly from 9,000 feet and made an assault landing on the strip under heavy enemy fire. After he stopped, a rocket fell in front of the transport. A dud, it bounced harmlessly toward the nose of the plane without exploding.

Jackson had landed near the spot where the three men had been reported to be hiding. After they sprinted to the aircraft, and climbed aboard, Jackson quickly took off under a mortar barrage and a hail of automatic weapons

fire from the surrounding hills. Incredibly, after Jackson returned to Da Nang, the crew of his C-123 discovered that not a single bullet had touched their aircraft during the entire fight.22

President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Jackson with the Air Force Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony on Jan. 16, 1969. A recent photograph of Joe Jackson at McChord Air Force Base, Washington, is at Figure 11.

Figure 11: Colonel (ret.) Joe Jackson (righO, credit: United

States Air Force.

Colonel William A. Jones III, September 1, 1968

On September 1, 1968, then Lieutenant Colonel Jones led a flight of four A-1H Skyraider aircraft on an escort mission. The flight was accompanying two helicopters sent out to rescue the pilot of an F-4 Phantom, which had been shot down about 20 miles northwest of Dong Hoi, North Vietnam.

Arriving over the area, Jones made several low passes across a valley to find the pilot and pinpoint enemy gun positions. On one pass, he felt an explosion beneath his aircraft and his cockpit was filled with smoke. Disregarding the possibility that his aircraft might still be on fire, Jones waited until the smoke cleared, and continued his search. He finally spotted the downed pilot "near a towering rock formation."

As enemy gunners occupying a position near the top of the formation opened fire on the Skyraider, Jones realized that the enemy gun position had to be destroyed before a rescue could be made. He himself attacked with cannon and rocket fire while relaying the pilot’s location by radio. While making his second pass, Jones’ aircraft was

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