1944 - Piloting a B-17 bomber named Bertie Lee (a woman the aviator meets during flight training in Arizona, they will later marry) on its twenty-sixth mission for 305th Bombardment Group or the Eight Air Force, 26-year-old First Lieutenant Edward S. Michael of Chicago, Illinois has a Congressional Medal of Honor day.
Michael
Flying a bombing mission over Germany attacking the ball-bearing factory at Stettin (75 miles from Berlin), Michael's plane is singled out by Luftwaffe fighters (100 Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs) and savaged with cannon fire, knocking the plane out of formation ... two engines take major damage, there is a flak hole in one wing, the top gun turret is raked, the cockpit area is struck, wounding the co-pilot (Lt. Franklin Westberg) and Michael (hit in the right thigh, it will take him seven weeks in a hospital to recover), a side window is blown out, instruments are wrecked, hydraulic fluid covers the front window, smoke fills the cabin, and the still loaded bomb bay area catches fire (and the emergency release lever refuses to work. Plane in imminent danger of exploding at any second (it drops 3,000 feet before Michael can level out), Michael orders his crew to bail out (seven do, with assistance from Michael while the co-pilot holds the plane steady and continues to maneuver away from the still attacking fighters) ... there is a problem though, enemy fire that has hit the plane has also shredded equipment and Michael, his co-pilot, and the bombardier (Lt. John Lieber, his is the holed chute) have only two viable parachutes, so Michael makes the decision to try to fly the bomber home. Forty-five minutes under attack, Michael finally loses the German fighters in a cloud bank and negates anti-aircraft flak fire by leveling off at only 50 feet above the ground (while the bombardier finally manages to release the plane's load of ordinance).
Crew Of The Bertie Lee
Standing L To R - Kosino, Malone, Ridge, Russo, Wilkens, Evans
Kneeling L To R - Westburg, Miller, Lieber, Michael
France reached, the men decide to try for England as Michael's blood loss causes him to begin passing in and out of consciousness (the bombardier patches up the pilot and co-pilot as best he can). Making England and an RAF field near the coast, Michael awakes and insists on taking the control for the landing that will bring the plane safely down despite a useless undercarriage, the bomb bay doors jammed open, the hydraulic system, altimeter, and air speed indicator shot out, the flaps barely responding, and the ball turret jammed with its guns pointing down. And somehow, Michael pulls it off in what the RAF pilots at the field will describe as the most perfect crash landing they've ever seen (incredibly, the entire crew survives its day over Germany).
The Bertie Lee On The Ground
Michael In Later Life
Michael Flying a bombing mission over Germany attacking the ball-bearing factory at Stettin (75 miles from Berlin), Michael's plane is singled out by Luftwaffe fighters (100 Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs) and savaged with cannon fire, knocking the plane out of formation ... two engines take major damage, there is a flak hole in one wing, the top gun turret is raked, the cockpit area is struck, wounding the co-pilot (Lt. Franklin Westberg) and Michael (hit in the right thigh, it will take him seven weeks in a hospital to recover), a side window is blown out, instruments are wrecked, hydraulic fluid covers the front window, smoke fills the cabin, and the still loaded bomb bay area catches fire (and the emergency release lever refuses to work. Plane in imminent danger of exploding at any second (it drops 3,000 feet before Michael can level out), Michael orders his crew to bail out (seven do, with assistance from Michael while the co-pilot holds the plane steady and continues to maneuver away from the still attacking fighters) ... there is a problem though, enemy fire that has hit the plane has also shredded equipment and Michael, his co-pilot, and the bombardier (Lt. John Lieber, his is the holed chute) have only two viable parachutes, so Michael makes the decision to try to fly the bomber home. Forty-five minutes under attack, Michael finally loses the German fighters in a cloud bank and negates anti-aircraft flak fire by leveling off at only 50 feet above the ground (while the bombardier finally manages to release the plane's load of ordinance).
Crew Of The Bertie Lee
Standing L To R - Kosino, Malone, Ridge, Russo, Wilkens, Evans
Kneeling L To R - Westburg, Miller, Lieber, Michael
France reached, the men decide to try for England as Michael's blood loss causes him to begin passing in and out of consciousness (the bombardier patches up the pilot and co-pilot as best he can). Making England and an RAF field near the coast, Michael awakes and insists on taking the control for the landing that will bring the plane safely down despite a useless undercarriage, the bomb bay doors jammed open, the hydraulic system, altimeter, and air speed indicator shot out, the flaps barely responding, and the ball turret jammed with its guns pointing down. And somehow, Michael pulls it off in what the RAF pilots at the field will describe as the most perfect crash landing they've ever seen (incredibly, the entire crew survives its day over Germany).
The Bertie Lee On The Ground
Michael In Later Life
1966 - Part of an HH-43F Kamen Huskie helicopter aircrew assigned (with one other Huskie) to rescue an American Army unit pinned down near Cam My, a few miles from Saigon, 20-year-old Airman First Class, William H. "Pits" Pitsenbarger volunteers to ride a hoist down into the jungle to assist in the evacuation of wounded soldiers. Nine wounded men lifted to safety, when enemy fire forces the helicopters to depart, Pitsenbarger refuses to take the last litter up to safety, and decides to stay with the unit in support of the twenty men remaining on the ground. In the hours that follow, the airman attends to more wounded soldiers (80% of the unit will become casualties), creates stretchers out of jungle vines, distributes ammo he has collected from the dead, then grabs a rifle to hold off attacking enemy soldiers. Three times he is wounded, but continues to help others he deems worse off ... until a Viet Cong sniper kills him. His body recovered later, Pitsenbarger is found holding a rifle in one hand and a medical kit in the other. For his heroic actions, Pitsenbarger is awarded a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor.
Pitsenbarger
Air Force Portrait
1966 - His company under heavy attack by a battalion of Viet Cong soldiers, 25-year-old Sergeant James W. Robinson, Jr. of Hinsdale, Illinois goes into action to try and extricate his men from the dangerous position they find themselves in ... organizing a firing line, with a grenade launcher he takes out an enemy sniper, exposes himself to intense fire dragging a wounded soldier, and the medic hit treating the man, to safety, then gives first aid to the pair, saving both men's lives, distributes ammo and weapons, assists in beating off an attack, leaves his position to save another wounded man (and in the process, becomes wounded himself in the shoulder and leg. Patching his own wounds, Robinson sees an enemy machine gun causing extensive casualties to the unit and launches a solo attack ... rifle empty, he grabs two grenades and charges, Hit again in the leg by a tracer round that sets his clothes on fire, Robinson rips off the clothing and continues to stagger forward until he is hit twice in the chest ... within throwing range, Robinson summons the last of his strength and throws the grenades at the machine gun as he dies, taking the position out. For his heroic deeds and selfless sacrifice, Robinson is awarded a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor.
Robinson, Jr.
1970 - Saving his two Marine comrades as they try to remove a Viet Cong soldier from the waters of a deep pond, 20-year-old Lance Corporal Emilio A. De La Garza, Jr. of East Chicago, Indiana throws himself in front of a grenade blast the prisoner unleashes ... Semper Fi translated into action, the blast kills the young American machine gunner ... an act for which he is awarded a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor (he leaves behind a wife and young daughter).
De La Garza, Jr.
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