Medal of Honor awarded after 42 years

Just_A_Mom

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Yesterday, President Obama posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard L Etchberger of Hamburg, PA for heroic actions on March 11, 1968:
The president of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded, in the name of the Congress, the Medal of Honor to Chief Master Sergeant Richard L. Etchberger, United States Air Force, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.

Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism on March 11, 1968, in the country of Laos, while assigned to Ground Radar Superintendent, Detachment 1, 1043d Radar Evaluation Squadron.

On that day, Chief Etchberger and his team of technicians were manning a top-secret defensive position at Lima Site 85 when the base was overrun by an enemy ground force. Receiving sustained and withering heavy artillery attacks directly upon his unit's position, Chief Etchberger's entire crew lay dead or severely wounded. Despite having received little or no combat training, Chief Etchberger single-handedly held off the enemy with an M-16, while simultaneously directing airstrikes into the area and calling for air rescue. Because of his fierce defense and heroic and selfless actions, he was able to deny the enemy access to his position and save the lives of his remaining crew. With the arrival of the rescue aircraft, Chief Etchberger, without hesitation, repeatedly and deliberately risked his own life, exposing himself to heavy enemy fire in order to place three surviving wounded comrades into rescue slings hanging from the hovering helicopter waiting to airlift them to safety. With his remaining crew safely aboard, Chief Etchberger finally climbed into an evacuation sling himself, only to be fatally wounded by enemy ground fire as he was being raised into the aircraft.

Chief Etchberger's bravery and determination in the face of persistent enemy fire and overwhelming odds are in keeping with the highest standards of performance and traditions of military service. Chief Etchberger's gallantry, self-sacrifice, and profound concern for his fellow men at risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2010/09/air-force-etchberger-medal-of-honor-took-years-092110w/

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=250867

How wonderful his sons could be there. They grew up thinking their dad died in a helicopter crash and just assumed as young boys that everyone who was killed in a helicopter crash received the Air Force Cross. In 1983, the mission became declassified and their mom was able to tell them the truth.
This last leg was a long time coming and well deserved. RIP MSgt Etchberger.
 
Great!


I was at a hotel in uniform and an old man walked by who looked a little lost. He kind of planted himselve near me and I approached him to see if he needed anything. First I looked into his eyes but something around his neck drew my attention. A Medal of Honor. He had served in WWII. Like a true hero should be honor, everyone in uniform thanked him, told him it was an honor to be there with him, and we even got our picture taken with him.

Real deal heroes, it's amazing when you meet one.

Great story JAM, thanks for posting, I saw a little something on CNN about this yesterday, but just in passing.
 
One minor correction to the first link. He was not a native of Bismark ND. He had been stationed there prior to deploying to Vietnam and his family lived there. That is why the Congressman from ND got involved.

He was a native of Hamburg Pa where he was the Class President of Hamburg High school in 1951.
 
Sometimes the REMFs become the "tip of the spear". They were about one hundred miles north of us and after they were overrun we became the closest to Vihn Airfield and Hanoi. No more Lao sites after this fiasco. We pushed our TACAN, BROMO and RADAR to the northenmost borders of Thailand and never again crossed the Karsk and the Mekong. Except for those special ops guys and Heavy Hook who weren't there and never did that.

LITS: Did you stand and render Salute? I think that is proper recognition by anyone in uniform for a MOH recipient whether he is in civilian dress or uniform.
 
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No, but I was also uncovered at the time (USCG/USN are generally not covered indoors, and do not salute uncovered).

Had I been covered, I would have rendered a snappy salute.
 
Uncovered and Covered requiring a salute is service connected for indoor or outdoor. Under Arms and on duty station is a real pain. Wearing the cover or not I would have given him one. JSMHO. You salute the galantry and the MOH. Anyway, you gave respect to a real hero, nothing else matters.
 
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