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| Southeast Asia |
| MoH Citation Issued For Actions In Laos 42 Years Ago |
| 2010-09-04 |
| The Medal of Honor, the military's highest award for bravery, will be presented posthumously to Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger for his valor in saving the lives of three wounded comrades at a then-secret base in Laos in 1968, the White House announced Friday. After Etchberger saved his fellow airmen, he was shot and killed by enemy fighters. His heroics were kept a secret for years because the United States did not officially have military personnel in Laos during the Vietnam War. President Lyndon Johnson rejected a nomination for Etchberger to receive the Medal of Honor at the time because of the political trouble it could have stirred up. Etchberger was part of a secret U.S. Air Force radar base in northern Laos, just 120 miles from Hanoi in North Vietnam. The base's purpose was to guide U.S. bomber crews on their missions over North Vietnam and parts of Laos that were under communist control. Laos was officially neutral during the war, but its leaders were upset that North Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong guerrillas were moving through Laos to attack U.S. troops in South Vietnam. So the Lao government allowed construction of the U.S. radar site provided it was kept secret, according to Tom Keany, an Air Force B-52 squadron commander during the Vietnam War and currently a military historian with the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. In March of 1968 North Vietnamese troops attacked the site, called Lima Site 85, with a force of 3,000 soldiers against fewer than two dozen U.S. airmen and about a thousand Laotian soldiers. Eventually, American helicopters were sent in to evacuate the Air Force personnel, but by then eight Americans had been killed and several more wounded. It is considered by some the deadliest ground attack against Air Force personnel in the Vietnam era. According to the White House, Etchberger deliberately exposed himself to enemy fire "in order to place his three surviving wounded comrades in the rescue slings permitting them to be airlifted to safety." It took an act of Congress in 2008 for Etchberger to be reconsidered for a Medal of Honor so long after the war had ended. In most cases, the medal recommendation must be made within two years of the act of heroism for which it is to be issued. Rep. Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota helped push for the reconsideration. Etchberger was a native of Bismarck, North Dakota. "Chief Etchberger was denied the Medal of Honor because he was serving his country on the wrong side of a geographic barrier," Pomeroy said in written statement. "Heroism knows no boundary. While it's regrettable that this medal is coming forty years after Mr. Etchberger's death, I am honored to be part of the effort that recognized this true hero." The ceremony for Etchberger, which will include his three sons, is scheduled for September 21 at the White House. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #5 Jim, given the requirements for the MOH, it is no wonder that many of the awards are posthumous. I agree, though, that there are probably several living people who should get the MOH today. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2010-09-04 23:59 |
| #4 Following the Meme that only deceased get the MOH, not living. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2010-09-04 23:44 |
| #3 I'm surprised no one made a movie about this like they did with the did with that Gene Hackman movie. At least I think it was Hackman. Been many a while since I saw it, but it's where is plane is shot down and he uses golf course lingo to tell rescue where he's going so the Vietcong couldn't figure out what he was doing. |
| Posted by: miscellaneous 2010-09-04 20:05 |
| #2 A hero. May the recognition bring pleasure to those who knew him, so many years ago. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-09-04 18:10 |
| #1 More from the af.mil website: Despite having received little or no combat training, Chief Etchberger single-handedly held off the enemy with an M-16, while simultaneously directing air strikes 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 some of his crew. With the arrival of the rescue aircraft, Chief Etchberger, without hesitation, once again deliberately risked his own life numerous times, exposing himself to heavy enemy fire in order to place his 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. "He should have a 55-gallon drum full of medals," said retired Tech Sgt. John G. Daniel, 71, of La Junta, Colo. Sergeant Daniel was one of the three rescued. "I wouldn't be alive without him." |
| Posted by: Thring Dark Lord of the Pixies3371 2010-09-04 13:21 |