Air Force Cross recipient retiresMaster Sgt. Tim Wilkinson, the only
enlisted Air Force Cross recipient on active duty. Wilkinson, a
pararescueman, earned the Air Force Cross in 1993 for his heroic
efforts while supporting Task Force Ranger during an 18-hour firefight
in Mogadishu, Somalia. He became the first
enlisted personto earn the Air Force Cross since 1975, bringing
the total of enlisted honorees to 21.
Pararescuer
awarded Air Force CrossAn
Air Force pararescuer killed in Afghanistan while attending to wounded
comrades was awarded the Air Force Cross for his heroism. The medal,
the second highest military honor, was presented to Theresa Cunningham,
the widow of Senior Airman Jason Cunningham, who died in March. The Air
Force Cross is the service's highest award and is only surpassed by the
Medal of Honor, awarded by Congress. Just 22 airmen have received the
cross, and only two have since the Vietnam War, including
Cunningham. Ref: e-mail from Bennett Dickson Sep 02
Vietnam
War hero receives Air Force Cross A Vietnam War
hero was awarded an Air Force Cross, giving him
proper recognition and closing a chapter in his life. Retired Col.
Jerry Hoblit’s actions during the Vietnam War warranted his
receipt of the Air Force Cross, but it took the actions of his wingman,
Col. Tom Wilson, to help set the record straight. Then Capts. Hoblit,
the pilot, and Wilson, the electronic weapons officer, flew 100
missions over North Vietnam in their “Thud”, an
F-105 Thunderchief. They were two of the first Wild Weasels in the
history of the U.S. Air Force. Air Combat Command News Service Jun 03 More
- Thud
Combat controller posthumously awarded Air
Force CrossThe secretary of the Air Force
choked with emotion and covered his face with his hands as he recalled
the bravery of Tech. Sgt. John A. Chapman. Chapman was cited for
heroism against an armed enemy for his efforts during a firefight March
4 in the eastern highlands of Afghanistan as part of Operation
Anaconda. The award is the military's second highest for valor in
combat. It is surpassed only by the Medal of Honor. "Since its creation
in 1960, the Air Force Cross has been awarded to only 23 enlisted
airmen," said Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Gerald R. Murray.
"John is only the third since the end of the Vietnam War to receive
this distinguished award. Such is the high degree of heroism for the
merit of this medal's award." Jan 03
Heroic
Flint native receives prestigious honorHe
is the nation's MOST decorated airman in Air Force history, and he's
from Mid-Michigan. This week, Chief Master Sergeant Duane Hackney's
legacy is being honored. Not only was he the youngest to receive the Air Force Cross, he was the first living,
enlisted person to get the heroism award. Hackney earned 72
medals and decorations, but it was his 1967 heroic act that earned him
the Air Force Cross - second only to the Medal of Honor. Hackney was
lowered into the North Vietnam jungle from a helicopter, trying to
rescue a down pilot. As he was being hoisted back up, the
helicopter came under enemy fire. Disregarding his own safety, he put
his parachute on the pilot. The helicopter then exploded,
blasting Hackney through the door just seconds after finding a spare
parachute. Hackney survived. abclocal.go.com
16 Jun 06
Key
figure in the Vietnam War is starting to earn recognition 37 years
after his death
One of America's bravest military heroes lies buried, unheralded,
beneath a modest headstone on a windswept plot in St. John's Cemetery
in Hamburg. He would have received the Medal of Honor, except to give
him that distiction would have embarrassed a president. The work he did
almost 40 years ago briefly turned the tide of the Vietnam War. It was
so vital that only his wife knew that he had resigned from the Air
Force and joined the CIA to do it. Today Hamburg native Chief Master
Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger is known only in military circles and among
military historians for his gallantry on a Laotian mountaintop during
the Vietnam War. He was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross, the
second-highest military honor for valor, He was recommended for the
Medal of Honor but officials say President Johnson feared giving
Etchberger that honor would have forced the president to admit he had
violated internationa law by putting U.S. troops in neutral Laos.
Instead the Air Froce Cross was posthumously conferred on him during a
secret Pentagon ceremony. Now, howerver, there's a move afoot to give
more high-profile recognition. U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, a North Dakota
Democrat, is leading the effort to have Etchberger awarded the Medal of
Honor. His recommendation is under review. He was on a top-secret CIA
mission when he was killed on march 10, 1968, after singlehandedly
holding off enemy commandos and saving three wounded comrades before
being killed by enemy fire. grandforks.com 27 Feb 05
40
Years Later, Vietnam Vet to Get MedalAn Air
Force
veteran wounded in a helicopter rescue mission during the Vietnam War
is being awarded one of the military's highest honors more than 40
years after the battle. Retired Chief Master Sgt. Dennis M.
Richardson will receive the Air
Force Cross in a ceremony Saturday at the 106th Rescue
Wing Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach, becoming only the
21st airman to receive the medal since it was created nearly a
half-century ago. An Air Force board determined in December
2007 that a mistake had been
made back in 1968, when Richardson should have received the honor, but
it would not cite specifics. A flight engineer aboard a rescue
helicopter on March 14, 1968, Richardson was part of a team trying to
rescue two Air Force pilots who had been shot down and were surrounded
by enemy troops along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Under heavy fire,
and
hovering 10 feet above the ground, an already wounded Richardson leaned
outside the helicopter door, holding a "jungle penetrator" in one hand
and his M-60 machine gun in the other. He provided enough cover for the
helicopter pilot to maneuver out of the danger zone. A jungle
penetrator is a device meant to be lowered through dense canopy for a
downed airman to be lifted to an aircraft hovering above. "The
selfless
actions of Sgt. Richardson undoubtedly saved his helicopter and crew
from certain disaster," says a citation awarding the Air Force Cross. ap.google.com
4 Apr 08
Pope
Airman to get Medal for Valor Staff
Sgt. Zachary J. Rhyner will receive the Air Force Cross
for his actions on April 6 in the Shok Valley in Afghanistan. Although
shot in the left leg, he called in airstrikes, fired his M-4 rifle at
the enemy and helped move other wounded people down a cliff. Rhyner is
credited with saving his team from being overrun twice in a 6-hour
battle in the Shok Valley. Members of A-Team 3336 from Fort
Bragg’s 3rd
Special Forces Group received 10 Silver Stars, the Army’s
third highest
award for combat valor, for their actions in that
engagement. About 100
Special Forces and Afghan soldiers each were carrying more than 60
pounds of equipment when they jumped from helicopters onto icy, jagged
rocks and waist-deep running water in 30-degree temperatures to assault
a terrorist stronghold in Afghanistan. Their objective was at the top
of the mountains surrounding the valley. They were ambushed by
200
enemy fighters, and Rhyner was shot within the first 15 minutes,
according to an account from the Air Force Special Operations Command.
The team came under fire from all directions from snipers, machine guns
and rocket-propelled grenades. Capt. Kyle Walton, the Special
Forces
team leader, treated Rhyner for his injuries as the airman called in
Apache attack helicopters. Rhyner called in 4,570 rounds of
cannon
fire, nine Hellfire missiles, 162 rockets, 12 500-pound bombs and a
2,000-pound bomb, Air Force officials said. Air Force
officials estimate that 40 enemy were killed and 100 wounded in the
engagement. Rhyner
is the second Pope airmen to receive the award since Sept.11, 2001. Air
Force Tech. Sgt. John A. Chapman, also a combat controller,
posthumously received the Air Force Cross for heroism under fire on
March 4, 2002, near Gardez in the eastern highlands of Afghanistan. In
2005. fayobserver.com 27 Feb 09
Chapman 
