RogueExec
22 December 2000, 11:36
Air Force Times
Published: 12/25/2000
Category: Cover Story
Page: 16
Largest Medal of Honor ceremony highlights PJs
By Robert F. Dorr
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio — The Air Force and the nation recognized the heroic deeds of a pararescue jumper Dec. 8 when the Medal of Honor was posthumously awarded to Airman 1st Class William H. “Pits” Pitsenbarger, who gave his life to save others during a Vietnam battle in 1966.
Secretary of the Air Force F. Whitten Peters presented the award for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” to the airman’s father, Frank Pitsenbarger. The Pitsenbarger family is from Ohio.
Peters spoke of the courage shown by Pitsenbarger, who relinquished his seat on an HH-43F Huskie helicopter to remain on the ground and fight with embattled Army troops — and of the significance of this action to pararescuemen, who are known as PJs. “For our pararescuemen, is a validation of their dedication to a supremely demanding profession,” Peters said. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Ryan and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Jim Finch also spoke at the ceremony.
The event took place in the Modern Flight Hangar of the Air Force Museum. Among the 1,100 in attendance — plus about 600 watching on video in a nearby overflow area — were 400 current and former PJs, the largest number ever assembled in one place. It was the largest Medal of Honor ceremony ever held.
PJs teamed up with other helicopter crew members to save 3,883 lives during the Vietnam War. PJs attending the ceremony said they saw the award as long-awaited recognition for all who wear their distinctive maroon berets, bloused trousers and combat boots.
On April 11, 1966, Pitsenbarger’s helicopter was called in to help evacuate American casualties from a jungle firefight 35 miles east of Saigon. The Army’s Charlie Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, was caught up in a battle with Viet Cong guerrillas.
Pitsenbarger volunteered to ride a rescue hoist 200 feet down through triple-canopy jungle. Struck by an AK-47 rifle round while descending, he reached the ground and organized rescue efforts. He helped many seriously wounded be flown to safety.
One of Charlie Company’s embattled soldiers, Sgt. Charles S. Navarro, described immediately after the firefight how Pitsenbarger repeatedly exposed himself to care for the wounded.
“He risked enemy gunfire to gather and distribute vital ammunition to the American defenders,” Navarro said. “As he crept from one isolated position to another across the broken perimeter, Pitsenbarger fired his M-16 , gathered ammunition and tended to wounded men.” Wounded several more times, Pitsenbarger eventually was killed in the fight.
Almost 35 years later, Charlie Company veterans also attended the ceremony. “Most of us didn’t know him, but he became one of our own,” one of the soldiers said of Pitsenbarger.
Peters called Pitsenbarger’s role in the battle a “brilliant flash of personal valor, of heroism so radiant that it lights up everything and everyone near it.”
Retired Lt. Col. Harold “Hal” Salem, 68, of Mesa, Ariz., pilot of Pitsenbarger’s helicopter and a captain at the time, believed the pararescueman’s bravery warranted the Medal o f Honor. Col Arthur W. Beall, commander of air rescue forces in Southeast Asia, recommended Pitsenbarger for the Medal of Honor.
Pitsenbarger was awarded the Air Force Cross instead.
From the time of the Vietnam action, many, especially in the PJ community, believed the higher award was appropriate. In recent years, efforts to upgrade the award were spearheaded by Salem; Pitsenbarger’s fellow PJ retired Lt. Col. Harry O’Beirne, 63, of Huntsville, Ala.; and Peters, who took a strong personal interest and enlisted help from Air Force civilian Joe Lineberger, director of the Air Force Review Board Agency.
“Peters took that thing and ran with it,” Salem said in a Dec. 15 telephone interview. “Lineberger was the bulldog who pushed it through to get the necessary signatures.”
The upgraded award eventually was included in the fiscal 2001 Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Clinton on Oct. 30.
Clinton passed on the opportunity to present the award and plans for Secretary of Defense William Cohen to make the presentation had to be changed. Peters called the opportunity to present “a highlight of my life.”
The Air Force Museum has a display honoring Pitsenbarger and other Vietnam-era PJs. The display includes an HH-43B Huskie similar to the helicopter piloted by Salem and crewed by Pitsenbarger (which was lost in combat in 1967), as well as personal memorabilia from Pitsenbarger’s Air Force service.
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PJ's, you are all appreciated despite the lack of press you receive in comparison to The Regiment, SF, Marine Recon, SEALs, etc. This proves it. I am grateful for all in the Air Force who wear the berets of PJ and CCT. True professionals. HooAh.
Scout (19D) - 303rd Cavalry/Echo Group
ARNG - Fort Lewis, WA
[This message has been edited by RogueExec (edited 12-27-2000).]
Published: 12/25/2000
Category: Cover Story
Page: 16
Largest Medal of Honor ceremony highlights PJs
By Robert F. Dorr
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio — The Air Force and the nation recognized the heroic deeds of a pararescue jumper Dec. 8 when the Medal of Honor was posthumously awarded to Airman 1st Class William H. “Pits” Pitsenbarger, who gave his life to save others during a Vietnam battle in 1966.
Secretary of the Air Force F. Whitten Peters presented the award for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” to the airman’s father, Frank Pitsenbarger. The Pitsenbarger family is from Ohio.
Peters spoke of the courage shown by Pitsenbarger, who relinquished his seat on an HH-43F Huskie helicopter to remain on the ground and fight with embattled Army troops — and of the significance of this action to pararescuemen, who are known as PJs. “For our pararescuemen, is a validation of their dedication to a supremely demanding profession,” Peters said. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Ryan and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Jim Finch also spoke at the ceremony.
The event took place in the Modern Flight Hangar of the Air Force Museum. Among the 1,100 in attendance — plus about 600 watching on video in a nearby overflow area — were 400 current and former PJs, the largest number ever assembled in one place. It was the largest Medal of Honor ceremony ever held.
PJs teamed up with other helicopter crew members to save 3,883 lives during the Vietnam War. PJs attending the ceremony said they saw the award as long-awaited recognition for all who wear their distinctive maroon berets, bloused trousers and combat boots.
On April 11, 1966, Pitsenbarger’s helicopter was called in to help evacuate American casualties from a jungle firefight 35 miles east of Saigon. The Army’s Charlie Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, was caught up in a battle with Viet Cong guerrillas.
Pitsenbarger volunteered to ride a rescue hoist 200 feet down through triple-canopy jungle. Struck by an AK-47 rifle round while descending, he reached the ground and organized rescue efforts. He helped many seriously wounded be flown to safety.
One of Charlie Company’s embattled soldiers, Sgt. Charles S. Navarro, described immediately after the firefight how Pitsenbarger repeatedly exposed himself to care for the wounded.
“He risked enemy gunfire to gather and distribute vital ammunition to the American defenders,” Navarro said. “As he crept from one isolated position to another across the broken perimeter, Pitsenbarger fired his M-16 , gathered ammunition and tended to wounded men.” Wounded several more times, Pitsenbarger eventually was killed in the fight.
Almost 35 years later, Charlie Company veterans also attended the ceremony. “Most of us didn’t know him, but he became one of our own,” one of the soldiers said of Pitsenbarger.
Peters called Pitsenbarger’s role in the battle a “brilliant flash of personal valor, of heroism so radiant that it lights up everything and everyone near it.”
Retired Lt. Col. Harold “Hal” Salem, 68, of Mesa, Ariz., pilot of Pitsenbarger’s helicopter and a captain at the time, believed the pararescueman’s bravery warranted the Medal o f Honor. Col Arthur W. Beall, commander of air rescue forces in Southeast Asia, recommended Pitsenbarger for the Medal of Honor.
Pitsenbarger was awarded the Air Force Cross instead.
From the time of the Vietnam action, many, especially in the PJ community, believed the higher award was appropriate. In recent years, efforts to upgrade the award were spearheaded by Salem; Pitsenbarger’s fellow PJ retired Lt. Col. Harry O’Beirne, 63, of Huntsville, Ala.; and Peters, who took a strong personal interest and enlisted help from Air Force civilian Joe Lineberger, director of the Air Force Review Board Agency.
“Peters took that thing and ran with it,” Salem said in a Dec. 15 telephone interview. “Lineberger was the bulldog who pushed it through to get the necessary signatures.”
The upgraded award eventually was included in the fiscal 2001 Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Clinton on Oct. 30.
Clinton passed on the opportunity to present the award and plans for Secretary of Defense William Cohen to make the presentation had to be changed. Peters called the opportunity to present “a highlight of my life.”
The Air Force Museum has a display honoring Pitsenbarger and other Vietnam-era PJs. The display includes an HH-43B Huskie similar to the helicopter piloted by Salem and crewed by Pitsenbarger (which was lost in combat in 1967), as well as personal memorabilia from Pitsenbarger’s Air Force service.
-------------
PJ's, you are all appreciated despite the lack of press you receive in comparison to The Regiment, SF, Marine Recon, SEALs, etc. This proves it. I am grateful for all in the Air Force who wear the berets of PJ and CCT. True professionals. HooAh.
Scout (19D) - 303rd Cavalry/Echo Group
ARNG - Fort Lewis, WA
[This message has been edited by RogueExec (edited 12-27-2000).]