|
Colonel Bernard Fisher, USAF (ret.),
“is the first living USAF recipient of the Medal of Honor. Moreover, he is the first USAF member to receive the medal
from Vietnam.” According to the National Museum of the USAF, Colonel Bernard
Fisher was “born in 1927, the native of Idaho served briefly in the Navy at the end of World War II and then spent the
period from 1947 to 1950 in the Air National Guard before receiving his Air Force commission in 1951. After pilot training,
then-Maj. Fisher served as a jet fighter pilot in the Air Defense Command until 1965 when he volunteered for duty in Vietnam.
From July 1965 through June 1966 he flew 200 combat sorties in the A-1E/H "Spad" as a member of the 1st Air Commando
Squadron located at Pleiku Air Base, South Vietnam.
On March 10, 1966, he led a two-ship
of Skyraiders to the A Shau Valley in support of friendly troops in contact with the enemy. A total of six Spads were striking
numerous emplacements when the A-1 piloted by Maj. Wayne "Jump" Myers was hit and forced to crash-land into the
A Shau. Maj. Myers bellied in on the 2,500-foot runway and took cover behind an embankment on the edge of the strip while
Maj. Fisher directed the rescue effort. Since the closest helicopter was 30 minutes away and the enemy was only 200 yards
from Maj. Myers, Maj. Fisher quickly decided to land his two-seat A-1E on the strip and pick up his friend. Under the cover
provided by the other A-1s, he landed in the valley, taxied to Maj. Myers' position and loaded the downed airman into
the empty seat. Dodging shell holes and debris on the steel planked runway, Maj. Fisher took off safely despite many hits
on his aircraft by small arms fire. Maj. Fisher
returned to the United States, and on Jan. 19, 1967, he was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Maj.
Fisher returned to the Air Defense Command and jet interceptors until he retired at the rank of colonel to his hometown of
Kuna, Idaho.
|
|
 |
|
The A1-E flown by Col. Fisher on his
Medal of Honor mission is on display in the museum's Modern Flight Gallery.” Colonel Bernard Fisher is the co-author
of Beyond the Call of Duty: The Story of an American Hero. According to the book description of Beyond the Call of Duty: The Story of an
American Hero, “Providing close air support to ground troops in Vietnam was hazardous anytime, but on
March 10, 1966, the Special Forces in the old French Fortress of Ashau were in particular trouble as the Viet Cong closed
in. When an American airman went down, his death was a near certainty. That's when Major Bernie Fisher had a decision
to make: leave the pilot to his fate or undertake a near-suicidal landing to help him out. Bernie's decision made him
just one of sixteen members in the history of the Air Force to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor.”
|
|
|
|
|
