Fisher -- Maj Bernard F Fisher

 

On March 10, 1966, Major Bernard F. Fisher took off in an A-1E Skyraider from Pleiku, South Vietnam, to fly a routine bombing and strafing mission. Soon after taking off, he was diverted to Ashau, where a Special Forces camp was under heavy attack by 2,000 North Vietnamese troops.

Arriving over the area. Major Fisher found four Skyraiders. which had also been diverted, circling over a dense cloud cover. He led his wing man and two of the other A-1Es down through a hole in the overcast. As they flew down a valley leading to the camp. the pilots were informed that it was being overrun by the enemy.

The A-1Es were making strafing runs against the attacking troops when one of the aircraft was hit by ground fire. The pilot crash landed on the airstrip at the camp, and ran from his burning plane to seek refuge down an embankment. With enemy troops all around him, it appeared certain that he would be captured before a rescue helicopter could reach him.

Major Fisher, quickly realizing his fellow pilot's predicament, made a perilous landing on the airstrip. The steel planking runway was torn up and littered with debris. As he taxied under fire, Major Fisher saw the downed pilot dashing from his hiding place. The A-1E stopped and he clambered aboard. Dodging shell holes and debris, Major Fisher took off safely despite many hits on his aircraft by small arms fire.

The Medal of Honor, awarded to Major Fisher for this daring rescue, was presented to him by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House January 19, 1967.

See the
full citation from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society website.

See the AFHSD publication:  Air Force Heroes in Vietnam.