richard etchberger lived the airmen s creed. never leave an airmen behind. never falter, he never failed. so as the helicopter hovered above and lowered its sling, dick loaded his wounded men one by one, each time exposing himself to enemy fire. and when another airmen suddenly rushed forward after alluding the enemy all night, dick loaded him, too, and finally himself. he had made it off the mountain. that s when it happened. the helicopter began to keel away. a burst of gunfire erupted below. dick was wounded, and by the time they landed at the nearist base, he was gone. of those 19 men on the mountain that night, only seven made it out alive. three of them owed their lives to the actions of dick
the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3, 1863 awarded in the name of the congress the medal of honor to chief master sergeant richard l. etchberger united states air force for conspicuous gallantry at the rick of life above and beyond the call of duty. chief master sergeant richard l etchberger distinguished himself why hair heroism assigned to detachment 110 43rd radar evacuation squadron. on that day the chief and his team technicians were manning a top defensive position at lima site 85 when the baits was overrun by an enemy ground force, receiving sustained and withering heavy artillery attacks directly upon his unit s position, the chief s entire crew lay dead or severely