Page 16 - DFCS News Magazine Summer 2012

*book excerpt
The President of the United States takes great pleasure in pre- senting the Distin- guished Flying
Cross to RODGER L. McAL- ISTER, First Lieutenant, United States Army, awarded the Dis- tinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary heroism in action on 18 December 1966, while leading a section of aerial rock- et artillery helicopters on a medical evacuation cover mis- sion, in the Republic of Vi- etnam. The intended pick-up zone was surrounded by enemy automatic weapons positions, making it extremely dangerous for the medical helicopter to land. Using his own aircraft as a target for the hostile fire, Lieu- tenant McAlister led the medi- cal helicopter into the area. Boldly flying into the face of the enemy, he was immediately taken under fire from three directions. His action diverted the enemy's attention, and the medical helicopter was able to land and board casualties. In order to get the heavily loaded aircraft out of the pick- up zone, he again flew low over the ene- my positions, exposing himself to
heavy
fire.
Once
again
the
decoy
ma-
neuver
was
suc-
cessful
and
the medical helicopter was able to depart the area without sus- taining casualties. He then braved the hostile fire for a third time to engage the enemy with rocket and machine gun fire, succeeding to destroy two of the positions. Lieutenant McAlister's courage and deter- mination under fire stand in keeping with the highest tradi- tions of the military service, and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army. Rodger L. McAl- ister is a member of the Distin- guished Flying Cross Society.
The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Fly- ing Cross to Lt. Marvin C. Colton for extraordinary achievement against the enemy on 24 March 1945. As lead bombardier of a formation of B-26 type
aircraft Lt. COLTON distinguished himself while participating in
a mission against an important enemy communications center
in Germany. In the face of continuous heavy antiaircraft fire
from enemy ground positions and despite severe battle smoke and ground haze in the target area, Lt. COLTON released his bombs on the objective with superior results. The professional skill, bombing tech- nique and courage in the face of hazardous conditions on this occasion as exhibited by Lt. COLTON were
material factors in the success of this vital mission.
Summer 2012 Issue Page 16