Page 75 - DFCS NEWS MAGAZINE 2020-1

BRUCE A. SCHWANDA
#2 The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting a gold star in lieu of the second Distinguished Flying Cross to Captain Bruce A. Schwanda, United States Marine Corps Reserve, for heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight while serving as a Pilot with Marine Attack Squadron III, Marine Aircraft Group Eleven, First Marine Aircraft Wing in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. Early on the morning of 20 October, 1970, Captain Schwanda launched as Section Leader of
a flight of two A-4 Skyhawk aircraft assigned the mission of providing close air support for two Civilian Irregular Defense Group companies which were heavily engaged in combat with elements of two North Vietnamese Army battalions in the vicinity of Thuang Duc in Quang Nam Province. Arriving over the designated area he was given a situation brief by the Forward Air Controller (Airborne) and informed that the beleaguered units were located on a plateau with their backs to a sheer drop of 2300 feet to the valley below and were under intense hostile rocket mortar automatic weapons and small arms fire from the enemy, who had established positions on all three sides of the Vietnamese, thereby cutting off all avenues of escape. Despite extremely adverse weather conditions and the difficulty of maneuvering his aircraft in the darkness over the rugged terrain, he utilized the illumination from flares dropped over the area as he commenced his attack. Undaunted by the exceptionally heavy volume of hostile fire directed at his Skyhawk and the heavy rains and cloud cover which obscured the surrounding mountains, Captain Schwanda boldly maneuvered his aircraft on two bombing runs and a strafing run and delivered all of his ordnance upon the North Vietnamese positions with pinpoint accuracy. As a result of his and a previous flight’s devastating attacks, the hostile fire was silenced. Captain Schwanda’s courage, superior airmanship, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of great personal danger were instrumental in accomplishing the hazardous mission and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.
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