Valor Tales

Philip Conran https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/04/17/should-this-airman-receive-the-medal-of-honor-for-laos-battle-a-congressman-thinks-so/ A congressman from California, Rep. Salud Carbajal (D), has introduced legislation authorizing the president to upgrade Air Force Colonel Philip Conran’s Air Force Cross to the Medal of Honor. Let’s explore what the colonel did that has garnered the Congressman’s attention. Enlisting in the Connecticut Air National Guard in 1953, Conran served as a motor pool dispatcher until receiving a commission through the ROTC program at Fordham University in 1958. Trained as a pilot he received his wings in 1960 and then was trained in flying helicopters. He was serving in Bermuda in 1962 when he was deployed for the Cuban Missile Crisis. In November 1968 he was deployed for a year to Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai AFB, Thailand where he flew CH-3 Jolly Green Giants in the 21st Special Operations Squadron. It was here, in the span o...

The US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado can lay claim to having many heroes and notable men and women among their alumni. For example, the USAFA has commissioned 403 people who later became general officers, 36 graduates became prisoners of war who were later repatriated, 39 have become astronauts, and two became combat aces. However there has only been one USAFA graduate who has been awarded the nation’s highest honor, the Medal of Honor. His name is Captain Lance Sijan. The child of Serbs who had immigrated to the US after World War I and settled in Wisconsin, he attended the Naval Academy Preparatory Course right after high school. From there he was able to secure appointment to the US Air Force Academy (USAFA). At the USAFA he played football for three of his four years, graduating in 1965. Newly commissioned a second lieutenant, Sijan was sent to pilot training and by the summer of 1967 was flying in F-4 Phantoms over North Vietnam as a first lieutenant. ...

A career US Army man, First Sergeant Pascal Poolaw served his country through three wars. Along the way he became America’s most highly decorated Native soldier. A full-blooded Kiowa from Oklahoma, Poolaw’s warrior spirit is absolutely incredible. He’s one of the rare US Army infantrymen to have received the Combat Infantry Badge three times. He also had the ignominious distinction of being wounded in combat in three separate wars. Born in 1922, he enlisted in the Army in 1942 to serve during World War II. He enlisted with two of his brothers, his father, and two uncles. One of his uncles, Horace Poolaw was a very talented photographer during and after the war. If you get a chance, Google Horace’s photography. After training, Pascal was assigned to Company M of the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division. The 8th Infantry participated in the D-Day landings at Utah Beach. They were the first “leg” infantry unit of the US Army to hit the shore. I’m unable to find if Po...

The B-52 is legendary. It’s one of the oldest American airframes still in service, and continually so since its introduction in 1955. Changing little with the times, the Big Ugly Fat *ahem* Fellow (BUFF) you see today would be easily recognizable to an airman of the 50’s. Originally specified in 1946 and designed through the late forties, first flying in 1952, the B-52 was a product of its times. WWII had just been won. The B-52 was designed to have long legs, able to reach Soviet locations deep in enemy territory. Since fighters usually didn’t have the same range, and aerial refueling was in its infancy, the B-52 was designed with something that no bombers since have had, a tail gunner. Not removed from the B-52 fleet until 1991, after serving through the Gulf War, there was an enlisted man manning the gun on every mission. Notably, these were the only enlisted crew aboard the aircraft. Though the position, seated at the tail (until later models moved the gunner up to the flight...

Ten hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the second phase of Japan’s war against the US commenced. At 0220 local time on 8 December, 1941, the American forces in the Philippines received notice that an attack was underway at Pearl Harbor. Despite ample warning, including having three pursuit (fighter) squadrons in the air and radar tracks of incoming aircraft, there were numerous systemic and communication problems that led to many American aircraft being destroyed in the initial attacks. The air attacks were followed by a Japanese amphibious invasion of the island of Luzon. The US Asiatic Fleet had been largely withdrawn after suffering heavy losses to Japanese air superiority. Only submarines, small ships, and motor torpedo (PT) boats remained to contest the Japanese Naval forces. Taking the initiative, on 22 December, Japan landed more than 43,000 men and 90 tanks. The American forces numbered just over 31,000 at the end of November, with 12,000 of that being Phili...

As I recently wrote, unwitnessed valor on the battlefield can go unrewarded. Sometimes, this recognition is merely delayed. This month, former Lance Corporal James Stogner of the United States Marine Corps was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions 52 years ago in Vietnam. As you'll read below, his actions are well deserving of the Medal of Honor, but sadly there were too few witnesses to justify that award. Stogner was an 18 year old Marine assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines in April, 1967. Military history buffs will know this battalion by its macabre nickname "The Walking Dead". They earned this nickname after being engaged in combat operations for 47 months and 7 days from June, 1965 to July, 1969, with only a brief respite in late 1966. During this time the battalion, with a nominal end strength of 800 men, had 2,892 Marines and corpsmen come through. They suffered an extremely high casualty rate, seeing more than 25% killed in action. Fif...

On January 12, 2019 we lost a true American hero. A mustang officer and survivor of three wars, Colonel Joe Jackson was one of only two living Air Force Medal of Honor recipients at the time of his death. Born in 1923 in Newnan, Georgia, Jackson was fascinated by airplanes as a youth. Days after his 18th birthday, he enlisted into the Army Air Corps in March 1941 hoping to become an airplane mechanic. As the US entered the Second World War, Jackson received training as a crew chief and served aboard a B-25 Mitchell bomber. During a training flight on which the flight engineer was out sick, Jackson filled in for the missing man. During the flight an engine caught fire. The pilot didn't know how to put it out and asked for Jackson's help. Back then the pilot relied on the flight engineer to do most of the engine-related work. The pilot would typically only have throttle control, and on some airframes the engineer even ran those. Jackson's quick thinking and know...