World: Heritage

Medal of Freedom  to Wilma Vaught

President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Wilma L. Vaught at a July 7 White House ceremony. Vaught is only the eighth distinguished Airman to earn the honor.

Over the course of a 28-year Air Force career, Vaught, 92, was “the first woman to hold every job she ever had,” her medal citation states. Over a 28-year career, she became the first woman to deploy with an Air Force bomber unit, serving in Vietnam, and was among the first women to break into the general officer ranks, retiring as a brigadier general in the Air Force.

After retiring, Vaught spearheaded the creation of the first national memorial honoring the more than 3 million women who served in the U.S. military. The Military Women’s Memorial is the result of that work, located at the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery, where it features a portrait of Vaught as a tribute to her determination to recognize women veterans.

Vaught was among several notable women who received the award at the same ceremony, including former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and two female Olympic champions, gymnast Simone Biles and soccer star Megan Rapinoe. Biden said in his opening remarks that Biles’ and Rapinoe’s leadership and success were built on those of earlier pioneers like Vaught.

“Simone and Megan would be the first to acknowledge that they stand on the shoulders of those who came before them, like Air Force Brig. Gen. (Retired) Wilma Vaught,” Biden said. “Wilma is one of the most decorated women ever to serve in the United States military,” he said, praising her for “shattering conventions, shaping a new tradition of our military,” and founding the women’s memorial.

Seated in a wheelchair in a bright blue blazer and with her left arm in a sling, Vaught saluted the crowd as President Biden fastened the award around her neck, then repeated the gesture, as the President came around and saluted her, offering a quiet “thank you” before he presented the next award.

The seven previous Air Force leaders to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom were all men and include three astronauts, a Medal of Honor recipient, and a five-term member of the Senate.                                                                  

New ‘Atomic Veterans’ Medal

By Amanda Miller

Veterans who performed the secret, often dangerous work of testing nuclear weapons deserve new recognition and may now call themselves “Atomic Veterans,” according to the Defense Department. 

The department announced the Atomic Veterans Commemorative Service Medal on July 5 to recognize that “the service and sacrifice of the Atomic Veterans directly contributed to our nation’s continued freedom and prosperity during the period following World War II.” Their work was “pivotal to our nation’s defense during the Cold War era,” according to the announcement. 

A DOD spokesperson said as many as 500,000 veterans may be eligible for the medal. 

Veterans who qualify for the medallion-only award include those who served between July 1945 and October 1992 and, as part of their military duties, took part in a nuclear detonation; or cleaned up radioactive material after a detonation or an accident; or were exposed to ionizing radiation during the “operational use” of nuclear weapons in World War II. 

The dates coincide with those of nuclear testing in the U.S., starting with the first detonation in Alamogordo, N.M. The U.S. performed 1,032 tests in all.

Medallion-only medals, given to special groups of veterans, don’t hang from a ribbon and may not be worn on uniforms, the Pentagon said, citing as other examples the Congressional Gold Medal and the Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal. 

The director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency will manage the program and expects to have medals available to distribute by the end of this year. Meanwhile, an online application will be set up for eligible veterans, or the next of kin of deceased eligible veterans, to start the process. 

“Our nation’s longstanding nuclear deterrence capability resulted from the service and sacrifice of service members (now known as Atomic Veterans) who participated in the initial testing and development of our nation’s atomic and nuclear weapons programs,” according to the announcement. 

“Notably, the dangerous and important work these veterans performed was often done in secret due to national security requirements.”                                                                  

James M. McCoy, Former Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, Dies at 91

By John A. Tirpak

James M. McCoy, who was the sixth Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, and who was the first former enlisted member to be president and chairman of the Air Force Association, died July 13, three weeks shy of his 92nd birthday. He was a recipient of AFA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

McCoy was born in Iowa and entered the Air Force in 1951. He served first as a radar operator with Aerospace Defense Command in Alaska, but a glut of radar operators after the Korean War motivated him to seek a new career in training.

He returned to be a drill instructor at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, from 1956 to 1957, and became a technical sergeant in just five years. While at Clark Air Base, Phillipines, where he was in charge of base noncommissioned officer (NCO) training, he set up and operated a command post during the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis, coordinating inbound and outbound USAF aircraft. He then spent a year as assistant to the commandant of cadets at the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Notre Dame, Ind.

In 1960, McCoy was commandant of Strategic Air Command’s NCO preparatory school at Bunker Hill Air Force Base, Ind., and in 1962 was an instructor at the 2nd Air Force NCO Academy at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., becoming its sergeant major by 1966. In that year, he also received his bachelor of science degree in business administration from Centenary College of Louisiana. He was an honor graduate of the 2nd Air Force NCO Academy.

McCoy was head of Headquarters, 2nd Air Force’s training branch then transferred to Headquarters, SAC, where he was in charge of NCO professional military education, setting up SAC’s own NCO Academy and NCO Leadership Program.

In 1970, McCoy was in charge of NCO operations training at the 41st Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Wing at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, where he supervised training programs for H-3, H-4, H-53, and HC-130 rescue aircrew throughout the Pacific and Southeast Asia; and as senior enlisted adviser to the wing commander.

He moved up to Headquarters, Pacific Air Forces, as chief of military training and deputy chief of staff for personnel in 1973, refreshing courseware. He graduated with the first class of the U.S. Air Force senior NCO academy at Gunter Air Force Station, Ala., that same year.

In an interview, McCoy said, “I had gone from a wing, to a numbered air force, to a major command. I was going back to a wing.” He would have been eligible for retirement within a year, and he considered putting in his papers, but he decided to stay in, saying, “You look at every opportunity that comes along, and you don’t turn it down based just on what it looks like. I looked at it as another opportunity to further my professionalism.”

McCoy was named one of the Air Forces’s 12 Outstanding Airmen of 1974 during his assignment with PACAF.

In 1976, McCoy returned to SAC as its senior enlisted adviser and during this assignment also chaired two worldwide senior enlisted conferences for AFA, which identified challenges to enlisted life and recommended improvements.

McCoy was named Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force in 1979, advising Chief of Staff Gen. Lew Allen Jr. and Air Force Secretary Hans M. Mark on enlisted issues. He retired from USAF in 1981 after 30 years of service.

In retirement, McCoy settled in the Omaha, Neb., area where he was active with community, business, and civic organizations. But he focused on the Air Force Association, ultimately serving two terms as National President (1992-1994) and two terms as Chairman of the Board (1994-996). He was the first enlisted Airman to hold both jobs. He was also the first enlisted person to chair the Air Force Retiree Council.

In 2007, the Airman’s Leadership School at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., was named for McCoy. In 2016, he was inducted into the Strategic Air Command Hall of Fame.  

In 2021, AFA awarded McCoy its Lifetime Achievement Award. Upon receiving the award, McCoy said, “It means a lot to me because of what AFA has done” over its history. He added that “a lot of people think it’s an officer’s association. It’s not. I’m living proof of that.” Gerald Murray, the 14th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force and the second enlisted Airman to be the Chair of AFA, presented McCoy the award.

Murray, who rose through the ranks to follow McCoy as the 14th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force and is the only other former enlisted leader to become AFA’s Chairman, praised McCoy as a role model.

“Chief McCoy joined the Air Force at 18 and our association not long after,” Murray said. “Many are life members, but he led a life of membership—leading and giving his all at every level and in every way. He was an inspiration, and his mark is long-lasting.”

Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said McCoy “left a legacy that highlights the instrumental role senior enlisted leaders have in our mission, both as executors and advisers.”

“Improving education, equality, and quality of life were hallmarks of his time in service that helped shape the force we have today,” Brown continued, “and his dedication to Airmen and families continued in his post-retirement work with the Air Force Association and other civic organizations. I am grateful for his contributions to our service and am saddened to learn of his passing.”

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass said McCoy “was an icon of our great Air Force; a leader among leaders; a patriot of unparalleled honor and dignity.”