CMSgt. Richard L. Etchberger will posthumously receive the nation’s highest military tribute, the Medal of Honor, from President Obama on Sept. 21, the White House announced last week. (See our initial coverage.) After more than four decades, Etchberger is finally being recognized for the conspicuous gallantry that he displayed in combat on March 11, 1968, when North Vietnamese soldiers overran Lima Site 85, a secret Air Force radar facility in the Laotian mountains. During the desperate battle, Etchberger, a ground radar superintendent, kept the enemy troops at bay with an M-16. His courageous action allowed seven of the 19 Americans there to be rescued, but Etchberger was mortally wounded as he boarded the rescue helicopter. “I wouldn’t be alive without him,” said retired TSgt. John Daniel of La Junta, Colo., who was rescued from Lima Site 85 that fateful day. Although Etchberger was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross, the White House at the time declined to award him the Medal of Honor, as it did not want to attract attention to the presence of the clandestine US site in a supposedly neutral country. (White House release) (SAF/PA release) (For more, read The Fall of Lima Site 85 from the Air Force Magazine archives.)
Air Force Firefighting C-130s Activated for LA Blaze
Jan. 10, 2025
All eight of the Air Force’s premier firefighting aircraft will fly from across the western U.S. to southern California this weekend to help fight the wildfires that have been scorching Los Angeles since Jan. 7. U.S. Northern Command has activated eight C-130 transport planes equipped with the Modular Aerial Fire…