Richard Etchberger’s heroics during the Vietnam War are only now being acknowledged by the U.S. military due to the fact that the Air Force sergeant wasn’t supposed to be in the country where his death took place.

 

Etchberger was part of a secret mission in Laos, a country the U.S. was not at war with during the conflict in neighboring Vietnam. But in order to target bombing missions against the North Vietnamese, the U.S. Air Force deployed a small group of men to a remote mountain in Laos to establish a radar station.

 

It was there that Etchberger and about 20 other Americans came under attack in March 1968 from North Vietnamese soldiers who had scaled steep cliffs to take out the radar station. The sergeant helped several injured Americans into a helicopter and fought off the advancing enemy before he was fatally wounded.

 

Etchberger was nominated for the Medal of Honor shortly after his death, but President Lyndon Johnson refused to posthumously grant him the military’s highest honor. Johnson was afraid the publicity would draw attention to the secret mission and the United States’ violating the sovereignty of Laotian territory. Instead, Etchberger was given the Air Force Cross.

 

Forty-two years later, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley recommended Etchberger’s Air Force Cross be upgraded to the Medal of Honor. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Barack Obama agreed with Conley’s recommendation, and a special ceremony will be held at the White House on September 21 to officially award the medal to Etchberger’s three sons.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Air Force Hero's Actions in Laos Finally Recognized after 42 Years (by Larry Shaughnessy, CNN)

Airman May Get Moh for Secret Laos Mission (by Michael Hoffman, Air Force Times)