Posted on Sep 23, 2015
Group takes over pilot's mission to have crewmate honored for courageous act
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Did you know that Group takes over pilot's mission to have crewmate honored for courageous act?
Did you know that Group takes over pilot's mission to have crewmate honored for courageous act?
RP Members here is another great WWII Story! Enjoy!
http://www.stripes.com/news/group-takes-over-pilot-s-mission-to-have-crewmate-honored-for-courageous-act-1.369713
First Lt. Carl Fyler’s 25th bombing mission was his last, and the 17 months he spent as a POW could have left him trying to forget the horrors of World War II.
Instead, he took on a new mission, to honor Staff Sgt. Joseph Sawicki — the man he called “the greatest hero I know” — for his actions to save two crewmates as their B-17 Flying Fortress spiraled toward the ground.
Fyler died after 60 years of efforts to justify a Medal of Honor for Sawicki, who was killed in the crash. But his mission lives on, despite the Army’s repeated response that there’s just not enough documentation to confer the nation’s highest military honor.
Did you know that Group takes over pilot's mission to have crewmate honored for courageous act?
RP Members here is another great WWII Story! Enjoy!
http://www.stripes.com/news/group-takes-over-pilot-s-mission-to-have-crewmate-honored-for-courageous-act-1.369713
First Lt. Carl Fyler’s 25th bombing mission was his last, and the 17 months he spent as a POW could have left him trying to forget the horrors of World War II.
Instead, he took on a new mission, to honor Staff Sgt. Joseph Sawicki — the man he called “the greatest hero I know” — for his actions to save two crewmates as their B-17 Flying Fortress spiraled toward the ground.
Fyler died after 60 years of efforts to justify a Medal of Honor for Sawicki, who was killed in the crash. But his mission lives on, despite the Army’s repeated response that there’s just not enough documentation to confer the nation’s highest military honor.
WWII World War Two
Medal of Honor
What Would You Do
Heroes
Posted 9 y ago
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It's a touching story and I'm glad they're still trying, but the MoH is very hard to get if there isn't much proof of the events. Hopefully the rest of the crews' accounting of the mission will be enough.
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No COL Mikel J. Burroughs before you mentioned it I did not know that Group takes over pilot's mission to have crewmate honored for courageous act. I am glad to learn that after 60 years of effort First Lt. Carl Fyler’s steadfast efforts helped to justify a posthumous Medal of Honor for Staff Sgt. Joseph Sawicki.
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This is classic bureaucratic obsession with documentation. Why can't they be moved as are juries by dying declarations? As someone who worked in Awards and Decorations in Vietnam, I would have moved heaven and earth to overcome the red tape barriers and made sure this recommendation was no considered because it failed to meet pro forma requirements. Some things simply are of greater import than a form...
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