All were posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, along with many Silver- and Bronze-Stars with "V" for valor, while defending the perimeter of their respective air bases throughout the South.
How could I have "forgotten"?
The answer is quite simple: I really didn't forget, because I always remember those One-Hundred-Eleven in my prayers, as well as dedicating all my books to them and their families.
There are some who think that the Air Force did little if any combat operations during the war, but nothing could be further from the truth. There were, in fact, special operations Air Force personnel that slipped behind enemy lines in order to coordinate air and ground attacks for the Army and Marines, as well as rescue downed American pilots.
But those in the know, knew that the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam -- Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG), was a top secret, joint unconventional warfare task force created on 24 January 1964 by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Air Force personnel were an integral part of that operation...
Many of the boots-on-the-ground owe their very lives to the sacrifices of those special personnel. In addition, the Marines at Khe Sanh were literally saved by Air Force C-130s that took mortar and rockets to their aircraft as they attempted to land at that besieged base, bringing in ammunition and extracting the wounded, not to mention B-52s as well as fighter bombers that annihilated many North Vietnamese regular army and Viet Cong divisions.
Sure, the Air Force Security Police had a different function as I stated earlier, but their contribution to the war effort, in many instances, went above and beyond the call of duty.
My hat is off to those extraordinary brothers who gave all to save others.... May God allow them to rest in peace.
Pray too, for our country...
Gene DeLalla
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