US Air Force SSgt William Pitsenbarger - Medal of Honor Recipient during the Vietnam War

Welcome back everyone.  The story I’ll be sharing with you today was suggested by a listener, James from Milwaukee.  When I saw his message with a brief description of why he felt I should feature this story, I was hooked.  It’s definitely an amazing story.  Thank you, James.  And as a reminder, anyone can suggest a story, or leave feedback on our contact page at dutyandvalor.com, I read all the messages and it helps shape the Duty & Valor show and community.

Today I’m going to tell you the story of a man who always knew he would be a member of an elite US military unit.  A man who always volunteered for dangerous missions during his time in Vietnam.  A man who would wave the last helicopter ride out of a fierce battle so he could tend to wounded soldiers.  This is the story of Medal of Honor recipient US Air Force SSgt William Pitsenbarger.

Born in Piqua, Ohio on July 8th, 1944 to parents William and Irene Pitsenbarger, William always saw himself serving in the US military.  During his junior year in high school, he wanted to drop out and join The Green Berets, but his parents wouldn’t allow it.  Instead he would end up graduating and then enlisted in the Air Force with the intention of joining one of their elite special forces units, as a pararescueman.  

Pararescuemen, also called PJ’s, of the US Air Force operate under the command of the US Air Force Special Operations Command and the Air Combat Command.  They are highly trained operators tasked with recovering and providing life saving medical care to injured personnel in combat, generally behind enemy lines, as well as during humanitarian operations.  Knowing this, William knew where he wanted to serve.

He received specialized training at the US Army Airborne School, the US Navy Dive School, as well as participating in a survival school, jungle school, and a rescue and survival medical course.  He would later receive Air Force Rescue training as well as air crash rescue and firefighting training.

He was first stationed at Hamilton AFB in California as a member of the Rescue Squadron.  He was first sent to Vietnam on a temporary duty assignment.  But soon after returning to California, he volunteered to go back.  He was granted a change of station and was sent to Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam, near Saigon in August of 1965.

While there he was involved in hundreds of missions where he provided extraction and medical support to injured soldiers in countless fire fights.  On March 7th of 1966, a South Vietnamese soldier was seriously injured by a landmine while he was attempting to put out a grass fire.  The soldier wasn’t able to walk and was surrounded by many more unexploded mines.  William volunteered to be lowered from the HH43F Huskie helicopter to the man on a metal cable called a jungle penetrator.  Even though he knew he didn’t have much room to maneuver when he reached the ground, he chose to descend directly into the burning mine field to rescue the soldier.  Thanks to his selfless act, the South Vietnamese soldier was able to receive the medical care that he required.  He was awarded the Airman’s Medal, which is only granted to Air Force personnel who show heroism and voluntarily risk their lives while not involving combat.

On April 11th, 1966, as part of Operation Abilene, the US Army sent in elements of the 1st Infantry Division to lure out and destroy the Viet Cong in the area.  They didn’t have the success they were hoping for and the fighting was fiercer than they had anticipated.  The 134 American soldiers were surrounded by at least 400-500 enemy soldiers.  The Viet Cong followed sniper fire with mortar and machine gun attacks.  The enemy was so close that the Americans sustained friendly fire casualties when they called in artillery support dangerously close to their positions.  Attempts to reach the wounded by Army helicopters were thwarted by the dense jungle cover, so they reached out to Williams unit, the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron.  William then found himself aboard one of two Huskies dispatched to the battle approximately 40 miles east of Saigon.  There were reports of countless casualties that needed to be medivaced out of the battle.  

The two helicopters lowered their litters to the ground and could only watch as the ground personnel struggled to load the injured, as they were also fighting off strong enemy attacks.

Seeing enough of this, William told the pilot of his Huskie that he was “going in”.  He then hit the ground with his rifle and medical kit.  William had been involved in approximately 300 rescue missions while in Vietnam, so it was no surprise that he was credited with organizing and coordinating rescue efforts, caring for the wounded, and preparing the injured to be evacuated.  It was reported that thanks to him, it all went smooth and orderly.  William also selflessly refused  a spot on departing helicopters so that just one more injured man could be evacuated with each helicopter.  

Not only did he remain to treat the injured men who were brought to him, on multiple occasions he crossed the American line to retrieve wounded soldiers, as well as weapons and ammunition, which he distributed to the men still fighting.  These acts of valor led to him being wounded two times, but it didn’t stop him.  The fighting continued throughout the night and it wasn’t until morning that William was found.  He was hit by sniper fire at some point during the night and died on the battlefield.  When found he was still holding his rifle in one hand and the medical kit in the other. 

Williams was credited with directly saving the lives of nine soldiers who were medivaced, and this number doesn’t even include the men he treated while on the ground.  Of the initial 134 men of Charlie Company of the 1st Infantry Division, 106 were either killed or injured in the fighting.

On September 22nd, his parents were presented the Air Force Cross for his courageous actions.  It has been reported that the recommendation for William to receive the Medal of Honor was denied by the Air Force as the Army did not want reports of the friendly fire incident to become public.  

After decades of lobbying, mostly from the men of the 1st Infantry Division, the US Air Force honored him with the Medal of Honor on December 8, 2000.  During that ceremony , hundreds of pararescuemen as well as many of the men who witnessed his actions in person, were in attendance where his father William, and his wife Alice, accepted the award in his honor.  On this day, William was also posthumously promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant.   

There are countless resources that tell Sgt. Pitsenbarger’s story, some of which I will post in the show notes.  Also, the movie The Last Full Measure, released in 2020, tells the story of the crusade to honor William appropriately, with the US Medal of Honor.  

Thank you for listening, and if you enjoyed this week's show, we kindly ask that you follow us and leave a review and 5 star rating.  A link to the sources for today's show can be found in the show notes, as well as at dutyandvalor.com.  And join us next week where we’ll tell you the story of another true American hero.