At All Costs
The Heroic Story of USAF Chief Master Seargent Richard Etchberger
By Kenneth Reige USAF Veteran Chief Etchberger was.
This story is about USAF Medal of Honor Recipient (Posthumous) Chief Master Sergeant Richard Etchberger. For the rest of the story I will just refer to him as Chief Etchberger. This is out of the highest level of respect I have for the Chief Master Sergeant rank. Chief Etchberger was born on 5 March 1933 in Hamburg, PA and joined the Air Force on 31 Aug 1951. He obtained the rank of Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) on 1 April 67. Taking him less than 16 years to accomplish this, tells you the type of hard charger
Chief Etchberger was assigned to Detachment 1, 1043rd Radar Evaluation Squadron and distinguished himself during the battle of Lima Site 85. Lima Site 85 was in the Kingdom of Laos. Chief Etchberger along with a group of other hand-picked Airmen manned this secret radar facility. Since the US was to have “no” military facilities in that country the selectees would officially become civilians employed by Lockheed Aircraft. The “Top Secret” mission Chief Etchberger was on was called “Heavy Green”. This site was staffed with 16 former airmen (including Chief Etchberger), 2 CIA agents, and 1 forward air controller. They were joined by a large force of local guerrilla Loatians and Hmong fighters from the “US Secret Army”. In the early morning hours of 11 March 1968, Lima Site 85 came under heavy attack from the North Vietnamese soldiers who had scaled the surrounding cliffs. By 3 AM Chief Etchberger and 7 others were the only surviving Americans out of the original 19. Chief Etchberger tended to the wounded and fought off the advancing North Vietnamese Troops until a rescue helicopter arrived. Chief Etchberger helped with the loading of all the wounded that were lifted into the hovering aircraft before coming aboard himself. As the helicopter headed towards an air base in Thailand, an enemy soldier from below fired his AK-47 into the underside of the aircraft, fatally wounding Chief Etchberger. Chief Etchberger was originally recommended for the Medal of Honor, but because of the sensitive nature of the mission (meaning it was classified) Chief Etchberger was awarded the Air Force Cross. It would take another 14 years after Chief Etchberger’s death
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before the Battle of Lima Site 85 would become declassified and his sons would finally learn the full truth behind their father’s heroic acts of that day. They had originally been told that their father died in a helicopter accident. In the early 2000’s veterans of the Air Force’s 1st Combat Evaluation Group began their task of getting Chief Etchberger’s Air Force Cross upgraded to the Medal of Honor and on 21 September 2010 President Obama presented Chief Etchberger’s sons with The Medal of Honor. The Netflix Series “Medal of Honor” Episode 7 tells the story of Chief Etchberger and his selfless dedication to our great country. Please also visit: www.chiefetchbergerfoundation.org to learn more about this amazing American Hero who gave his life for our freedom.
President Obama presenting Chief Etchberger’s sons with his Air Force Medal of Honor.
Here is a picture of my friend Mr. Cory Etchberger with his father’s Medal of Honor.
