Richard Etchberger

Richard Loy Etchberger (March 5, 1933 – March 11, 1968) was a senior non-commissioned officer in the United States Air Force who posthumously received the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the Battle of Lima Site 85 in the Vietnam War. The medal was formally presented to his three sons by President Barack Obama during a ceremony at the White House on September 21, 2010.

Between November 1967 and March 1968, Lima Site 85 directed 27 percent of all air strike missions in the Kingdom of Laos and North Vietnam. When successful strikes were launched even through heavy cloud cover, the North Vietnamese realized that a radar facility must be nearby. Beginning in January 1968, North Vietnamese troops began closing in on Site 85. On January 13, the base was strafed by two An-2 Colt biplanes, killing several of the local guerrillas. The crew of a CIA Air America UH-1H helicopter responded to the attack, managing to shoot down one aircraft with an AK-47. Plans were made to abandon and destroy the base, but they were not implemented in time.

Staff Sgt. John Daniel had been shot twice in the legs and was taking shelter amidst the bodies of other casualties when Etchberger recovered him and fitted him into the helicopter sling. Upon regaining consciousness and learning that Etchberger himself had been killed, Daniel voiced his disbelief: "Hell, he hasn't been injured, he hasn't been shot. How is he dead?" The Lima Site mission was still classified at the time, and the U.S. was not supposed to have soldiers in Laos. Etchberger was instead awarded the second highest decoration, the Air Force Cross. The decoration was presented to his family during a secret ceremony at the Pentagon.