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"KUNA, Idaho (MCT) — Bernard Fisher, who risked his life landing his attack plane to rescue a fellow pilot while North Vietnamese troops shot at him, died Saturday at age 87.
President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Fisher with the Medal of Honor for his heroics in rescuing Maj. Dafford "Jump" Myers on March 10, 1966, in the A Shau Valley along South Vietnam's western border with Laos.
"He was a heck of a pilot and one of the finest gentlemen I've ever met," retired Air Force Col. Eugene Deatrick said Tuesday by phone from Alexandria, Va.
Deatrick, 89, commanded the 1st Air Commando Squadron at Pleiku and had a distinguished flying career himself. Fisher, Deatrick said, took his responsibilities seriously but had a calm demeanor.
Col. David Iverson, commander of the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, called Fisher an "American hero."
.....
"In Vietnam, Fisher and Myers were among a group of pilots strafing enemy positions to protect a camp next to a route used by insurgents flooding into South Vietnam from Laos. Myers' plane was shot down and he was forced to crash-land because he was flying too low to bail out.
Fisher acted after learning that a rescue helicopter was more than 30 minutes away and believing Myers had been injured and was in danger of being taken prisoner. He landed and spotted Myers in a hiding spot.
Once Myers climbed onto his wing, Fisher dragged him head-first into the cockpit of the Douglas A-1E Skyraider.
"He landed under fire, he taxied under fire, he took off under fire," said Tammy Fisher, a Kuna resident married to Fisher's son, Steven.
When Fisher landed back at Pleiku, the ground crew found 19 bullet holes in his plane."
"KUNA, Idaho (MCT) — Bernard Fisher, who risked his life landing his attack plane to rescue a fellow pilot while North Vietnamese troops shot at him, died Saturday at age 87.
President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Fisher with the Medal of Honor for his heroics in rescuing Maj. Dafford "Jump" Myers on March 10, 1966, in the A Shau Valley along South Vietnam's western border with Laos.
"He was a heck of a pilot and one of the finest gentlemen I've ever met," retired Air Force Col. Eugene Deatrick said Tuesday by phone from Alexandria, Va.
Deatrick, 89, commanded the 1st Air Commando Squadron at Pleiku and had a distinguished flying career himself. Fisher, Deatrick said, took his responsibilities seriously but had a calm demeanor.
Col. David Iverson, commander of the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, called Fisher an "American hero."
.....
"In Vietnam, Fisher and Myers were among a group of pilots strafing enemy positions to protect a camp next to a route used by insurgents flooding into South Vietnam from Laos. Myers' plane was shot down and he was forced to crash-land because he was flying too low to bail out.
Fisher acted after learning that a rescue helicopter was more than 30 minutes away and believing Myers had been injured and was in danger of being taken prisoner. He landed and spotted Myers in a hiding spot.
Once Myers climbed onto his wing, Fisher dragged him head-first into the cockpit of the Douglas A-1E Skyraider.
"He landed under fire, he taxied under fire, he took off under fire," said Tammy Fisher, a Kuna resident married to Fisher's son, Steven.
When Fisher landed back at Pleiku, the ground crew found 19 bullet holes in his plane."