Bernie Fisher
For a complete explanation of what this series is all about, check my blog entry here .
In preparation for the event, I told Vanessa about the exploits of a few Medal of Honor recipients, including this man, who has been one of my heroes for many years -- in large part because he and I both happen to be practicing Mormons. Colonel (then Major) Bernard Fisher earned his medal during an action in South Vietnam's A Shau Valley on March 10, 1966. He was the pilot of an A-1E/H Skyraider, a prop-driven aircraft used for close tactical air support; and on the date in question, he was helping to provide air support for a Special Forces unit that was about to be overrun by the North Vietnamese. Under intense fire and at great personal risk to himself, he landed on the Green Berets' airstrip -- no small undertaking in and of itself because the strip was pockmarked and covered with debris from the ongoing battle -- and rescued another pilot who had been shot down a short while before.
I got this picture when I was trying to get a picture of the recipients exiting their buses. Col. Fisher just sort of walked up to me, and we chatted for several minutes. Although he is 78 years old now, he appeared far more stooped and frail than I had expected him to be; but alas, mortality even catches up with heroes eventually. Later in the evening I introduced him to Vanessa, and we both got his autograph.
Bernie Fisher
For a complete explanation of what this series is all about, check my blog entry here .
In preparation for the event, I told Vanessa about the exploits of a few Medal of Honor recipients, including this man, who has been one of my heroes for many years -- in large part because he and I both happen to be practicing Mormons. Colonel (then Major) Bernard Fisher earned his medal during an action in South Vietnam's A Shau Valley on March 10, 1966. He was the pilot of an A-1E/H Skyraider, a prop-driven aircraft used for close tactical air support; and on the date in question, he was helping to provide air support for a Special Forces unit that was about to be overrun by the North Vietnamese. Under intense fire and at great personal risk to himself, he landed on the Green Berets' airstrip -- no small undertaking in and of itself because the strip was pockmarked and covered with debris from the ongoing battle -- and rescued another pilot who had been shot down a short while before.
I got this picture when I was trying to get a picture of the recipients exiting their buses. Col. Fisher just sort of walked up to me, and we chatted for several minutes. Although he is 78 years old now, he appeared far more stooped and frail than I had expected him to be; but alas, mortality even catches up with heroes eventually. Later in the evening I introduced him to Vanessa, and we both got his autograph.