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Airman Heroism in Laos goes unrecognized for 42 years
Battle of Lima Site 85: Wikipedia
During the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and the Vietnam War, Etchberger was among a group of airmen hand-picked for a classified mission: manning secret radar facilities in the Kingdom of Laos. According to the 1962 International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos, the U.S. was to have no military facilities in that country. As such, the selectees would officially become civilians employed by Lockheed Aircraft. Etchberger was deployed to Lima Site 85, used to direct bombing missions against targets in Laos and North Vietnam. The code name for this top secret mission was “Heavy Green.” The site was staffed by sixteen 'former' airmen, including Etchberger, two CIA agents, and one forward air controller. A large force of local guerrilla Laotian and Hmong fighters of the "U.S. Secret Army" also heroically defended, and heavily engaged, the base prior to, and during, the battle.
LIMA Site 85, Laos.
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.
Etchberger tended to the wounded and fought off the advancing North Vietnamese troops until a rescue helicopter arrived.
In the early morning hours of March 11, 1968, the site came under attack from North Vietnamese soldiers who had scaled the surrounding cliffs. By 3 a.m., Etchberger and six others were the only surviving Americans out of the original 19.
Etchberger tended to the wounded and fought off the advancing North Vietnamese troops until a rescue helicopter arrived. He then helped load the wounded onto slings to be lifted into the hovering aircraft before coming aboard himself. As the helicopter headed towards an air base in Thailand, an enemy soldier below fired his AK-47 into the underside of the aircraft, fatally wounding Etchberger.
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?"
Dick Etchberger in SE Asia, circa 1965.
Four decades later, when Etchberger was awarded the Medal of Honor, Daniel, in an interview with Stars and Stripes, suggested: "It should have happened 42 years-plus ago, and he should have gotten a damn 55-gallon drum full of them if he wanted them."
Dick Etchberger's 3 sons at the White House receive the Medal of Honor from President Obama 42 years after his death. Photo by Pete Souza, White House Photographer.
Biographical Details
Submitted From: Schwenksville, PA
Primary Location During Vietnam: Phou Pha Thi, Laos 
Story Subject: Military Service
Military Branch: U.S. Air Force
Unit: 1043rd Radar Evaluation Squadrom
Story Themes: Air America, Battle of Lima Site 85, CIA, Combat, Commendation, Death and Loss, Firefight, Laos, Lima Site 85, Medal of Honor, President Obama, Secret War, Viet Cong
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