THE WALL OF FACES

Rest in peace with the warriors.

If I should die, and leave you here awhile, be not like others, sore undone, who keep long vigils by the silent dust, and weep...for MY sake, turn again to life, and smile...Nerving thy heart, and trembling hand to do something to comfort other hearts than thine...Complete these dear, unfinished tasks of mine...and I, perchance, may therein comfort you.

MAJOR


DELBERT RAY PETERSON


served as a


PILOT


with the


4th AIR COMMANDO SQUADRON



and was a posthumous recipient of the



AIR FORCE CROSS


PURPLE HEART



who remains to this day as being


///// MISSING IN ACTION \\





YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

NOR SHALL YOU EVER BE



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CITATION FOR AWARD OF THE

AIR FORCE CROSS

TO


*PETERSON, DELBERT RAY

(MIA)

Captain

United States Air Force

4th Air Commando Squadron

Tan Son Nhut Air Base

Vietnam

Date of Action: 9 March 1966


The Air Force Cross is presented to Delbert Ray Peterson, Captain, United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force in Southeast Asia. At 1120 hours, 9 March, an AC-47 was sent to a Special Forces outpost in the Ashau Valley of South Vietnam. The crew was scrambled from bed, having flown the previous night. When the aircraft arrived over the camp, the pilot, Captain Willard Marion Collins, was told by the ground forces that the camp was in imminent danger of being overrun. The ceiling was still around 400 feet but Captain Collins and his co-pilot, 1st Lieutenant Delbert Ray Peterson, made two attempts to penetrate the ceiling under visual flight conditions. A third attempt was made at treetop level and the plane was successful in reaching the fort. Under intense enemy ground fire from automatic weapons, including .50 calibers, the plane completed one pass at enemy troops surrounding the fort and on its second pass, had the right engine torn from the mounts by ground fire. The other engine was silenced seconds later. The plane crash-landed on a mountain slope, sliding to rest at the base. One crew member, Staff Sergeant Foster, broke both legs in the crash. The crew prepared a perimeter defense around the wreckage of the plane and wounded crew member, and in fifteen minutes the enemy attacked. This was repulsed but a second enemy attack killed the pilot, Captain Collins and Staff Sergeant Foster, the wounded airman. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, Captain Peterson reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.



14 February 1999

We shall not forget you.

I have not forgotten you. I chair the Adoption Committee for The National League of Families of Prisoners of War and Missing in Action in Southeast Asia. We will always remember the 1,889 Americans still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia and the thousands of others that lost their lives. We will not stop our efforts until all of you are home where you belong.

We need to reach the next generation so that they will carry on when our generation is no longer able. To do so, we are attempting to locate photographs of all the missing. If you are reading this remembrance and have a photo and/or memory of this missing American that you would like to share for our project, please contact me at:

Candace Lokey
PO Box 206
Freeport, PA 16229
[email protected]

If you are not familiar with our organization, please visit our web site at :

www.pow-miafamilies.org