Air Force Cross

Delbert Ray Peterson
Captain, U.S. Air Force
4th Air Commando Squadron
Date of Action: March 09, 1966

Citation:
The Air Force Cross is presented to Delbert Ray Peterson, Captain, U.S. 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.

Another account of the events 9 March 1966.

On 9 March 1966, Capt. Willard M. Collins, pilot; Lt. Delbert R. Peterson, co-pilot; Capt. Jerry L. Meek, navigator; SSgt. John G. Brown, flight engineer; SSgt. James Turner, Jr., aerial gunner and SSgt. Robert E. Foster, aerial gunner; comprised the crew of a C47 gunship, call sign "Spooky 70," that departed DaNang Airfield on a close air support mission for the A Shau Special Forces Camp, Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam. At 1300 hours, when the gunship was approximately 2 miles south of the Special Forces camp, Capt. Collins initiated a left hand turn to position the aircraft for a firing pass. At the same time the enemy opened up with anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) fire and hit the C47 several times in the right engine. Capt. Collins feathered the #1 engine and notified the crew they "were going in." After they crash landed, the crew got out, surveyed the damage and collected their survival equipment and weapons. SSgt. Foster was injured in the crash and Lt. Peterson began first aid on him. At the same time Capt. Collins began working the survival radio. Capt. Meek loaded all the M16s and set up a perimeter defense outside the aircraft. About 10 minutes later, Capt. Meek was shot and wounded by a Viet Cong (VC) guerrilla who was closing on the downed aircraft. The pilot of an L19 Bird Dog Forward Air Controller (FAC) aircraft spotted the aircraft and crew through the dense jungle and called in A1 Skyraiders to provide air cover for the downed aircrew. Capt. Meek told Lt. Peterson they needed a sentry at the rear of the airplane because it was a blind spot. Delbert Peterson put on his survival vest and crawled around past the tail into the undergrowth with his M16. Before the Skyraiders could make a pass, the right side of the C47 was raked with enemy machine gun fire killing SSgt. Foster outright and mortally wounding Capt. Collins. Capt. Meek called out to Lt. Peterson and SSgt. Brown. John Brown acknowledged he was all right, but there was no response from Delbert Peterson. At approximately 1520 hours, search and rescue helicopters arrived on site and made a circular pass over the crash site. While one descended to a ground hover approximately 25 feet away from the nose of the C47, the other remained overhead. Capt. Meek ordered SSgt. Brown to make a run for the helicopter. SSgt. Turner, who had been on the inside of the aircraft, kicked the remnants of the emergency exit door out of the right side. John Brown, James Turner and Jerry Meek all made it to the rescue helicopter at the same time. As it lifted off the ground, the crew and passengers searched the area around the C47 for Delbert Peterson, but none saw any trace of him. About 20 minutes after the three crewmen were rescued, a Special Forces ground team arrived at the crash site. They found the bodies of Capt. Collins and SSgt. Foster where they had fallen near their aircraft. However, during their search, which included the area in and around where the co-pilot was last seen, they could find no sign of Lt. Peterson. Further, they found blood spots or blood trails leading away from the crash site. Because of the heavy enemy presence in the area, the Special Forces team was unable to bring the bodies of Willard Collins and Robert Foster out with them. Willard Collins and Robert Foster were immediately listed Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered. Because there was a strong probability Delbert Peterson was captured, he was listed Missing in Action. The location of loss placed the gunship 10 kilometers north of the A Shau Valley and 2 miles south of the Special Forces Camp they were to provide air support for.

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