Bernard Fisher was awarded the Medal of Honor for his dramatic rescue of a downed airman in the A Shau Valley in Vietnam. Putting his own life at risk, Fisher landed his A-1E Skyraider under fire on a debris-strewn runway and managed to pull the pilot to safety.
The Clearfield, Utah native began his military career in the Navy at the end of World War II. From 1947 to 1950, Fisher served in the Idaho National Guard, then joined the ROTC while he was in college. Later he earned his wings as a jet fighter pilot in the Air Defense Command. He volunteered to go to Vietnam in 1965 and was assigned to the 1st Air Commandos where he flew 200 missions in a WWII era propeller-driven A-1E Skyraider in close-support missions.
On March 10, 1966, Fisher and his wingman were ordered to make a strafing run to help slow the enemy. Opposing forces were about to overrun an outnumbered contingent of Green Berets at a U.S. Special Forces camp in the A Shau Valley along the Laos border. The valley was lined with lethal anti-aircraft guns making it a death trap for the slow moving Skyraiders. One of the six
planes making the strafing run was hit and burst into flames. The pilot, Major D.W. Myers, radioed a call for help: “I’ve been hit and hit hard.” Myers was too low to bailout and crash landed on the Special Forces camp’s airstrip. He escaped the burning aircraft and jumped into a small ditch. Fisher called for a rescue helicopter but when he heard the choppers were half an hour away and likely wouldn’t arrive in time to save Myers from capture by the fast approaching North Vietnamese, he decided to land and pick up the airman himself. “I got some comments about not going in, but I felt it was necessary to do that,” Fisher recalled.
Fisher came in too fast on his first approach and couldn’t stop. He had to make another try. The second time, he managed to skid to a stop before reaching the end of the short debris-littered 2,500 foot air strip. Fisher came through the smoke, spotted Myers and taxied to where he was hiding. Myers rushed out to the plane and Fisher grabbed him and pulled him head first inside. Fisher then jammed on the throttle and managed to get the plane off the ground and to safety. Maintenance crews later found 19 bullet holes in Fisher’s A-1E.
Bernard Fisher was presented the Medal of Honor by President Lyndon Johnson on January 19, 1967 — the first airman in Vietnam to receive the distinction. Fisher lives in Kuna, Idaho and is enshrined in the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame at Hill Aerospace Museum. His plane has been restored and is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.