Uzal G. Ent

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Uzal G. Ent, Brigadier General (Air Corps), U.S. Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Mission Commander for a force of B-24 Heavy Bombers of the NINTH Air Force, engaged in in a bombing mission on 1 August 1943, against the Ploesti Oil Refineries in Rumania. Brigadier General Ent as overall mission commander for this raid, flew with Colonel Keith Compton (376th Bombardment Group (H)), in the lead airplane of the entire force of American heavy bombardment aircraft that attacked Ploesti on 1 August, 1943. In this operation, one of the longest mass bombing flights and one of the most daring low-level attacks in aviation history, General Ent cooly and courageously directed his force at tree-top level and in the face of blazing anti-aircraft fire and balloon barrages to a position from which it could bomb the target successfully. Brigadier General Ent’s action in this perilous situation was one of utmost heroism and superb airmanship. His personal courage and devotion to duty have upheld the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 9th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces.