Frederick F. Ploetz
U.S. Army Forces in the South Pacific Area, General Orders No. 149 (1943)
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Frederick F. Ploetz (0-431504), First Lieutenant (Air Corps), U.S. Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a P-40 Fighter Airplane in the 68th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group, FIFTH Air Force, in aerial combat against enemy forces on 20 January 1943, in the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations. During an air mission to the Shortland Islands, First Lieutenant Ploetz attacked and shot down an enemy aircraft. Though his own airplane was stuck by an enemy shell, shrapnel from which injured him in the shoulder, he safely brought his plane back to the airfield at Guadalcanal. First Lieutenant Ploetz’s unquestionable valor in aerial combat is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 5th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces.
