John B. Olansen Jr

First Lieutenant John B. Olansen Jr., distinguished himself by gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force over the Republic of Vietnam on 24 July 1966. On that date, Lieutenant Olansen flew two missions in support of an Army of the Republic of Vietnam company which was surrounded by a large hostile force. ON the night of 24 July 1966, after the lead aircraft had been hit by hostile ground fire and escorted to an emergency landing at Bien Hoa Air Base, Lieutenant Olansen returned to the target area alone. In the semi-darkness, and with complete disregard for his own life, Lieutenant Olansen made numerous low level ordnance deliveries against the hostile positions. When another flight finally arrived to relieve him, Lieutenant Olansen remained to continue marking the target with strafing passes, even though he was critically low on fuel. On the following morning, Lieutenant Olansen returned to the same target area and again made numerous ordnance deliveries under marginal weather conditions and in the face of intense automatic weapons and small arms fire. Due largely to his heroic efforts on these two missions, the friendly forces were saved from annihilation and later reached by reinforcements. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, Lieutenant Olansen has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.