It’s not too late for the U.S. Air Force to reexamine whether a Medal of Honor should be awarded to retired Air Force Col. Philip J. Conran.

Conran, 76, was awarded the nation’s second highest decoration for gallantry in action against the enemy — the Air Force Cross — for an action in Oct. 1969. U.S. Army leaders recommended Conran for the Medal of Honor. A general later told Conran why he didn’t receive it. “President Nixon had told the public we didn’t have any troops there,” Conran said in a June 1 telephone interview. “The vice commander of Pacific Air Forces, Lt. Gen. Lucius D. Clay, told me I didn’t receive the higher award because of the location.”

The location was Laos.

 

Serious Soldier

Born in Hartford, Conn. in 1937, Conran graduated from Fordham University and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1958. After receiving his pilot’s wings in 1960, Conran served as an air rescue aircraft commander and as a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps professor of aerospace studies before deploying to Southeast Asia in July 1968. It was during this combat tour (while serving as a special operations helicopter commander) that then-Maj. Conran became caught up in the battle that got him written up for recognition. He was based at Nakhon Phanom, Thailand — called NKP — flying a CH-3E, a close cousin to the HH-3E “Jolly Green” helicopter.

At 10:45 a.m. on Oct. 6, 1969, five helicopters carrying U.S and friendly troops left NKP for a camp in Laos. Conran was the aircraft commander of the number two helicopter in the formation. After being told that the landing zone or LZ was clear, the helicopters started their approach in trail formation. But the LZ was far from safe, and the lead aircraft was shot down while landing. Its crewmembers and the other troops on board had no choice but to abandon the helicopter and take up defensive positions on the ground.

Conran, still aloft, immediately climbed out of the range of small arms fire, and assumed command of the remaining four helicopters. He directed fire from two escorting A-1E Skyraiders.

For the rest of the day, Conran repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to obtain essential ammunition and food from the downed helicopters. After an HH-3E attempting to rescue Conran and the other airmen was driven off by an intense barrage of automatic weapons fire, mortar rounds began falling into the friendly positions. Conran exposed himself, located the enemy mortar crew, and called in an air strike.

Conran began to run low on fuel. He had two choices: Return to a safe area and refuel — leaving his fellow Americans on the ground to be overrun and killed — or attempt a rescue of the downed crew and reinforce the friendlies fighting on the ground. Concluding that the 26 friendly soldiers would not be able to provide sufficient protection for the downed aircrew, Conran decided to land his helicopter.

Although he selected what he thought was the safest approach route, Conran’s helicopter was severely damaged by enemy fire while attempting to land. Although he probably could have broken off his approach and returned to a safe area, Conran elected to land and deliver his cargo of friendly troops — who now joined the fight.

Although damaged, Conran’s helicopter was still flyable. But, as he began to take the downed crewmembers aboard, small arms fire ripped through the main rotor transmission and cockpit. Take-off was now impossible. Conran and his crew abandoned their aircraft.

For the rest of the day, Conran repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to obtain essential ammunition and food from the downed helicopters. After an HH-3E attempting to rescue Conran and the other airmen was driven off by an intense barrage of automatic weapons fire, mortar rounds began falling into the friendly positions. Conran exposed himself, located the enemy mortar crew, and called in an air strike.

Later, while trying to strengthen defenses, Conran was severely wounded in the leg. He did not mention this injury until he had lost all feeling in his leg and felt that, if a rescue helicopter were to arrive to extract them, he might not be able to make it to the aircraft on his own and would need help. In spite of the seriousness of his leg wound, Conran refused to allow anyone to expose themselves to enemy fire to examine his injury.

Just before nightfall, two Jolly Greens were able to complete a successful rescue of all 44 downed airmen and, believing that Conran was chiefly responsible for the survival of the men on the ground, he was recommended for the Medal of Honor.

When he was subsequently awarded the Air Force Cross, Conran was told that the Air Force had initially approved the award of the Medal of Honor to him. While Clay acknowledged that the higher medal was the appropriate award, Conran was being awarded the Air Force Cross because his act of heroism had occurred in Laos, where Nixon had said no American military operations were ongoing. Awarding the Medal of Honor to Conran would be a “red flag” that U.S. troops in fact were in Laos, and that would be bad politics. Conran was grateful to have done his duty and come home in one piece and, he said, did not give the matter of the Medal of Honor much more thought.

As an aside, Phil Conran’s heroism in Oct. 1969 was not the only time in which he had risked his life to save his fellow Americans.  Ten months earlier, on Jan. 19, 1969, Conran and his copilot, Capt. Troy Lindabury, were in the process of refueling at NKP when they got a radio call that a B-26 “Nimrod” had jettisoned its bombs somewhere northeast of the base. The pilots were ordered to find the location, check for casualties, and secure the area. After topping off their fuel tanks, Conran and Lindabury took off and soon found the fires started by the detonated bombs.

Although the flames were intense, and ammunition was exploding around them, the two Americans managed to extricate a fourth crewmember trapped in the helicopter. The helicopter blew up as soon as Conran and his fellow airman took the immobile crewman from the area. As a result of their extraordinary heroism that day, both Phil Conran and the crewman who had helped in the rescue were awarded the Airman’s Medal, the highest decoration an Air Force member may be awarded for non-combat heroism.

Lindabury initiated the aircraft’s approach while Conran covered the pre-landing checklist. Lindabury, disoriented as a result of focusing exclusively on the ground fires, developed vertigo and went from a straight-in descending approach to a nose-high unusual attitude. Before Conran could take corrective action, the helicopter settled into one hundred foot trees. The blades struck the trees and the aircraft then fell to the ground like a rock.

When it struck the ground, the helicopter rolled and caught fire. Conran, Lindabury and another airman escaped, but after hearing screaming coming from the rear of the helicopter, Conran and the crewman returned to the fiery wreck. Although the flames were intense, and ammunition was exploding around them, the two Americans managed to extricate a fourth crewmember trapped in the helicopter. The helicopter blew up as soon as Conran and his fellow airman took the immobile crewman from the area. As a result of their extraordinary heroism that day, both Phil Conran and the crewman who had helped in the rescue were awarded the Airman’s Medal, the highest decoration an Air Force member may be awarded for non-combat heroism.

After his Southeast Asia tour, Conran served in a variety of assignments and locations, including executive officer and commander of an Air Force satellite control facility and inspector general for Air Force Systems Command. He retired as a colonel in 1988 with more than 5,000 flying hours, 300 of which were combat hours. He then had a successful career in private industry until retiring again. Today, he lives in California.

A few years ago, some Air Force veterans learned that Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger, who lost his life in a firefight in Laos in March 1968, had been recommended for the Medal of Honor. Because of the action’s location in Laos, however, Etchberger’s award was downgraded to an Air Force Cross. In 2010, however, Congressman Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) asked the Air Force to look into whether Etchberger’s Air Force Cross should — and could — be upgraded to the Medal of Honor for which he had originally been recommended. When the Secretary of the Air Force agreed that the Medal of Honor was desirable, Pomeroy introduced legislation in Congress that waived the two-year time limit that was an obstacle to such an upgrade. When Congress enacted Pomeroy’s bill, President Barack Obama approved the award of the Medal of Honor to “Dick” Etchberger – which was presented to his surviving family members.

Conran’s situation is identical and warrants an identical upgrade. Conran says he isn’t bothered about it but his neighbors and his congressman, (Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) are studying the legislation that would permit him to receive the higher award.

It’s the right thing to do for an airman who showed such caring and concern for his fellow Americans in Southeast Asia almost 45 years ago.