AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  Vietnam
MODEL:  C-130B

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Staff Sergeant Craig C. Clifton for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a C-130B Flight Engineer near the Vietnamese demilitarization zone, Republic of Vietnam, on 28 June 1969. On that date, Sergeant Clifton was assigned a unique and hazardous aerial strike mission. The purpose of the mission was to deliver ordnance against heavily defended lines of communication that supported hostile activities in South Vietnam. The techniques used in this mission were known to be more dangerous and hazardous than normal airdrop missions and, of necessity, had to be made at slow airspeeds over highly concentrated and active antiaircraft sites. The professional competence, aerial skill, and devotion to duty displayed by Sergeant Clifton reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.