AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  WWII
MODEL:  B-26

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant Milton A. Courtright, 495th Bombardment Squadron, 344th Bombardment Group (M), for heroism and outstanding achievement while piloting a B-26 type aircraft on a combat operational mission in occupied France on 29 June 1944. An intense barrage of anti-aircraft fire was encountered over the target and disabled the hydraulic system and the right engine and, in addition, inflicted several painful wounds on the members of the crew. Lieutenant Courtright’s difficulties were further increased when heavy thunderstorms scattered the formation and forced him to continue flying by instruments. Although there was no navigator in the crew, Lieutenant Courtright, realizing the extreme importance of obtaining medical treatment for his wounded crew, exercised gallant resolution and superior technical skill in piloting his crippled aircraft back safely to the home base in the face of severely hazardous circumstances. The steadfast courage and unstinting devotion to duty exhibited by Lieutenant Courtright on this occasion are exemplary of the highest traditions of the Army Air Forces.