AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  WWII
MODEL:  B-29

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Martin E. Eichelman, Sergeant, Air Corps, United States Army, Right Blister Gunner, 421st Bombardment Squadron, 504th Bombardment Group for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight on 24 April 1945. Sergeant Eichelman and other individuals were combat crew members of a B-29 crew on a bombing mission from their base in the Marianas Islands against the Hitachi aircraft plant, Tachikawa, Japan. After landfall they proceeded with the formation to the initial point where they encountered an intense barrage of anti-aircraft fire which damaged the number three engine of their airplane to the extent that the propeller had to be feathered. In spite of the condition of their plane, and the fact that enemy fighters had singled them out for attacks, they continued on and dropped their bombs on the assigned target with excellent results. The courage, determination, and spirit of Sergeant Eichelman and these crew members, who have completed more than twenty-eight sorties against the enemy reflects great credit on themselves and the Army Air Forces.