AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  Vietnam
MODEL:  CH-46

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant Oscar B. Fears, Jr., United States Marine Corps, for heroic achievement in aerial flight while serving as a Pilot with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262, Marine Aircraft Group Sixteen, First Marine Aircraft Wing in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On the afternoon of 30 January 1971, First Lieutenant Fears launched as Section Leader of a flight of two CH-46 transport helicopters assigned the emergency hoist extraction of a seven-man Marine reconnaissance team which was heavily engaged in combat with a numerically superior hostile force after having discovered a major enemy hospital complex deep in the Que Son Mountains in Quang Nam Province. Arriving over the designated area while Cobra gunships were attacking hostile firing positions on three sides of the beleaguered patrol, he found that the Marines were located on a narrow ledge under a high jungle canopy with a sheer rock wall towering over their position and that winds gusting at twenty-five knots would seriously hamper the rescue efforts. Realizing that the proximity of the team to the wall would preclude a forward approach to the extraction site, First Lieutenant Fears skillfully maneuvered his transport in the turbulent weather until he backed his aircraft to a hover in a crosswind above the endangered patrol with its rotor blades only inches from the rock cliff. As he lowered his extraction line, his aircraft immediately came under intense enemy automatic weapons fire. Undaunted, First Lieutenant Fears completely disregarded his own safety as he remained in his precarious position for the thirty minutes required for the Marines to attach themselves to the extraction line. With exceptional skill, he lifted out of the dangerous area with the reconnaissance team suspended on the line beneath the helicopter, proceeded to An Hoa where the Marines were embarked, and then continued on to DaNang. First Lieutenant Fears' courage, superior airmanship, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of great personal danger were instrumental in accomplishing the hazardous mission and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.