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

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant Frank O. Klein for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight on 21 and 22 February 1947. First Lieutenant Klein was Navigator on the aircraft that made the initial flight in search for the crew of the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron's B-29, the Kee Bird that became lost in Northern Greenland on 21 February 1947. He volunteered to make this flight in spite of harassing knowledge that the assigned aircraft for this mission was considered poorly conditioned for long range flight. Lieutenant Klein served as celestial navigator on the navigational team. His Arctic experience in the methods of grid navigation were challenged time and again, as long periods of twilight were encountered. He doggedly remained at the position assigned him in the astrodome for 20 hours and 40 minutes in spite of illness. For long periods during twilight the aircraft was steered in the regions of magnetic disturbances purely through data supplied by him. When the area of search was reached he assisted in observation for the last crew members. His endurance and confidence in his specialized knowledge instilled a definite esprit de corps among his fellow crew members.