AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  Vietnam
MODEL:  F-100

Citation:  1.) The Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as an F-100 pilot in Southeast Asia on 26 March 1968. On that date, Major Lange was in a flight scrambled from alert status during the night to support a beseiged United States Army fire base camp located in mountainous terrain near Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam. Although faced with nearly insurmountable obstacles as weak and ineffective flare lighting, high winds, a single run-in heading and a moutain peak which was obscured by clouds, Major Lange attacked through a broken cloud layer in very low visibility, placing all his bombs precisely on target. Major Lange then made numerous strafing passes in the face of intense ground fire so effectively that the hostile attack was broken and repulsed. The professional competence, aerial skill, and devotion to duty displayed by Major Lange reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.