AWARDED DFC: 2
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  Vietnam
MODEL:  A-4C, A-4F

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Commander I. Dale Lewey for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a Pilot attached to Attack Squadron One Hundred Ninety Two, embarked in USS Ticonderoga (CVA 14) while conducting a search and destroy mission against surface-to-air missile sites in North Vietnam on 30 April 1968. Lieutenant Commander Lewey, as Flight Leader of an Ironhand Pouncer flight, responded to a call for help from an Air Force flight taken under fire by surface-to-air missiles . Under constant fire from 37mm batteries, numerous automatic weapons sites and threat of missiles, Lieutenant Commander Lewey pressed his rocket attack with determined precision, destroying a missile launcher and attached vehicle. After withdrawing for refueling operations, he led his flight back to the burning missile site and again, in the face of heavy barrage of 37mm and intense automatic weapons fire, initiated a strafing attack with deadly accuracy, leaving another vehicle burning and several POL fires. Lieutenant Commander Lewey's timely action, tenacity and expertise in weapons delivery were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.