AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  Vietnam
MODEL:  H-21

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Chief Warrant Officer Joseph M. Mikel for heroism while participating in aerial flight 13 June 1962. As the pilot of an H-21 helicopter, Chief Warrant Officer Mikel participating in a particularly hazardous and voluntary flight in the presence of an armed hostile force in support of the 1st Infantry Division, Army of Vietnam. He landed after sunset on a narrow, unimproved pinnacle to pick up ten seriously wounded soldiers including two members of the United States Army Military Assistance Advisory Group. Under very poor twilight conditions and without lights, he skillfully made a contour approach to the pinnacle to avoid enemy observation and fire. He carefully and precisely landed in an area barely sufficient to support the landing gear. The landing was within mortar range of hostile forces. After the ten casualties were loaded, Chief Warrant Officer Mikel made a pinnacle take off in the dark and flew over thirty miles of dense jungle and mountains at night to Danang, South Vietnam. Chief Warrant Officer Mikel's heroic action and exemplary conduct in the presence of a hostile force are in the best traditions of the United States Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the military service.