AWARDED DFC: 2
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  Vietnam
MODEL:  O-1F

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Captain Richard E. Pierson for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as an O-1F Pilot in Southeast Asia on 2 February 1967. On that date, Captain Pierson was performing duties as a Forward Air Controller over unfriendly territory. While gathering intelligence from friendly ground forces, Captain Pierson came in contact with a unit that was pinned down by a company of hostile forces. The unit requested close air support and Captain Pierson, in spite of heavy hostile machine gun fire, directed two flights of fighters on the hostiles, as close as 300 years from the friendlies. The machine guns were silenced, the hostile ammunition storage blown up, and the hostile troops strafed. The professional competence, aerial skill, and devotion to duty displayed by Captain Pierson reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

2.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Major Richard E. Pierson for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as an O-1F Pilot in Southeast Asia on 26 March 1967. On that date, Major Pierson performed duties as a Forward Air Controller in a night hunter-killer team surveying a hostile road net. His aggressive action and great courage in the face of considerable visible fire made possible the destruction of vital hostile transportation. The professional competence, aerial skill, and devotion to duty displayed by Major Pierson reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.