AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  -
MODEL:  AH-1G

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Captain Steve W. Waltrip for heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight while serving as Pilot with Marine Observation Squadron Two, Marine Aircraft Group Sixteen, First Marine Aircraft Wing in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On the afternoon of 22 October 1969, Captain Waltrip launched as Section Leader of a flight of two AH-1G Cobra helicopters assigned the mission of supporting the emergency extraction of a seven-man Marine reconnaissance team which had sustained four casualties while heavily engaged with a numerically superior hostile force in a mountainous area southwest of Thuong Duc in Quang Nam Province. Arriving over the designated area, he found that extremely adverse weather conditions which shrouded the surrounding mountains and created a low ceiling varying between fifty to one hundred feet would severely restrict both visibility and his area of maneuverability. When informed that the beleaguered patrol was under a heavy volume of enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire from two sides and was in danger of being overrun, Captain Waltrip resolutely maneuvered his airraft down through the overcast to a hover at treetop level in an attempt to locate the embattled Marines' position. After being forced to lift out of the hazardous area when clouds engulfed the terrain and reduced visibility to zero, he boldly commenced his second approach to the extraction site. Undaunted by the intensity of the hostile fire directed at his aircraft. he quickly located the friendly unit and fearlessly executed repeated firing runs which thwarted the enemy attempt to overrun the patrol's position. On his third penetration of the cloud cover at slow speed, Captain Waltrip continued to go deeper into the overcast, hovering just inches from the treetops with forward visibility of less than twenty feet. When he arrived to within one hundred meters of the team's position, he was advised to lift out of the area to enable trasnport helicopters under cover of a flight of Cobra aircraft, which had arrived to relieve him to enter the dangerous area and insert a reaction force. His skill in executing attacks upon the hostile positions under exceptionally adverse conditions were instrumental in protecting the Marines until they were subsequently extracted. Captain Waltrip's courage, supererior airmanship, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of great personal danger were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.