AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  WW II
MODEL:  B-24

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Staff Sergeant Marvin O. Washer for extraordinary achievement in aerial flight as tail turret gunner of a B-24 type aircraft. On 2 April 1944, Sgt Washer participated in a bombing mission against a vitally important enemy aircraft factory in Austria. When his formation was attacked by forty-five (45) enemy aircraft, Sgt Washer so skillfully defended his station that all enemy planes were driven off. When a cannon shell shattered the top turret, sout (sp?) the oxygen supply and knocked the gunner out, Sgt Washer so effectively covered his field of fire that one (1) of the enemy attackers was severely damaged and was later seen to crash in the mountains below. Unescorted over a successful bombing run, Sgt Washer's skillful gunnery warded off the aggressive attacks of enemy aircraft during a thirty (30) minute aerial battle and was responsible, in a large part, for the safe return of his aircraft to home base. By his courage in battle, devotion to duty and professional skill, as evidenced throughout over fifty (50) combat missions against the enemy, Sgt Washer has reflected great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States of America.