Before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force, Hunter Hackney graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. On the night prior to Colonel Hackney’s Air Force Cross mission, his roommate Major George Finck, earned the Air Force Cross when he flew the first night mission in a C-7A aircraft to deliver supplies to Duc Lap. Hunter Hackney’s was an almost identical “sequel.” He retired as a U.S. Air Force Colonel on October 31, 1981.
Sponsored by:
Hunter
F.
Hackney
July 28, 1931
–
October 17, 1999
Cemetery:
Rose-Neath Cemetery
Awards Received
-
Air Force Cross
-
Air Force Cross
Service:
United States Air ForceRank:
Colonel [then Major]Batallion:
458th Tactical Airlift SquadronDivision:
Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, VietnamAction Date:
August 25, 1968
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Title 10, Section 8742, United States Code, takes pleasure in presenting the Air Force Cross to Colonel [then Major] Hunter F. Hackney (AFSN: 0-65287), United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force as a C-7A Aircraft Commander of the 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron, Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, Vietnam, in action near Duc Lap Republic of Vietnam, on 25 August 1968. On that date, Major Hackney flew two drop passes delivering vitally needed ammunition through vicious concentrations of anti-aircraft and automatic weapons fire in which his aircraft sustained severe battle damage, disabling it and causing him to recover at a forward base. Realizing that the defenders of Duc Lap could not survive through the night without resupply of small arms ammunition, Major Hackney obtained a new aircraft and volunteered to reenter this hostile environment in which five other aircraft had perished. With tenacious courage, he delivered his cargo, again sustaining heavy battle damage. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of an opposing armed force, Major Hackney has reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.