The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Airman’s Medal to Senior Master Sergeant Eric Kent Truesdale, United States Air Force, for heroism involving voluntary risk of life at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, on 23 March 1994. On that date, he observed a C-141 aircraft engulfed in flames as a result of being struck by a crippled and pilotless F-16, which had impacted the Pope Air Force Base ramp. Hearing explosions from the paratroop staging area, he ran to the area and witnessed the carnage of smoke, aircraft debris, and soldiers burned by the fuel explosion of the F-16. Instinctively, he immediately began to remove smoldering clothing from soldiers that lay nearby and rendered first aid. With total disregard for his own safety, he carried several away from exploding ammunition and burning debris. Sergeant Truesdale assisted in carrying two of the most seriously wounded soldiers; one burned over seventy percent of his body and the other with a severe head injury, to a POV that was used to transport them to Womack Army Medical Center. Arriving at the Medical Center, he assisted in carrying the soldier with the head injury into the emergency room and placed him on a bed. Sergeant Truesdale returned to the triage area on the hospital grounds assisting medical personnel in administering to other casualties that were arriving in volume. The exemplary courage and heroism displayed by Sergeant Truesdale reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.