The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Fourth Gold Star in lieu of a Fifth Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Commander William Francis Span (NSN: 0-401287), United States Navy, for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a jet attack pilot attached to and serving with Attack Squadron ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR (VA-164), embarked in the U.S.S. HANCOCK (CVA-19). On 1 October 1968, Commander Span was the leader of a 14-plane coordinated strike against a surface-to-air missile launching site near Vinh Son, North Vietnam. This heavily defended site has posed a serious threat to interdiction efforts in the area, and was considered a target of the highest importance. He carefully studied recently taken photographs of the area and obtained the latest meteorological data available. He then assigned specific aim points to each pilot in order to completely cover the target area and inflict the greatest possible amount of damage. As he approached the target, he led the entire strike group in a series of violent evasive maneuvers in order to deny the enemy gunners a suitable target. Quickly locating the heavily camouflages site, he led the strike group in a swift and devastating attack which completely destroyed the site, its missiles, launchers and radar vans. After recovering from his bombing run, and while maneuvering to avoid the 37-mm. flak directed at his aircraft, he circled the target to take photographs of the destruction with a hand-held camera. His efforts were directly responsible for the complete success of the mission. Commander Span’s courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

(Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: Commander William Francis Span (NSN: 0-401287), United States Navy, was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a jet attack pilot attached to and serving with Attack Squadron ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR (VA-164), embarked in the U.S.S. ORISKANY (CVA-34), over Southeast Asia in 1967. His devotion to duty and courage under all conditions serve as an inspiration to his fellow flyers. His actions reflect the highest credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Third Gold Star in lieu of a Fourth Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Commander William Francis Span (NSN: 0-401287), United States Navy, for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a jet attack pilot attached to and serving with Attack Squadron ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR (VA-164), embarked in the U.S.S. ORISKANY (CVA-34), on 25 October 1967. Commander Span led a division of aircraft in one of the largest, most significant strikes of the war against the Phuc Yen Airfield 11 miles north of Hanoi. This was the enemy’s primary jet airfield and it was defended by the heaviest concentration of anti-aircraft batteries and missile sites yet encountered. Commander Span’s division was assigned to attack and destroy enemy aircraft parked in various revetted areas surrounding the field. Nearing the target, Commander Span led his division in successfully evading four surface-to-air missiles fired at the strike group. Weaving through heavy anti-aircraft fire that blackened the sky overhead the target, his division was again taken under attack by a volley of three more missiles. Although two of these tracking missiles exploded close enough to violently buffet his aircraft, Commander Span gallantly continued on to the target. In the face of increasingly heavy anti-aircraft fire and forced to maneuver around billowing clouds overhead the target, he alertly detected high performance jet fighter aircraft in revetments adjacent to the airfield. Penetrating a wall of exploding projectiles, he led his division in a crippling attack and scored direct hits on all three aircraft. Commander Span’s gallant actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Second Gold Star in lieu of a Third Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Commander William Francis Span (NSN: 0-401287), United States Navy, for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a jet attack pilot attached to and serving with Attack Squadron ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR (VA-164), embarked in the U.S.S. ORISKANY (CVA-34), over hostile North Vietnamese territory on 9 October 1967. Commander Span distinguished himself by his meticulous pre-flight planning, briefings, and flight leadership as the strike leader of a 21-plane air wing strike against the Kien An Airfield. Commander Span assigned specific individual aim points within the strike group to ensure maximum damage would be inflicted on the runways, high speed taxi ramps, and adjacent revetted aircraft parking areas. En route to the target, low hanging clouds made visual navigation difficult. Commander Span courageously pressed on utilizing dead reckoning navigation and at his calculated time over target, a break in the clouds revealed the runway directly below. He quickly called out the optimum attack heading and courageously led the entire strike group in an attack as the enemy gunners filled the break in the clouds with barrages of 85, 57 and 37-millimeter anti-aircraft fire. Commander Span scored direct hits on the runway while the remainder of the strike group successfully cratered the runway in four additional places, interdicted the taxiways and destroyed four revetted aircraft parking areas. Commander Span’s thorough planning, expert flight leadership, and perseverance in the face of deteriorating weather and the strike groups’ accomplished destruction in the target area successfully denied the enemy the use of this important airfield. His actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.