Captain Conley was listed as Missing in Action after he was shot down on January 21, 1967. His remains were recovered, identified, and returned to the United States on June 22, 1967.
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Captain Conley was listed as Missing in Action after he was shot down on January 21, 1967. His remains were recovered, identified, and returned to the United States on June 22, 1967.
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The President of the United States of America, authorized by Title 10, Section 8742, United States Code, takes pride in presenting the Air Force Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Colonel Eugene Ogden Conley (AFSN: 0-19872), United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism while serving as an F-105 Thunderchief Pilot with the 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, Tuy Hoa Air Base, Vietnam, in action over North Vietnam on 21 January 1967. On that date, Colonel Conley was the Seventh Air Force’s mission commander for a two-wing strike force launched against a heavily defended rail yard in the vicinity of Hanoi. Coolly evaluating the hostile force’s defensive posture, he skillfully led the first flight through the concentrated flak barrages and picked his way past the deadly surface-to-air missiles. After visually acquiring the target, he scanned the area for the heaviest concentration of hostile fire upon which to unload his deadly weapons in order to minimize the threat to those he led. He attacked his target and then, with complete disregard for his personal safety, he circled the target area to incite the defenders to unleash their full defensive might against him, thereby permitting his followers to destroy the target. Observing a hostile missile site near the target, he marked it, ordered an attack against it, and then fearlessly circled back over the target area to seek out other hostile defenses. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, Lieutenant Colonel Conley reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.