The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Captain James Edwin Mack (AFSN: FR-63965), United States Air Force, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a Forward Air Controller in an O-1 aircraft in Southeast Asia on 31 March 1967. On that date, Captain Mack was flying close air support for a friendly force which was surrounded by and under heavy attack from a numerically superior hostile force. With unwavering calmness and courage, Captain Mack repeatedly flew his unarmed aircraft through intense hostile automatic weapons fire to accurately mark the hostile positions for the supporting strike aircraft. The professional competence, aerial skill and devotion to duty displayed by Captain Mack reflect great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Air Force.

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting a Third Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Fourth Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross with Combat “V” to Captain James Edwin Mack (AFSN: FR-63965), United States Air Force, for heroism while participating in aerial flight as a Forward Air Controller directing fighter aircraft over North Vietnam on 2 November 1967. On that date, Captain Mack directed a series of fighter attacks on a concentration of twenty-nine 37 millimeter and 57 millimeter anti-aircraft artillery guns which were protecting a strategic area of North Vietnam. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, he remained at a dangerously low altitude over the target for an aggregate of over two hours. He repeatedly dove his unarmed aircraft into the face of withering hostile fire in order to expose the firing positions and to draw the flak away from the less maneuverable, ordnance-laden fighters. The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty displayed by Captain Mack reflect great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Air Force.

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Captain James Edwin Mack (AFSN: FR-63965), United States Air Force, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a Forward Air Controller in an O-1E aircraft on 27 April 1967. On that date, Captain Mack voluntarily and knowingly subjected himself to heavy anti-aircraft ground fire while on a classified mission over hostile territory. His gallant actions prevented an impending combat operations strike in the vicinity from being subjected to the effects of this well camouflaged anti-aircraft site. Despite the intense barrage of hostile ground fire, Captain Mack stayed in the immediate target area for over an hour until all the gun positions had been devastated. His intrepid airmanship foiled a well planned and engineered operation to destroy friendly aircraft. The professional competence, aerial skill and devotion to duty displayed by Captain Mack reflect great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Air Force.