Navy Federal Credit Union

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 Major Leslie R. Holland, Jr., United States Air Force, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as an F-111 Aircraft Commander near Hanoi, North Vietnam on 27 December 1972. On this night Major Holland launched against a staging area near the **** bridge in North Vietnam. Upon entering the Delta area surrounding the Hanoi region, Major Hollard was forced to manually fly the low level portion of the mission and manually navigate to the target due to failures in the terrain. Following radar and navigation systems within the aircraft, rather than abort the mission, Major Holland located the Red River and continued to the target area despite intense antiaircraft fire and numerous radar vectoring indications. His saturation of the subsequent strike seriously hampered the re-supply network within North Vietnam. The professional competence, aerial skill and devotion to duty displayed by Major Holland reflect great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Air Force.

Awards Received

  • Distinguished Flying Cross

    Service:

    United States Air Force

    Rank:

    Major

    Action Date:

    April 16, 1968

    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 Major Leslie R. Holland, Jr., United States Air Force, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as the aircraft commander of an F-111A over North Vietnam on 16 April 1968. On that date, Major Holland performed a night low-level strike against a heavily defended target in adverse weather conditions. In spite of malfunctioning aircraft equipment, Major Holland skillfully piloted his aircraft through rugged terrain and around the defenses to destroy an important target. The professional competence, aerial skill and devotion to duty displayed by Major Holland reflect great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Air Force.