Leon Vance Leon Robert " Bob " Vance , Jr . ( August 11 , 1916 – July 26 , 1944 ) was a Medal of Honor recipient who served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II . Early life and family . Leon Robert Vance , Jr . was born and raised in Enid , Oklahoma . Vance attended Enid schools from first grade through high school . His father , Leon Robert Vance Sr . , was a junior high school principal and also a civil aviation flight instructor , while his uncle had been an aviator in the Army Air Service who had been killed in France during World War I . Vance was considered an above - average student and a great athlete . His father , as principal , thought of education as having great importance , and this spurred Vance , Jr . to challenge himself by taking difficult courses in high school . He averaged a 94 percent in mathematics . Vance attended Oklahoma University for two years , becoming a member of Phi Delta Theta . After his sophomore year , Vance entered the United States Military Academy on July 1 , 1935 , as a member of the Class of 1939 . A 1999 article in " U . S . News and World Report " called Vance and his West Point classmates the " Warrior Class " because they were destined to fight in World War II , the Korean War , and the Vietnam War . In his First Class ( senior ) year , Vance was selected as a cadet sergeant in Company A of the Corps of Cadets . He graduated June 12 , 1939 , ranked 318th in order of general merit in a class of 456 , and was commissioned as a second lieutenant of Infantry . While training at Mitchel Field on Long Island , Vance met Garden City resident , Georgette Drury Brown . They married the day after his graduation from West Point and had a daughter , Sharon , born in 1942 . Vance would later name his assigned aircraft " The Sharon D . " after his daughter . Military service . Vance requested pilot training and completed Basic School at the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa . On September 13 , 1939 , he was assigned to Randolph Field , Texas for Primary flight training , graduating the following March , and then to nearby Kelly Field for Advanced Flight School , where he graduated with Class 40C , earning his wings on June 21 , 1940 . Vance was also recommissioned as a first lieutenant , Air Corps . He served as an instructor until February 1941 , when he was transferred to Goodfellow Army Air Field in San Angelo , Texas , and assigned to command the 49th School Squadron . He was at Goodfellow when the United States entered World War II in December 1941 , was promoted to captain on April 6 and major on July 17 , and remained in command of his basic flight training squadron until reassigned to Strother AAF , Kansas , in December 1942 as Director of Flying . While at Goodfellow , Horace Carswell and Jack Mathis ( then an enlisted clerk ) , both of whom would subsequently receive the Medal of Honor posthumously , served in Vance ' s squadron . Vance was promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1943 , after little more than four years ' service . After transition training to the Consolidated B - 24 Liberator , Vance was assigned in December 1943 to the 489th Bombardment Group at Wendover AAF , Utah , as Deputy Group Commander . The group completed its training and prepared for overseas movement in April 1944 , one of the last heavy bombardment groups to be assigned to the Eighth Air Force . The group was assigned to the 95th Combat Bombardment Wing of the 2nd Bomb Division and based at RAF Halesworth . Vance led the group on its first combat mission , bombing the Luftwaffe airfield at Oldenburg , Germany , on May 30 , 1944 . Medal of Honor mission . On June 5 , 1944 , Vance was assigned to lead the 489th BG on a diversionary attack against German coastal defenses near Wimereaux , France , in the Pas - de - Calais , to support the anticipated D - Day landings . The group had lost six bombers on a mission to bomb Brétigny Airfield near Paris on June 2 ( Vance did not participate ) , partly as a consequence of attempting to bomb visually in poor weather conditions . As a result , the lead aircraft of the 489th ' s formation on June 5 was a Pathfinder Force ( PFF ) " Mickey " B - 24 detached from the 44th Bomb Group ' s 66th Bomb Squadron to enable the group to bomb through overcast using " blind bombing " tactics . Vance positioned himself on the bomber ' s flight deck , standing behind the aircraft commander and co - pilot . After an 0900 takeoff , the group assembled its formation and climbed to its assigned altitude for the short flight to the French coast . The group approached the target area from the south but the bombs of the lead aircraft failed to release , and as a result none of the group bombed . Vance decided to make a second pass over the target rather than jettison the bombs into the English Channel , but as the formation approached the target a second time , it came under intense anti - aircraft fire ( " flak " ) . The lead B - 24 immediately sustained heavy battle damage . It continued the bomb run , however , and toggled its ordnance , but was further damaged by multiple flak bursts . In all , four crewmen were wounded , three of the four engines were disabled , and fuel lines ruptured in the fuselage . In addition , one of the aircraft ' s bombs again failed to release . Immediately after bomb release , shrapnel from a final burst killed the aircraft commander and wounded Vance , nearly severing his right foot , which became wedged in cockpit framework behind the copilot ' s seat . In the chaos that followed , comments on the interphone led Vance to believe that the crew ' s radio operator , wounded in the legs , was too seriously injured to be evacuated . The B - 24 lost altitude rapidly after the pilot was killed , but the wounded copilot regained controlled flight , preventing a stall by putting it into a steep glide to maintain airspeed . Despite shock from his own wound , Vance was able to assist the copilot in " feathering " the propellers , shutting down the over - strained fourth engine , and optimizing the glide of the crippled aircraft . The crew ' s " Mickey " operator , 2nd Lt . Bernard W . Bail , tried to dislodge Vance ' s pinned foot and applied a makeshift tourniquet . When the B - 24 reached the English coast , it was too damaged to land safely . Vance ordered the crew to " bail out , " and after most had complied , took the controls and turned the aircraft back over the channel , where the remainder parachuted into the sea . He decided to attempt a water landing in the belief that the injured radio operator was still on the aircraft , even though B - 24s were notoriously ill - suited for " ditching . " From a semi - prone position over the power plant controls island between the crew seats , Vance flew the bomber mainly by use of ailerons and elevators , keeping a visual reference through the side window of the cockpit . Although the Liberator survived the ditching largely intact , its dorsal gun turret collapsed and pinned Vance inside the flooded cockpit as the bomber sank . An explosion blew him clear of the wreckage , however , and he was eventually able to inflate his Mae West . After searching for the radio operator , Vance swam towards shore . He was finally picked up by an RAF Air - Sea Rescue launch after fifty minutes . Death . Nearly two months later , after receiving medical treatment in the United Kingdom , Vance was sent back to the United States on a Douglas C - 54 Skymaster transport for further treatment and possible fitting of a prosthetic foot . The C - 54 with all aboard disappeared on July 26 , 1944 , and was presumed to have crashed into the Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and Newfoundland . The recommendation that he be awarded the Medal of Honor was confirmed in orders on January 4 , 1945 , but his widow requested that the awards ceremony be delayed until the medal could be presented to their daughter . On October 11 , 1946 , Major General James P . Hodges , commander of the 2nd Bomb Division when Vance was assigned to it , made the presentation to Sharon Vance at Enid Army Air Base . Legacy . Medal of Honor citation . For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on 5 June 1944 , when he led a Heavy Bombardment Group , in an attack against defended enemy coastal positions in the vicinity of Wimereaux , France . Approaching the target , his aircraft was hit repeatedly by antiaircraft fire which seriously crippled the ship , killed the pilot , and wounded several members of the crew , including Lt . Col . Vance , whose right foot was practically severed . In spite of his injury , and with 3 engines lost to the flak , he led his formation over the target , bombing it successfully . After applying a tourniquet to his leg with the aid of the radar operator , Lt . Col . Vance , realizing that the ship was approaching a stall altitude with the 1 remaining engine failing , struggled to a semi - upright position beside the copilot and took over control of the ship . Cutting the power and feathering the last engine he put the aircraft in glide sufficiently steep to maintain his airspeed . Gradually losing altitude , he at last reached the English coast , whereupon he ordered all members of the crew to bail out as he knew they would all safely make land . But he received a message over the interphone system which led him to believe 1 of the crewmembers was unable to jump due to injuries ; so he made the decision to ditch the ship in the channel , thereby giving this man a chance for life . To add further to the danger of ditching the ship in his crippled condition , there was a 500 - pound bomb hung up in the bomb bay . Unable to climb into the seat vacated by the copilot , since his foot , hanging on to his leg by a few tendons , had become lodged behind the copilot ' s seat , he nevertheless made a successful ditching while lying on the floor using only aileron and elevators for control and the side window of the cockpit for visual reference . On coming to rest in the water the aircraft commenced to sink rapidly with Lt . Col . Vance pinned in the cockpit by the upper turret which had crashed in during the landing . As it was settling beneath the waves an explosion occurred which threw Lt . Col . Vance clear of the wreckage . After clinging to a piece of floating wreckage until he could muster enough strength to inflate his life vest he began searching for the crewmember whom he believed to be aboard . Failing to find anyone he began swimming and was found approximately 50 minutes later by an Air - Sea Rescue craft . By his extraordinary flying skill and gallant leadership , despite his grave injury , Lt . Col . Vance led his formation to a successful bombing of the assigned target and returned the crew to a point where they could bail out with safety . His gallant and valorous decision to ditch the aircraft in order to give the crewmember he believed to be aboard a chance for life exemplifies the highest traditions of the U . S . Armed Forces . Other honors . The airbase in his hometown of Enid , Oklahoma , was renamed Vance Air Force Base in his honor on July 9 , 1949 . He was further honored when Gate 40 of Tinker Air Force Base , Oklahoma , was renamed " Vance Gate " on May 9 , 1997 .