Hilliard A . Wilbanks Hilliard Almond Wilbanks ( July 26 , 1933 – February 24 , 1967 ) was a career officer and pilot in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War . He posthumously received the Medal of Honor for sacrificing his life on February 24 , 1967 , while supporting a unit of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) at Di Linh , near Da Lat , South Vietnam . Capt . Hilliard A . Wilbanks was born in July 1933 and raised in the small , rural community of Cornelia , Ga . This area , tucked into the northeastern corner of the state , was almost isolated in the 1960s , yet seven of its men died in Vietnam . One of them , Wilbanks , earned the Medal of Honor in a true - to - life David vs . Goliath fight . Biography . Wilbanks joined the Air Force in 1950 , and was an air policeman with the Strategic Air Command during his first four years of service . He was then accepted into the aviation cadet program , and became a commissioned officer in June 1955 . After serving as an instructor for a few years , he qualified as a fighter pilot in the early 1960s . He arrived in Vietnam in April 1966 as a forward air controller with the 21st Air Support Squadron . He was still flying , but instead of a sleek fighter jet , he was piloting a Cessna O - 1E Bird Dog , with a top speed of about 105 mph . FACs were the key link in providing close air support to ground troops fighting in the Vietnam jungle . By February 24 , 1967 he had flown 487 combat missions and had earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and 17 Air Medals . He had spotted numerous enemy forces and directed uncounted fighter strikes against them , saving hundreds of allied lives . He was within two months of returning home to his wife and four small children . Late in the afternoon of the 24th , Wilbanks was in the air above the Central Highlands , about 100 miles north of Saigon , flying reconnaissance for a South Vietnamese Ranger Battalion . He discovered hostile units concealed on two hilltops . The Rangers were on foot , making their way through a tea plantation that gave them little or no cover . They were walking into a trap . As Wilbanks flew his O - 1E on a low - level sweep of the area , he radioed a warning to the Rangers . The enemy troops , seeing his plane , knew their ambush was being compromised , so they reacted with a barrage from mortars , machine guns and automatic weapons . Wilbanks flew through the heavy fire as he marked the area with white phosphorus rockets . The Viet Cong , knowing that fighters would soon be coming , charged down the slopes toward the outnumbered Rangers . Wilbanks watched the drama from above and realized the fighters wouldn ' t arrive in time to save Ranger lives . The enemy force needed to be delayed a little longer . Diving toward the advancing troops , Wilbanks fired his remaining phosphorus rockets . The line momentarily stopped , but the Viet Cong were old hands at this and knew he had no more rockets . They began their advance again . Still , the fighters hadn ' t arrived . Wilbanks had one more weapon , an M - 16 automatic rifle . Grabbing his rifle , he began a series of strafing runs at about 100 feet , firing the through the side window and reloading between passes . He managed to distract the enemy troops and momentarily slowed their advance . The Viet Cong diverted their fire against the low - flying O - 1E . On his third pass , Wilbanks was severely wounded and crashed in the battle area . An Army Ranger ran to his plane and pulled the unconscious Wilbanks from the wreckage . A flight of F - 4s roared in to strafe the enemy while a chopper picked up the wounded Wilbanks . He died while being evacuated to a hospital . On January 24 , 1968 , Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown presented the Medal of Honor to Wilbanks ' widow in the Pentagon , Washington , D . C . Wilbanks is a member of the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame . A six - foot tall , two - sided black granite memorial was erected in his home town , about 400 yards from where he was born , commemorating the country boy who , without hesitation , flew a Cessna into battle and into history . Wilbanks , aged 33 at his death , was buried in Fayette Methodist Cemetery , Fayette , Mississippi . He now has a middle school named after him that was renamed after him in 2010 . Medal of Honor citation . Citation : For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty . As a forward air controller Capt . Wilbanks was pilot of an unarmed , light aircraft flying visual reconnaissance ahead of a South Vietnam Army Ranger Battalion . His intensive search revealed a well - concealed and numerically superior hostile force poised to ambush the advancing rangers . The Viet Cong , realizing that Capt . Wilbanks ' discovery had compromised their position and ability to launch a surprise attack , immediately fired on the small aircraft with all available firepower . The enemy then began advancing against the exposed forward elements of the ranger force which were pinned down by devastating fire . Capt . Wilbanks recognized that close support aircraft could not arrive in time to enable the rangers to withstand the advancing enemy , onslaught . With full knowledge of the limitations of his unarmed , unarmored , light reconnaissance aircraft , and the great danger imposed by the enemy ' s vast firepower , he unhesitatingly assumed a covering , close support role . Flying through a hail of withering fire at treetop level , Capt . Wilbanks passed directly over the advancing enemy and inflicted many casualties by firing his rifle out of the side window of his aircraft . Despite increasingly intense antiaircraft fire , Capt . Wilbanks continued to completely disregard his own safety and made repeated low passes over the enemy to divert their fire away from the rangers . His daring tactics successfully interrupted the enemy advance , allowing the rangers to withdraw to safety from their perilous position . During his final courageous attack to protect the withdrawing forces , Capt . Wilbanks was mortally wounded and his bullet - riddled aircraft crashed between the opposing forces . Capt . Wilbanks ' magnificent action saved numerous friendly personnel from certain injury or death . His unparalleled concern for his fellow man and his extraordinary heroism were in the highest traditions of the military service , and have reflected great credit upon himself and the U . S . Air Force .