Question: Which Air Force member was behind enemy lines for 11 1/2 days and had the largest,longest and most complex rescue mission?

Operation Halyard (or Halyard Mission), known in Serbian as Operation Air Bridge (Serbian: Операција Ваздушни мост ), was an Allied airlift operation behind enemy lines during World War II.  In July 1944, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) drew up plans to send a team to Chetniks led by General Draža Mihailović in the German-occupied Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia for the purpose of evacuating Allied airmen shot down over that area.  This team, known as the Halyard team, was commanded by Lieutenant George Musulin, along with Master Sergeant Michael Rajacich, and Specialist Arthur Jibilian, the radio operator.  The team was detailed to the United States Fifteenth Air Force and designated as the 1st Air Crew Rescue Unit.  It was the largest rescue operation of American Airmen in history.  According to historian Professor Jozo Tomasevich, a report submitted to the OSS showed that 417 Allied airmen who had been downed over occupied Yugoslavia were rescued by Mihailović's Chetniks, and airlifted out by the Fifteenth Air Force.  According to Lt. Cmdr. Richard M. Kelly (OSS) grand total of 432 U.S. and 80 Allied personnel were airlifted during the Halyard Mission. <SEP>  He was aboard an EB-66 aircraft whose call sign was Bat 21.  As the ranking navigator/EWO on the aircraft, he was seated immediately behind the pilot, giving him the call sign "Bat 21 Bravo".  He survived for 11½ days behind enemy lines until he was retrieved in a daring ground operation.  His rescue was the longest and most costly search and rescue mission during the Vietnam War. Lieutenant Colonel Iceal E. "Gene" Hambleton, USAF (November 16, 1918 – September 19, 2004) was a United States Air Force navigator and electronic warfare officer who was shot down over South Vietnam during the 1972 Easter Offensive.  He received the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal and a Purple Heart for his actions during this mission. <SEP> The rescue of Bat 21 Bravo, the call sign for Iceal "Gene" Hambleton, from behind North Vietnamese lines was the "largest, longest, and most complex search-and-rescue" operation during the Vietnam War. <SEP> Colonel Daniel J. Miller was born in Stony Point, New York.  He enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and served in the 826th Bombardment Squadron as a navigator in a B-24 Liberator.  During the Korean War, he flew various aircraft, including the F-86 Sabre jet fighter.  In the late Korean War and throughout the Vietnam War, he flew helicopter rescue missions.  He was awarded the Silver Star during the Korean War in the 3rd Rescue Squadron.  He braved heavy enemy fire in low visibility to rescue USMC Major Frank H. Presley.  Immediately after rescuing Presley, his P-51 fighter escort was shot down, and he once again braved the fire to attempt to rescue USAF Captain Willis R. Brown, but Brown had failed to eject and had perished.  In addition, he was also awarded the Cheney Award for a rescue in February 1951, when he rescued six wounded soldiers behind enemy lines in three attempts despite snow and enemy fire.  During Vietnam, he flew rescue missions and commanded a light reconnaissance squadron, the 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron.