Medal of Honor: Steven L. Bennett – Vietnam War, June 29, 1972

Steven Logan Bennett
Captain, U.S. Air Force
Conflict: Vietnam War
Unit: 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron, Pacific Air Forces
Date of Action: June 29, 1972
Location: Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam

Summary of Action:
On June 29, 1972, Captain Steven Bennett took to the skies in a light, unarmored OV-10 Bronco for an artillery adjustment mission along a stretch of Vietnamese terrain crawling with enemy forces. Flying low and vulnerable, he spotted a large concentration of North Vietnamese troops preparing to overrun a friendly South Vietnamese unit. Requests for air support and artillery were both denied—friendly troops were too close to the target, and no other aircraft were available.

So Bennett made the impossible choice: he would become the close air support. Flying directly into danger, he executed four low-altitude strafing runs with his light armament, scattering the enemy and breaking their assault. On a fifth pass, tragedy struck. A surface-to-air missile slammed into his aircraft, tearing into the left engine and shredding the left landing gear. Fire licked through the airframe, and Bennett knew he couldn’t make it back to base.

He ordered his backseat Marine observer, Capt. Mike Brown, to prepare for ejection. But Brown's parachute had been destroyed in the blast. Bennett had a split-second decision to make: save himself or try to ditch the aircraft—a maneuver no OV-10 pilot had ever survived. Without hesitation, Bennett chose to sacrifice himself.

He guided the burning Bronco toward the Gulf of Tonkin and attempted a controlled ditching. The aircraft cartwheeled upon impact. The front of the plane was crushed, and Bennett was killed on impact. But his backseater survived—alive because of Bennett’s final, selfless act.

Medal of Honor Citation:
Capt. Bennett was the pilot of a light aircraft flying an artillery adjustment mission along a heavily defended segment of route structure. A large concentration of enemy troops was massing for an attack on a friendly unit. Capt. Bennett requested tactical air support but was advised that none was available. He also requested artillery support but this too was denied due to the close proximity of friendly troops to the target. Capt. Bennett was determined to aid the endangered unit and elected to strafe the hostile positions. After four such passes, the enemy force began to retreat. Capt. Bennett continued the attack, but, as he completed his fifth strafing pass, his aircraft was struck by a surface-to-air missile, which severely damaged the left engine and the left main landing gear.

As fire spread in the left engine, Capt. Bennett realized that recovery at a friendly airfield was impossible. He instructed his observer to prepare for an ejection, but was informed by the observer that his parachute had been shredded by the force of the impacting missile. Although Capt. Bennett had a good parachute, he knew that if he ejected, the observer would have no chance of survival. With complete disregard for his own life, Capt. Bennett elected to ditch the aircraft into the Gulf of Tonkin, even though he realized that a pilot of this type aircraft had never survived a ditching. The ensuing impact upon the water caused the aircraft to cartwheel and severely damaged the front cockpit, making escape for Capt. Bennett impossible. The observer successfully made his way out of the aircraft and was rescued.

Capt. Bennett’s unparalleled concern for his companion, extraordinary heroism and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty, at the cost of his life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Air Force.