Free Republic

The Washington Free Beacon reported: A solar energy company owned by a Biden megadonor received a $500 million government loan to build a manufacturing facility in India, the Biden administration announced this week, raising questions about whether the company’s political clout played any role in the financing decision. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation granted the loan to First Solar, which is owned by billionaire Walmart heir Lukas Walton, to build a solar module plant in India. Walton contributed over $300,000 to President Joe Biden’s campaign last year, and over $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee, according to campaign finance...

...Lt. Col. Mike "Vago" Hilkert, a pilot with the 303rd Fighter Squadron, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross last month for heroism during what has been described as "one of the most intense combat rescue missions of the Afghanistan war." During that six-hour fight on April 23, 2011, Hilkert not only coordinated the warfighting efforts of 21 aircraft over dozens of frequencies, but he also intentionally put himself and his plane in harm's way repeatedly to draw enemy fire away from rescue helicopters. The Air Force said Hilkert also helped save the lives of more than 30 people....

My Dad was awarded the DFC in World War 2. He was an Army Air Corps pilot, flying C-47s in CBI, North Africa and Italy. I need assistance in getting a copy of the award citation. I am having his medals framed to present to my nephew and I'd like to be able to tell him what his Pop-pop did to earn the award. Can someone tell me whom to contact, presumably in the DoD? Many thanks.

It was July 31, 1944, and Army Air Corps pilot Lt. Henry Supchak was flying his 33rd bombing mission over Munich, Germany, when his B-17 bomber, nicknamed “Priority Gal,” was riddled by anti-aircraft fire. Sputtering and billowing black smoke, Supchak knew the aircraft would never make it back to base in Bassingbourn, England, 650 miles away. With two dead engines, the aircraft was plummeting fast — over Nazi-occupied Austria. “I said, ‘Fellas get your chutes on!’ ” and ordered them to jump. Alone now, with a two-inch piece of shrapnel dug into his right leg, Supchak desperately needed to get...

A few months ago, my father passed away. At the time, numerous Freepers graciously helped me in indentifying his medals, for which I and my family were quite grateful. Dad chose to be cremated, and Mom accepted my offer to make an urn for his ashes. The urn is finished now. The plan is to put an engraved brass plate on it, featuring several of his medals and awards. The problem I'm having is that noone seems to be able to do this particular engraving job! It was a big surprise to me, but while the engraver had files for...

My father passed awaythis weekend. Shortly before he passed, he asked my mother to assemble his various medals. Yesterday at the visitation, my brothers asked me about a couple of them, and I was unable to identify them, so I'm asking for some Freeper help here-

In his McKinney living room, Paul Yeager received today a medal he earned more than six decades ago in the skies over the western Pacific. Yeager, who flew 50 fighter missions in New Guinea in 1943, received the Distinguished Flying Cross, which is awarded to those who show heroism or great achievement while flying.

CAMP TAJI — An aeromedical evacuation pilot from the Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross here, Feb. 6, for heroism and extraordinary achievement in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Chief Warrant Officer 3 James Frederick was presented the award by Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, the commanding general of the 4th Inf. Div., for rescuing four trapped Iraqi National Police officers in eastern Baghdad, July 18, 2008. Frederick, from Groves, Texas, piloted his UH-60 air ambulance helicopter while hovering over a burning building to save the men. The rescue called for a possible hoist; a...

Lest anyone doubt the significance that veterans and the armed forces place upon the medals they earn, for the second time in as many weeks a local veteran will receive recognition for bravery in wars decades ago.This Thursday is 87-year-old Joseph Moser's turn. The Whatcom County resident will receive the Distinguished Flying Cross at McChord Air Force Base on Thursday for his actions 65 years ago over Germany. Joe Moser, 2008. Photo by Gabriel Rodriguez, courtesy of Gerald Baron. Moser, originally a farm kid from Ferndale, on July 30, 1944 – more than three weeks after the Normandy invasion...

Richard Reinwald sees the rising price of wheat and flour in the global economy - but his loyal customers at Reinwald's Bakery in Huntington only see the extra 80 cents they now have to pay for a loaf of rye bread... He had to raise the price to keep up with higher costs - such as the 100-pound sack of flour for which he pays three times more than just a year ago... New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer, who convened the hearing... "They don't have extra income for higher food prices and have to stretch their dollars, or even...

FORT HOOD, Texas, Feb. 1, 2008 – A 1st Cavalry Division AH-64D Longbow Apache pilot got word that two of his friends, fellow pilots, were shot down during a fierce battle in Najaf, a city in Iraqi army control south of Baghdad, Jan. 28, 2007. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Zachary Johnson (right), a pilot with 4th Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, gets pinned with the Distinguished Flying Cross by Army Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., 1st Cavalry Division's commander, at the Fort Hood Catering and Conference Center on Jan. 28, 2008. Johnson, a Nampa, Idaho,...

8/2/2007 - POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. (AFPN) -- An Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot has received the Distinguished Flying Cross in a ceremony here July 27 for a nighttime rescue mission in Afghanistan in 2005. Maj. Keith Wolak, with the 74th Fighter Squadron here received the honor for a combat search and rescue mission he coordinated July 2, 2005, when he cleared a helicopter landing zone while suppressing the enemy's attacks. The mission was to rescue a U.S. Navy SEAL on the ground. "I feel very proud and very honored and I'll wear this medal with pride," said...

/26/2007 - WASHINGTON (AFNEWS) -- It was a warm summer morning when the crew of the Flak Man, a B-24 Liberator, joined other bombers and their escort fighters on a daring mission. They flew from Pantanella, Italy, and played a key role in the bombing of oil refineries 700 miles away near Ploesti, Romania. The location was of strategic importance -- Nazi Germany got 60 percent of their petroleum from the plants there. En route, there was heavy resistance from the Luftwaffe in the air and from anti-aircraft fire on the ground. But despite heavy damage to the Flak Man,...

His story is something from an old black-and-white movie ­ a war hero rescues the American Chief of Staff during World War II, flies him to safety and lands in Casablanca. Here's the twist: the military recommends him for the Distinguished Flying Cross, but he doesn't actually receive the medal until 64 years later, in the mail. That's right. So much time passed, Thomas Roberts forgot that his old commanding officer, Gen. Paul Tibbets ­ who dropped the Hiroshima bomb ­ recommended him for one of the most prestigious medals in the Air Force. Only a few months ago, while...

In the officers' club of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, where aviators swap stories of danger and daring, few can top the tales of Maj. Joseph Galletti. He and his crew braved a blinding sandstorm in Iraq and repeatedly dodged enemy fire to carry out a rescue that made history. The awards they received for it put them in the company of some of the biggest names in aviation. In December, the 32-year-old helicopter pilot was among those awarded one of the service's highest honors, the Mackay Trophy for "most meritorious flight of the year." Galletti also won a Distinguished Flying...

AN Australian army pilot has been awarded one of Britain's most prestigious military honours for his bravery while under enemy fire in Iraq. Major Scott Watkins, who was recently promoted from captain, was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) yesterday for saving several lives in two incidents in which he acted with "outstanding courage". He is the first Australian since 1972 to be awarded a DFC, which is the third highest operational gallantry honour in the British forces. On exchange from 161 Recce Squadron to the British Army Air Corps based in Germany, Major Watkins was deployed to the Forward...

A 67-year-old expert pilot from Texas died in a fiery plane crash less than 2 miles south of an airport runway at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport Tuesday morning. Thomas Benton Delashaw, whose nickname was "Sharkbait," of Conroe, Texas, was piloting an early 1950s vintage Hawker Hunter military jet aircraft