His medal is a little mysterious since the plane had to turn back with minor mechanical issues from the rest of the bombers, was never attacked, and no one else was awarded anything, nor knows what it was that LBJ did as a passenger that earned him a Silver Star.
You know that JFK is one of America’s greatest heroes of WWII etc, but have you ever learned what his medal for combat heroism was?
what it was that LBJ did as a passenger that earned him a Silver Star.
******
A long article with facts that indicate LBJ never was close to the
actual combat that day. His plane had to turn around because of
some problems.
snip
The mission of 9 June 1942 was code-named “Tow Nine,” and it involved 11 Martin B-26 Marauders—fast, twin-engined bombers of the 22nd Bomb Group from Port Morseby, New Guinea. Their target was Lae Aerodrome, an important Japanese installation on New Guinea’s northern coast. Diversionary attacks by B-25 Mitchells and B-17 Flying Fortresses were to cover the 22nd’s approach.
Johnson was assigned first to a B-26 named “Wabash Cannonball,” but apparently he left the bomber to retrieve his camera. When he returned, he found his seat taken by Lieutenant Colonel Francis R. Stevens, accompanying Johnson on the tour. Stevens playfully told Johnson to find another airplane, so LBJ climbed into Lieutenant Walter H. Greer’s 40-1488, named “The Heckling Hare.”
Johnson returned to Townsville the next day, conferred with MacArthur on the 18th, and began the long trip home, carrying his Silver Star citation with him.
Click on the SOURCE listed below to get the full details.
I think for leading his surviving crew to an island after getting his PT boat sunk.