A-10s were not in service at that time, and don’t operate off a carrier in any case. McQueeg flew A-4 Skyhawks.
No. Flying into the flak is not heroic; it is duty. It is doing the job required of you by the oath you swore when you joined the Armed Forces.
Heroic is Colin Kelly staying the pilot’s seat of his burning B-17 and holding it steady so that his crew could bail out.
We need to keep these things in pespective.
Likewise, refusing the “early release” is likewise required, per the Code of Conduct that all members of the Armed Forces are expected to server under: “I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.”
It isn’t heroism, it is duty.
One of the saddest things I’ve observed as I grow older that our nation now seems to mistake duty for heroism.
What do you expect the term is thrown around like a frisbe. Catch a game winning pass, you’re a hero. Gets some rice blown up your arse , you’re a hero. Throw some one else’s medals over a fence, you’re a hero.