Free Republic

Reservist earns Pitsenbarger award 4/14/2004 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- A reservist from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., has been named the 2004 Pitsenbarger award winner. Senior Master Sgt. Dale Berryhill, an airborne communications systems operator, was selected for his heroism while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sergeant Berryhill was a crewmember aboard an MC-130E Combat Talon I about 50 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, when a fire erupted. The flames and smoke quickly engulfed the cargo compartment and flight deck of the aircraft, filling it with toxic fumes. While other crewmembers donned their personal protective gear, Sergeant...

WITH SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES, in southern Iraq, April 5 — These bombs flutter. With pockets of Iraqi forces continuing to put up fierce resistance around the port city of Basra, Special Operations commanders sent one of the Air Force's most secret aircraft into battle. The MC-130 Combat Talon is loaded with electronic equipment that enables the lumbering, 40-year-old propeller plane to dodge radars, missiles and even fighter jets to deliver commandos deep inside enemy territory. But last night, it carried a different payload: boxes of leaflets. "The coalition is here to put an end to the oppression caused by Saddam...