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Air Force Maj. Merlyn Dethlefsen earned the Medal of Honor during a mission over Vietnam in 1967.
Air Force Capt. Merlyn Dethlefsen kneels beside a board that says he completed 100 missions over North Vietnam.
Episode 2720 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Air Force Col. Merlyn Dethlefsen and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday Army: Air Force Col. Merlyn Dethlefsen. It was submitted by Katie Lange, a writer for DOD News.
Lange, in her story, reported that most fighter-bomber missions meant to knock out enemy defense systems during the Vietnam War only involved one fly-by — the pilots knew there were few chances of escaping enemy aircraft if you executed more than one pass. Air Force Col. Merlyn Dethlefsen knew that when he took charge of a daring raid over a North Vietnamese steel plant in 1967, but he ignored the status quo to make sure the mission was a success. For that, he earned the Medal of Honor.
Lange added this about Dethlefsen, he was born in Greenville, Iowa, on June 29, 1934. As the son of a farmer and a schoolteacher, he did well at academics, graduating with honors from high school in 1951 when he was just 16.
He went to Iowa State University for about two years before deciding to join the Air Force in 1953. He started aviation cadet training the following year and was commissioned as an officer by the time he was 20.
During his first few years in the field, Dethlefsen served as a navigator on C-124 Globemaster transports before earning his pilot’s wings in 1960. Next, he served as a fighter pilot in Germany for about five years before coming back to the U.S.
Dethlefsen later said this about his heroics: “All I did was the job I was sent to do.”
Listen to episode 2720 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Air Force Col. Merlyn Dethlefsen and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.
