No. 31

Over Hamchang, Korea, one day last summer, three silvery U.S. F51 Mustangs wove purposefully down through the clouds; the shallow river below was jammed with enemy armored cars and trucks trying to cross. Calling to his flight to follow, Major Louis J. Sebille, a fighter pilot in World War II, pushed over and went into the attack. Red tracers thudded into his plane.The engine sprayed cooling fluid, began to overheat. Major Sebille's wingman radioed him to turn back. "I'll never make it," the C.O. answered calmly, "I'm going back and get that bastard." Then, with all six guns blazing, Sebille dived straight into the Communist column; his plane exploded in a blossom of flame.

Last week at March Field, Calif., Air Force Chief Hoyt Vandenberg presented Major Louis J. Sebille's widow with the pale blue ribbon of the Medal of Honor. The Sebilles' 19-month-old son tottered about waving the boxed medal, while Mrs. Sebille watched a parade in her husband's honor. He was the 31st U.S. fighting man and the first Air Force flyer to win the nation's highest decoration in Korea.

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