Foil: 6 Panel: Distinguished Flying Cross Society Column: 3 Line: 13

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

CITATION TO ACCOMPANY THE AWARD OF
THE DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS
TO
WILBERT CASTANEDA

Staff Sergeant Wilbert Castaneda distinguished himself by extraordinary achievement as the Flight Mechanic of a C-47 aircraft while participating in aerial flight in Tinh Binh Thuan Province, Republic of Vietnam, on 13 May 1967. On that date, while returning from a night psychological warfare mission, Staff Sergeant Castaneda and his crew were called upon by a friendly hamlet and an outpost that were under attack by unfriendly forces. Despite the danger from hostile automatic weapons, Staff Sergeant Castaneda employed all his skills and knowledge as a Flight Mechanic, combined his highly professional abilities with those of his crew, located and expeditiously relayed vital information to the proper agency and requested combat assistance be dispatched immediately. Staff Sergeant Castaneda and his crew had completed a highly specialized psychological warfare mission. They further employed skill and coordination, without regard for their own safety, which lead to saving a friendly Vietnamese hamlet and United States outpost and elimination of a dangerous hostile threat. The professional competence, aerial skill, and devotion to duty displayed by Staff Sergeant Castaneda reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.