Leon Vance MOH

 

 

Another WOW Medal of Honor recipient.  He did a lot of excellent flying and was lucky through most of his flying career. Which will be the focus of this post.

This recipient's name was Leon Vance, born and raised in Enid Oklahoma.  I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the USAF Air Base located in Enid is named Vance AFB.  

Or maybe not a coincidence. 

 

 Major Vance was promoted to Captain in April 1942 and Major in July 1942. He was also promoted to LtCol in September 1943.  Of course a lot of things are going on.  First, not everyone comes back from missions, including senior officers.  Second, the Army Air Forces are expanding exponentially. Leaders are needed.

 

 

 But it was with a bit of difficulty to leave his wife and daughter and do his duty.

 

 Major Vance flew his first combat flight to bomb a Luftwaffe airfield on May 30th, 1944. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to Lt Col. 

On June 5th 1944, he was assigned as the flight lead of the squadron.  As such, he wasn't the assigned pilot or co-pilot rather stationed behind them near the radio compartment so he could direct the formation if needed.  As they approached the target, the AAA, unsurprisingly, got very heavy and a shell hit their bomber, killing the pilot and setting an engine on fire.  The co-pilot was initially knocked unconscious, but recovered and pulled the aircraft out of the dive.  LtCol Vance's right foot was nearly severed by the explosion and was trapped in the bulkhead.  However, he as able to assist the co-pilot in recovering the aircraft from the dive, putting out fires and shutting down damaged engines.  After recovering the airplane, he was able to dislodge his foot and bandage his leg.  They headed for home, but as they crossed the channel, they concluded that the bomber could not be landed safely, so LtCol Vance directed the crew to bail out.  He thought the radio operator was too injured to bail out, so LtCol Vance decided to fly the aircraft back over the channel and ditch it to save him.  Upon ditching, he evacuated the aircraft realizing that the radio operator had bailed out with the crew.  Successfully leaving the bomber, he was rescued.

Now, for the hard part.  His injury was so serious that he was sent back to the states for treatment.  Somewhere over the Atlantic, the aircraft was lost and crew and passengers declared dead.

Rest in peace, Hero! 

Medal of Honor Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on 5 June 1944, when he led a Heavy Bombardment Group, in an attack against defended enemy coastal positions in the vicinity of Wimereaux, France. Approaching the target, his aircraft was hit repeatedly by antiaircraft fire which seriously crippled the ship, killed the pilot, and wounded several members of the crew, including Lt. Col. Vance, whose right foot was practically severed. In spite of his injury, and with 3 engines lost to the flak, he led his formation over the target, bombing it successfully. After applying a tourniquet to his leg with the aid of the radar operator, Lt. Col. Vance, realizing that the ship was approaching a stall altitude with the 1 remaining engine failing, struggled to a semi-upright position beside the copilot and took over control of the ship. Cutting the power and feathering the last engine he put the aircraft in glide sufficiently steep to maintain his airspeed. Gradually losing altitude, he at last reached the English coast, whereupon he ordered all members of the crew to bail out as he knew they would all safely make land. But he received a message over the interphone system which led him to believe 1 of the crewmembers was unable to jump due to injuries; so he made the decision to ditch the ship in the channel, thereby giving this man a chance for life. To add further to the danger of ditching the ship in his crippled condition, there was a 500-pound bomb hung up in the bomb bay. Unable to climb into the seat vacated by the copilot, since his foot, hanging on to his leg by a few tendons, had become lodged behind the copilot's seat, he nevertheless made a successful ditching while lying on the floor using only aileron and elevators for control and the side window of the cockpit for visual reference. On coming to rest in the water the aircraft commenced to sink rapidly with Lt. Col. Vance pinned in the cockpit by the upper turret which had crashed in during the landing. As it was settling beneath the waves an explosion occurred which threw Lt. Col. Vance clear of the wreckage. After clinging to a piece of floating wreckage until he could muster enough strength to inflate his life vest he began searching for the crewmember whom he believed to be aboard. Failing to find anyone he began swimming and was found approximately 50 minutes later by an Air-Sea Rescue craft. By his extraordinary flying skill and gallant leadership, despite his grave injury, Lt. Col. Vance led his formation to a successful bombing of the assigned target and returned the crew to a point where they could bail out with safety. His gallant and valorous decision to ditch the aircraft in order to give the crew member he believed to be aboard a chance for life exemplifies the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces.  

 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Vance

https://www.af.mil/Medal-of-Honor/Vance/ 

https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/military-history/2025/08/05/one-foot-in-the-grave-moh-pilot-bombed-nazis-despite-severed-limb/