43 Awards
SOMEWHERE IN AUSTRALIA (Delayed) –(AP) – Forty-three officers and enlisted men of the fifth air force received the air medal May 23 for participation in 25 operational flights each in transport planes in the southwest Pacific area.
The planes, flying over forbidding jungle and mountain terrain, often in stormy weather and usually under the constant threat of enemy attack, delivered troops and supplies to forward bases and brought wounded men back to hospitals.
Those decorated for meritorious achievement included:
Captains Philip M. Eckberg, Boone, Iowa, and George E. Stover, Fremont, Neb.
First Lieutenants Walter L. Hurd, jr., Fort Dodge, Iowa; and Don G. Gaylor, Davenport, Iowa.
Technical Sergeant Delmer C. Bramer, Rockville, Neb., and Sergeants Ivan K. Barton, Aurora, Neb., and Clay D. Clayton, Watertown, S.D.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, June 5, 1943
Philip Mercer Eckberg was born Mar. 26, 1918 to Albert and Evelyn Newlove Eckberg. He died Apr. 27, 2008 and is buried in Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, OR.
Lt. Col. Eckberg served with the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II and Korea. He was awarded the Bronze Star.
Source: ancestry.com
