Distinguished Flying Cross (USA)
| Distinguished Flying Cross in United States | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Awarded by United States Armed Forces | |
| Type | Military medal (Decoration) |
| Awarded for | "Heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight" |
| Status | Current |
| Statistics | |
| Established | 2 July 1926 |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | Legion of Merit |
| Next (lower) | Army: Soldier's Medal Navy & Marine Corps: Navy and Marine Corps Medal Air Force: Airman's Medal Coast Guard: Coast Guard Medal |
 Service Ribbon |
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The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States Armed Forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918."
The first award of the Distinguished Flying Cross was made by President Calvin Coolidge on May 2, 1927, to ten aviators of the U.S. Army Air Corps who had participated in the U.S. Army Pan American Flight, which took place from December 21, 1926 to May 2, 1927. Two of the airmen died in a mid-air collision trying to land at Buenos Aires on February 26, 1927, and received their awards posthumously. Since the award had only been authorized by Congress the previous year, no medals had yet been struck, and the Pan American airmen initially received only certificates. Among the ten airmen were Major Herbert A. Dargue, Captains Ira C. Eaker and Muir S. Fairchild, and 1st Lt. Ennis C. Whitehead.
Charles Lindbergh received the first presentation of the medal little more than a month later, from Coolidge during the Washington, D.C. homecoming reception on June 11, 1927, from his trans-Atlantic flight. The medal had hurriedly been struck and readied just for that occasion. Interestingly, the 1927 War Department General Order (G.O. 8), authorizing Lindbergh's DFC states that it was awarded by the President, while the General Order (G.O. 6) for the Pan American Flyers' DFC citation notes that the War Department awarded it "by direction of the President."
The first Distinguished Flying Cross to be awarded to a Naval Aviator was received by then Commander Richard E. Byrd, USN for his trans-Atlantic flight from June 29 to July 1, 1927 from New York City to the coast of France. Byrd, along with his pilot, Machinist Floyd Bennett, received the Medal of Honor for their historic flight to the North Pole on May 9, 1926 but they did not receive the DFC for that flight as the DFC had not yet been created.
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