Senior Master Sergeant Dale Berryhill 

While supporting Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, Senior Master Sgt. Dale Berryhill, an airborne mission systems specialist, risked his life to save his fellow crewmembers on May 19, 2003.

After a re-supply mission near Erbil, Iraq, Sergeant Berryhill and crew were flying back to their forward operating base. At about 17,000 feet, a coolant gas-fed fire erupted with blowtorch intensity just forward of Sergeant Berryhill’s duty position.

Smoke and flames quickly engulfed the cargo compartment and flight deck, filling the entire aircraft with toxic fumes. As other crewmembers began donning their personal protective gear – oxygen masks and smoke goggles – Sergeant Berryhill reacted instinctively and without hesitation. He knew the survival of the crew and aircraft depended on putting out the fire.

With complete disregard for his life and without the protection of an oxygen mask and smoke goggles, he retrieved a fire extinguisher and headed toward the fire as the aircraft descended at a high rate of speed. Charging down a narrow maintenance corridor and disappearing into a wall of smoke and flames, he attacked the source of the lethal fire. Sergeant Berryhill single-handedly began fighting the inferno as other crewmembers still struggled to put on their personal protective gear in near zero visibility.

Sergeant Berryhill inhaled large amounts of toxic fumes as he battled and eventually extinguished the flames. With his eyes blurred by the smoke, he navigated his communications systems panel by feel to relay MAYDAY calls to multiple command and control platforms. He remained at his smoke-filled post during prolonged periods when there was no contact with the flight deck.

After obtaining clearance to land on a taxiway at Baghdad International Airport, he cleared all incoming air traffic and arranged for fire and rescue while the defenseless aircraft came under two small arms and rocket-propelled grenade attacks. Battling his own physical fatigue, he plotted with pinpoint accuracy the coordinates of the enemy fire and notified coalition forces of the exact location.

During the 13 minutes of extraordinary heroic action, from the beginning of the fire until touch down, Sergeant Berryhill completed his duties flawlessly despite suffering from severe smoke and toxic fume inhalation. After landing, though nearly physically incapacitated, he refused medical treatment and remained with the aircraft to continue updating command elements. Nearly three hours later, he was taken to the flight surgeon at his forward location for treatment of severe smoke inhalation.