Warlady
05-17-2001, 08:45 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The crew of the Navy surveillance plane held 11 days on China's Hainan island will receive the Air Medal for heroism and the pilot, Lt. Shane Osborn, is expected to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Also, Osborn and the senior enlisted man on the flight, Senior Chief Nicholas Mellos, will receive the Meritorious Service Medal for their exemplary conduct during the emergency landing on Hainan after their plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet, senior defense officials said.
All 24 U.S. crew members were held for questioning by the Chinese military. Osborn and Mellos were singled out because they were the senior officer and enlisted man.
The presentations are to be made Friday by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., outside Washington, as part of the annual Joint Service Open House, the senior officials reported and Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., confirmed.
Read the rest here (http://www.newsday.com/ap/text/washington/ap847.htm)
Also, Osborn and the senior enlisted man on the flight, Senior Chief Nicholas Mellos, will receive the Meritorious Service Medal for their exemplary conduct during the emergency landing on Hainan after their plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet, senior defense officials said.
All 24 U.S. crew members were held for questioning by the Chinese military. Osborn and Mellos were singled out because they were the senior officer and enlisted man.
The presentations are to be made Friday by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., outside Washington, as part of the annual Joint Service Open House, the senior officials reported and Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., confirmed.
Read the rest here (http://www.newsday.com/ap/text/washington/ap847.htm)