VOSLER, FORREST T. - Medal of Honor Recipient
Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Corps. 358th
Bomber Squadron, 303d Bomber Group. Place and date: Over Bremen, Germany,
20 December 1943. Entered service at: Rochester, N.Y. Birth: 29 July 1923,
Lyndonville, N.Y. G.O. No.: 73, 6 September 1944. Citation: For conspicuous
gallantry in action against the enemy above and beyond the call of duty
while serving as a radio operator-air gunner on a heavy bombardment aircraft
in a mission over Bremen, Germany, on 20 December 1943. After bombing the
target, the aircraft in which T/Sgt. Vosler was serving was severely damaged
by antiaircraft fire, forced out of formation, and immediately subjected
to repeated vicious attacks by enemy fighters. Early in the engagement
a 20-mm. cannon shell exploded in the radio compartment, painfully wounding
T/Sgt. Vosler in the legs and thighs. At about the same time a direct hit
on the tail of the ship seriously wounded the tail gunner and rendered
the tail guns inoperative. Realizing the great need for firepower in protecting
the vulnerable tail of the ship, T/Sgt. Vosler, with grim determination,
kept up a steady stream of deadly fire. Shortly thereafter another 20-mm.
enemy shell exploded, wounding T/Sgt. Vosler in the chest and about the
face. Pieces of metal lodged in both eyes, impairing his vision to such
an extent that he could only distinguish blurred shapes. Displaying remarkable
tenacity and courage, he kept firing his guns and declined to take first-aid
treatment. The radio equipment had been rendered inoperative during the
battle, and when the pilot announced that he would have to ditch, although
unable to see and working entirely by touch, T/Sgt. Vosler finally got
the set operating and sent out distress signals despite several lapses
into unconsciousness. When the ship ditched, T/Sgt. Vosler managed to get
out on the wing by himself and hold the wounded tail gunner from slipping
off until the other crewmembers could help them into the dinghy. T/Sgt.
Vosler's actions on this occasion were an inspiration to all serving with
him. The extraordinary courage, coolness, and skill he displayed in the
face of great odds, when handicapped by injuries that would have incapacitated
the average crewmember, were outstanding.
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