 The Medal of Honor, the highest honor a grateful nation can award its military heroes for acts of courage, self-sacrifice, and dedication above and beyond the call of duty. The history of America's survival is written in the blood of its fighting people whose devotion knew no limits. For the past 50 years, fighting men who wore the silver wings came from all over America when their country called. They learned to fly, they learned to fight, and they never flinched from facing combat. Some lived through two world wars, many paid the full price. This is their story. When Forrest Vossler enlisted in the Air Corps, he had to overcome a tall obstacle before being accepted for combat duty. His height was one inch above the prescribed height for combat crews. They finally persuaded a sympathetic medical officer at Scott Air Force Base to pass him. That decision proved fortunate for the men with whom Vossler later served as an aerial gunner on a B-17. It was in the closing months of 1943, a flying fortress on which Vossler served had joined the famous Hell's Angels of the Eighth Air Force. The air battle to control the skies over the continent was reaching a climax. The enemy was desperately fighting back to prevent the final destruction of his means to make war. Vossler's first mission was to Bremen. The next two missions were to Salingen in Germany and a target in occupied France. On December 20, the Hell's Angels were asked to pay a return visit to Bremen. The enemy's reception was not hospitable. Escorting P-38s and P-51s accounted for half a dozen enemy fighters on the way to the target. The mission remained under ferocious attack coming and going. After bombing the target, Vossler's aircraft was severely damaged by anti-aircraft fire. Forced out of formation, it was taken under crossfire by enemy fighters. Anonshell exploded in the radio compartment, painfully wounding Sergeant Vossler in the legs and thighs. When the tail gunner was also wounded, Vossler tried to protect the vulnerable tail of the ship, keeping up a steady stream of deadly fire with brim determination. Shortly thereafter, another 20mm shell exploded, wounding Vossler in the chest and face. Pieces of metal lodged in both eyes, impairing his vision to such extent that he could only distinguish blurred shapes. Displaying remarkable courage, he kept firing his guns and declined to take first aid treatment. When the radio equipment became inoperative, the pilot announced that he would have to ditch the plane. Unable to see and working by touch alone, Vossler finally got the set operating and sent out distress signals despite several lapses into unconsciousness. When the plane ditched in the North Sea, Sergeant Vossler managed by himself to get on a wing and held the wounded tail gunner from slipping off until other crew members helped them into the dinghy. Sergeant Vossler's distress calls had been received. After several hours floating in the North Sea, he and his fellow crew members were rescued. Sergeant Vossler spent the next 12 months in five different hospitals, slowly recovering his sight. In September 1944, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, with citation red in part. Sergeant Vossler's actions were an inspiration to all, the extraordinary courage, coolness and skills he displayed in the face of great odds when handicapped by injuries were outstanding.