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Bernard (pronounced Bernerd) Fisher went by the nickname Bernie. He’d grown up in Utah. Late in World War II, he served briefly in the Navy. While he was in the service, his family moved to Kuna. When he got out, he joined them, calling Kuna home thereafter.
Fisher attended Boise Junior College, playing in the marching band, before getting his degree from the University of Utah in 1951. He received a commission in the Air Force shortly after. That career took him and his wife, Realla, worldwide. In 1965, the fighter pilot volunteered for duty in Vietnam.
On March 9, Major Fisher showed his bravery while flying support for a special forces camp that was under attack in the A Shau Valley, for which he received the Silver Star. But that battle was overshadowed by the events at the same place the next day.
The 1500-foot hills around the base were obscured by clouds, giving the support aircraft in the battle a narrow window below 800 feet, forcing them down within range of North Vietnamese rifle fire.
Colonel Dafford (Jump) Meyers took fire that disabled his A1 fighter, forcing him to crash-land it on the makeshift field. He jumped from his plane and sprinted to a dirt embankment, behind which the enemy was dug in.
In a 1966 UPI interview, Meyers said, “There was simply too much firepower for a chopper to get down to pick me up, and I figured I had only about 15 minutes to live once our planes had to leave.”
The other fighters had already run out of ammunition. Fuel was getting low.
Myers saw Major Bernie Fisher coming down and assumed he’d taken fire and was crash-landing, too. “I never thought for a moment he was coming down for me,” Myers said. “There was so much firepower down there that if I’d have had a radio, I’d have told them to get the heck out of there.”
“When he rolled in to land, I just assumed he had been hit. Then he comes taxing back up the field looking for me. What a feeling that was when I realized he was there to get me.”
Asked if he’d have done the same thing if the situation was reversed, Myers said, “I don’t know. I’ve thought about that many times, but I don’t think I would have ever been faced with the decision, because it just wouldn’t have crossed my mind to go in there. I’ve asked many other pilots the same thing since then, and I haven’t found anybody yet that would have even thought of it. Bernie Fisher…he’s different that way.”
Bernie got Myer into the cockpit behind him, turned the plane around, and gunned it down the runway, taking fire as they went. The field was littered with battle debris and exploded aircraft. Bullets hit the A1-E 19 times. In a few seconds, they were into the clouds and out of sight, both uninjured.
Bernie Fisher was the first U.S. Air Force serviceman to receive the Medal of Honor, presented on January 19, 1967, by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
After retiring from the Air Force, Bernard Fisher spent the rest of his life on the family farm in Kuna. He passed away in 2014. His wife preceded him in death five years earlier. Bernie, a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is buried in the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery in Boise. A park in Kuna is named in his honor, as is a street on Gowen Field.
Fisher attended Boise Junior College, playing in the marching band, before getting his degree from the University of Utah in 1951. He received a commission in the Air Force shortly after. That career took him and his wife, Realla, worldwide. In 1965, the fighter pilot volunteered for duty in Vietnam.
On March 9, Major Fisher showed his bravery while flying support for a special forces camp that was under attack in the A Shau Valley, for which he received the Silver Star. But that battle was overshadowed by the events at the same place the next day.
The 1500-foot hills around the base were obscured by clouds, giving the support aircraft in the battle a narrow window below 800 feet, forcing them down within range of North Vietnamese rifle fire.
Colonel Dafford (Jump) Meyers took fire that disabled his A1 fighter, forcing him to crash-land it on the makeshift field. He jumped from his plane and sprinted to a dirt embankment, behind which the enemy was dug in.
In a 1966 UPI interview, Meyers said, “There was simply too much firepower for a chopper to get down to pick me up, and I figured I had only about 15 minutes to live once our planes had to leave.”
The other fighters had already run out of ammunition. Fuel was getting low.
Myers saw Major Bernie Fisher coming down and assumed he’d taken fire and was crash-landing, too. “I never thought for a moment he was coming down for me,” Myers said. “There was so much firepower down there that if I’d have had a radio, I’d have told them to get the heck out of there.”
“When he rolled in to land, I just assumed he had been hit. Then he comes taxing back up the field looking for me. What a feeling that was when I realized he was there to get me.”
Asked if he’d have done the same thing if the situation was reversed, Myers said, “I don’t know. I’ve thought about that many times, but I don’t think I would have ever been faced with the decision, because it just wouldn’t have crossed my mind to go in there. I’ve asked many other pilots the same thing since then, and I haven’t found anybody yet that would have even thought of it. Bernie Fisher…he’s different that way.”
Bernie got Myer into the cockpit behind him, turned the plane around, and gunned it down the runway, taking fire as they went. The field was littered with battle debris and exploded aircraft. Bullets hit the A1-E 19 times. In a few seconds, they were into the clouds and out of sight, both uninjured.
Bernie Fisher was the first U.S. Air Force serviceman to receive the Medal of Honor, presented on January 19, 1967, by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
After retiring from the Air Force, Bernard Fisher spent the rest of his life on the family farm in Kuna. He passed away in 2014. His wife preceded him in death five years earlier. Bernie, a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is buried in the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery in Boise. A park in Kuna is named in his honor, as is a street on Gowen Field.
U.S. Air Force Majors Bernard F. Fisher and D.W. "Jump" Myers, in Vietnam, 10 March 1966. The photo was taken after Fisher's rescue of Myers from the A Shau Valley Special Forces camp airfield in front of Fisher's Douglas A-1E Skyraider (U.S. Navy BuNo 132649)
Bernie Fisher in 2008. Photo by Staff Sgt. Darcie Ibidapo - www.af.mil, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57076455
Douglas A-1-E Skyraider
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