Michael J. Novosel

Michael J. Novosel
Chief Warrant Officer Michael Novosel
Place of burial	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	United States Army United States Air Force
Years of service	1941–1953, 1963–1985
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel| (USAF) Chief Warrant Officer (USA)
Unit	283rd Medical Detachment, 82nd Medical Detachment
Battles / wars	World War II Korean War Vietnam War
Awards	Medal of Honor Distinguished Flying Cross (3) Bronze Star Purple Heart

Michael J. Novosel, Sr. (September 3, 1922 - April 2, 2006) of Enterprise, Alabama was a recipient of the United States' highest military decoration — the Medal of Honor — and a retired Chief Warrant Officer (CW4).

Biography

Novosel's service to his country spanned three wars — World War II, The Korean War and The Vietnam War. He was born in Pittsburgh area town of Etna, Pennsylvania, the son of Croatian immigrants, and grew up during the Great Depression fluently speaking both his parents' tongue and English. At the age of 19, Novosel joined what was then the Army Air Corps. That was just ten months prior to Pearl Harbor, and by 1945, he was a Captain flying B-29 Superfortress bombers in the war against Japan. He left the service for a brief time due to reductions in force after the war was over and settled in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, to raise his family.

Novosel joined the U.S. Air Force Reserves and went back on active duty to again serve his country during the Korean War. He left the service again in 1953 and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve in 1955. In 1963, Novosel was working as a commercial airline pilot when a deep sense of patriotism called him to return to active military duty. By then, he was 42 and the Air Force did not have space for any more officers in the upper ranks. It was then that Novosel made the decision to give up his rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force to join the Army and fly helicopters as a chief warrant officer with the elite Special Forces Aviation Section. He served his first tour in Vietnam flying medevac helicopters (Dustoff) with the 283rd Medical Detachment. His second tour in Vietnam was with the 82nd Medical Detachment. During that war, Novosel flew 2,543 missions and extracted 5,589 wounded personnel, among them his own son, Michael J. Novosel, Jr. (the following week Michael J. Novosel, Jr. returned the favor by extracting his father after being shot down) [1]. On the morning of October 2, 1969, he set out to evacuate a group of South Vietnamese soldiers who were surrounded by the enemy near the Cambodian border. The soldiers' radio communication was lost and their ammunition expended. Without air cover or fire support, Novosel flew at low altitudes while under continuous enemy fire. He skimmed the ground with his helicopter, while his medic and crew chief yanked the wounded men on board. He completed 15 hazardous extractions, was wounded in a barrage of enemy fire and momentarily lost control of his helicopter that day, but when it was over, he had rescued 29 men. Novosel completed his tour in March 1970. In 1971, then Pres. Richard Nixon placed the nation's highest award for valor in combat, the U.S. Medal of Honor, around Novosel's neck. Among his many other awards, Novosel received the Distinguished Service Cross (which was later upgraded to the MOH), Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Purple Heart.

U.S. soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry, The Old Guard, carry Retired Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel Sr., Medal of Honor Recipient, during a funeral procession at Arlington National Cemetery.
Photo credit: U.S. Army photo by K. Kassens.

He was inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame in 1975. When Novosel retired as the senior warrant officer with the Warrant Officer Candidate Program in 1985, he had been a military aviator for 42 years and was the last WW II military aviator in the U.S. to remain on active flying duty. Novosel accumulated 12,400 military flying hours, including 2,038 in combat during his career. Upon his retirement, he received a rare honor for a living hero when the main street at Fort Rucker, Alabama was renamed "Novosel Street." He also received his final award, the Distinguished Service Medal during his retiring cemerony. While residing in Enterprise, Alabama, Novosel remained active in the military community during his retirement. He frequently was invited as the honored guest for military lectures and ceremonies spanning the entire country to share his unique insights, even until the final weeks before he died. His book, Dustoff - The Memoir of an Army Aviator, was published in 1999.

Diagnosed with a recurrent cancer in November 2005, he had undergone a series of highly successful treatments at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The cancer tumor had been greatly reduced in December 2005 and January 2006. In February 2006, Novosel concluded chemotherapy and other treatments and waited to regain strength in preparation for surgery on March 7,. His prognosis appeared excellent. Despite new and innovative procedures to reduce trauma, he never fully recovered from the shock of the surgery. He died on April 2, 2006 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors on April 13, 2006.

Medal of Honor citation

Congressional Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Army, 82d Medical Detachment, 45th Medical Company, 68th Medical Group.

Place and date: Kien Tuong Province, Republic of Vietnam, October 2, 1969. Entered service at: Kenner, La. Born: September 3, 1922, Etna, Pa.

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. CWO Novosel, 82d Medical Detachment, distinguished himself while serving as commander of a medical evacuation helicopter. He unhesitatingly maneuvered his helicopter into a heavily fortified and defended enemy training area where a group of wounded Vietnamese soldiers were pinned down by a large enemy force. Flying without gunship or other cover and exposed to intense machinegun fire, CWO Novosel was able to locate and rescue a wounded soldier. Since all communications with the beleaguered troops had been lost, he repeatedly circled the battle area, flying at low level under continuous heavy fire, to attract the attention of the scattered friendly troops. This display of courage visibly raised their morale, as they recognized this as a signal to assemble for evacuation. On 6 occasions he and his crew were forced out of the battle area by the intense enemy fire, only to circle and return from another direction to land and extract additional troops. Near the end of the mission, a wounded soldier was spotted close to an enemy bunker. Fully realizing that he would attract a hail of enemy fire, CWO Novosel nevertheless attempted the extraction by hovering the helicopter backward. As the man was pulled on aboard, enemy automatic weapons opened fire at close range, damaged the aircraft and wounded CWO Novosel. He momentarily lost control of the aircraft, but quickly recovered and departed under the withering enemy fire. In all, 15 extremely hazardous extractions were performed in order to remove wounded personnel. As a direct result of his selfless conduct, the lives of 29 soldiers were saved. The extraordinary heroism displayed by CWO Novosel was an inspiration to his comrades in arms and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Notable relatives

• Brian Clevinger, the grandson of Michael J. Novosel Sr., is the author of the popular webcomic 8-Bit Theater, the novel Nuklear Age, and the comic book series Atomic Robo.

See also

• List of Medal of Honor recipients
• List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Vietnam War
• List of Korean War veterans who are recipients of the Bronze Star

External links

• homeofheros.com: Novosel, Michael J.
• history.amedd.army.mil: Michael J. Novosel
• washingtonpost article
• Pittsburgh Post Gazette Obituary