Medal of Honour – 2Lt. Robert Femoyer

Flying from RAF Rattlesden in Suffolk, England, navigator 2nd Lt. Robert E. Femoyer’s actions on November 2, 1944 on a mission to Merseburg, showed the highest level of dedication to his crew. He performed a selfless act of bravery whilst being severely & fatally wounded, resulting in being awarded the Medal of Honour.   On November 11, 1942, Robert Femoyer enlisted & joined the Reserve Corps. He didn’t take up active duty until the following February when he began his basic training at Miami Beach, Florida. He joined the Army Air Corps that same month & became a cadet at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his commission as second lieutenant at the AAF Navigation School at Selman Field, Louisiana in 1943 & graduated in 1944.

Femoyer was assigned to 711th Bomb Squadron, 447th Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force in September 1944 as a B-17 navigator. On November 2, 1944, his fifth mission & just days after his 23rd birthday,  the 711th SQ attacked an oil refinery at Merseburg, near Leipzig, Germany. His B-17 was battered, hit several times by flak, & had two of the four engines severely damaged. Femoyer bled heavily from shrapnel wounds to his side & back. The B-17 quickly lost both height & speed & was forced to leave the formation, making it more vulnerable to attack from fighters, but Femoyer was not going let his crew members down. Deciding to turn for home, the pilot asked for a route.  In response, Femoyer, determined to keep a clear head, refused all medical assistance before planning their route home. He insisted on being propped up so he could read his maps despite the injury to his body that made sitting extremely difficult. Guiding the pilot safely around heavy flak zones, they eventually reached the safety of the English coast, where then & only then, did Femoyer allow morphine & other medical aid to be administered. The pilot managed to guide the stricken aircraft home where upon landing at RAF Rattlesden, Femoyer was removed from his post & taken to hospital where he sadly died about an hour later.  For his valour & courage he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honour. The body of 2nd Lt. Robert Edward Femoyer was returned to the United States to his adopted Florida home, & was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida.  Florida historical resources list him as one of their own war heroes. His college, Virginia Tech, named a building the ‘Femoyer Hall’ in his honour in 1949 & in 2001, a stretch of West Virginia Route 152 from the Fifth Street crossing with Interstate 64 to the Huntington city limits was officially designated Robert Femoyer Boulevard. Numerous Air Force bases have also named streets in his honor. Robert Femoyer was the only American navigator to have received the Medal of Honour during service in World War II. MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION “For conspicuous gallantry & intrepidity at the risk of his life above & beyond the call of duty near Merseburg, Germany, on Nov. 2, 1944. While on a mission, the bomber, of which 2d Lt. Femoyer was the navigator, was struck by three enemy antiaircraft shells. The plane suffered serious damage & 2d Lt. Femoyer was severely wounded in the side & back by shell fragments which penetrated his body. In spite of extreme pain & great loss of blood he refused an offered injection of morphine. He was determined to keep his mental faculties clear in order that he might direct his plane out of danger & so save his comrades. Not being able to arise from the floor, he asked to be propped up in order to enable him to see his charts & instruments. He successfully directed the navigation of his lone bomber for 2 1/2 hours so well it avoided enemy flak & returned to the field without further damage. Only when the plane had arrived in the safe area over the English Channel did he feel that he had accomplished his objective; then, & only then, he      permitted an injection of a sedative. He died shortly after being removed from the plane. The heroism & self-sacrifice of 2d Lt. Femoyer are in keeping with the highest traditions of the 447th Bomb Group & the U.S. Army Air Corps.”

Information Courtesy of USAF