HAPPY BIRTHDAY HomeOfHeroes.com

Buried at A.B.M.C. Meuse-Argonne
  F-25-33  

Born: December 30, 1894 at Wichita, KS

Entered Service in the US Army Air Service from Wichita, KS

Earned The Medal of Honor During World War I For heroism October 06, 1918 in the Air near Binarville, France

Second Lieutenant Russell Bleckley was the observer in a DH-4 aircraft piloted by First Lieutenant Harold Goettler of the 50th Aero Squadron. On October 6, 1918 near Binarville, France, Lieutenants Bleckley and Goettler were on their second trip to drop supplies to a surrounded battalion in the Argonne Forest. Subject on the first trip to violent enemy fire, they attempted now to fly still lower in order to deliver the supplies even more precisely. The plane was brought down by enemy ground fire, resulting in fatal wounds to Lieutenant Bleckley who died before he could be taken to a hospital. Pilot Harold Goettler also was killed in the crash. In the course of this mission, Lieutenant Bleckley showed the highest possible devotion to duty, courage, and valor.
(NOTES: Lieutenant Goettler also received the Medal of Honor in this action, a heroic attempt to provide critical supplies to Major Charles Whittlesey and the men of the famed "Lost Battalion" of World War I.)