It took 46 years, but Ronald Brodeur and Eric Roberts II finally got recognition for their heroism.

The two airmen received the Silver Star on Thursday, one of the highest medals for valor in the armed services. Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh presented both men with the award, a recognition for their actions in Vietnam.

"Since the U.S. Air Force became an independent service in 1947, we've presented 285 Silver Stars," Welsh said at a Pentagon ceremony. "That's not a whole lot when you think of all the combat sorties and contingencies we've participated in. It's a very select groups of warriors. For a reason. The award is presented for gallantry in action against enemies of the United States of America. It always involves some form of sacrifice. … It always involves some element of teamwork."

Then-Staff Sgt. Brodeur and Sgt. Roberts were part of the 20th Special Operations Squad, the "Green Hornets," a helicopter squadron that specialized in the infiltration and retrieval of spec ops groups.

When one such group became pinned down by enemy fire near Duc Lap, Vietnam, on Feb. 20, 1969, Brodeur and Roberts were part of the crew that set off on the rescue.

Hovering over the landing zone, the two men climbed out on the helicopter skids. They kept an eye on the tail rotor, and called out to the pilot when it got too close to a tree. And they started to help the special operations team climb aboard.

That's when an explosion rocked the aircraft. One of the troops had triggered a land mine. The shockwave blew Brodeur off the skid and left him dangling by his harness.

Roberts was knocked back into the helicopter. Getting back up, he noticed that the co-pilot's door had been blown open, exposing the man to the hail of enemy fire that was coming from all sides.

So Roberts unhooked his harness, got back onto the skid, and climbed along the side of the helicopter until he was able to reach the door. Closing it to protect the co-pilot, Roberts climbed back to the rear of the helicopter, grabbed a weapon, and started laying down covering fire.

Dangling under the aircraft, Brodeur hauled himself up and immediately again started giving the pilot information on where the tail rotor was to make sure they didn’t crash. Then he started to help the special operations team climb on board.

No one was killed on the mission.

"They created a team on the back end of that helicopter that was not affected by the terrible situations they found themselves in routinely," Welsh said. "This is a phenomenal story. They're looking back on this thinking it was pretty routine. This is just what the squadron did. 'It's what our job was. It's what we were expected to do.' It's what they and their teammates did all the time."

Brodeur said the crew dubbed their UH-1P helicopter "Patches."

"Patches brought us home with big holes in her skin," he said. "And I remember days coming home with tree branches sticking out of the main rotor blades. And what happened is when we came home we stayed up and fixed her, because she had to be ready the next morning."

Brodeur He said one of worst parts of that fateful mission was right after the explosion, when he climbed back onto the skid, he didn’t see his friend. Roberts had climbed onto the side of the craft to close the co-pilots door, but Brodeur feared the worst.

"After I recovered and got back up on my skid, I glanced back and there was nobody in the doorway. And my heart stopped," he said. "It was a scary moment. I didn't see anybody in that door."

Brodeur said that both men owed a lot to their wives, especially when the women they did not stop fighting to ensure the airmen received the recognition they deserved. Clerical errors and lost paperwork meant the award process was delayed by decades, but the women kept fighting through the bureaucracy to make sure their husbands’ heroism was recognized.

"When we leave active duty, we need them even more. They're our support system," he said.

Roberts said he wanted the award to stand for all the Green Hornets who acted bravely in the face of adversity.

"I know there's many other Green Hornets out there who had their heroism and valor overlooked over the years due to lost documents or misplaced documents," he said. "I want them to know that we want to share the acknowledgement and the recognition we receive today with every one of them. They know who they are, and they know what they did as a member of the Green Hornets. And we love you for it."

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