On february 24, 1967, Captain Hilliard A. Wilbanks was dispatched in an unarmed observation aircraft to assist in an operation against enemy forces who were attacking near dalat, south Vietnam.

While flying recon for a sv ranger battalion, Captain Wilbanks discovered that hostile units were concealed on two hilltops. He immediately called for helicopter gunship support by radio, and alerted the rangers advancing into the area.

Realizing that their ambush was being compromised, the enemy reacted with a barrage of mortars, machine guns, and automatic weapons and began running down the hill towards the outnumbered rangers. Captain Wilbanks began strafing the enemy with white phosphorus rockets to both signal the incoming gunships and halt the enemy.

With air support still not on scene, he began flying at about 100ft above the enemy, firing his M-16 rifle from out of the side of the plane, reloading after each pass. Captain Wilbanks distracted the enemy troops, momentarily slowing their advance as they began to direct all of their fire towards him.

The outnumbered rangers were afforded a chance to withdraw and despite his plane being hit repeatedly by enemy fire, Captain Wilbanks persisted in covering the withdrawal. On his third pass, he was severely wounded and crashed in the battle area. The rangers managed to rescue him from the wreckage of his plane, but he died while being evacuated to a hospital.

Captain Wilbanks was on his 488th mission over vietnam and was posthumously awarded the medal of honor at the age of 33.