“At All Costs” details the life of Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger, a Pennsylvania native who was among 12 U.S. airmen killed March 11, 1968, when a North Vietnamese Army special forces team scaled a 3,000-foot cliff and attacked their secret radar camp.
Etchberger helped rescue three of his comrades, two of whom were severely wounded, and made it safely aboard an evacuation helicopter himself before being shot through the floor as it lifted off from the mountain, where he helped lead a team that aided the U.S. bombing campaign of North Vietnam. He and two fellow airmen were killed outright. Their bodies and those of nine others were not recovered following the clash. The remains of two have since been identified through DNA testing and returned to their families. Author Matt Proietti, along with Sgt. Erchberger's sons Rich and Cory Etchberger, join us to discuss their father's legacy and receiving the Medal of Honor on his behalf.
Nine months after his death, Chief Etchberger received the Air Force Cross, the service’s second-highest decoration, in a small Pentagon ceremony attended by his survivors. He became just the second airman awarded the Medal of Honor since the end of the Vietnam War. The presentation in a White House ceremony in September 2010 drew national attention to the little-known Project Heavy Green and the battle at Lima Site 85, which resulted in the largest loss of Air Force ground personnel in the war.
“At All Costs” is the first book by Proietti, a former community newspaper editor and longtime military public affairs professional. He learned about Etchberger’s actions while running the Air Force’s Washington, D.C.-based news team in 2008 and published the book in a partnership with a foundation started by Etchberger’s sons, Rich Etchberger, Professor Wildland Resources Utah State University Uintah Basin and his brother Cory Etchberger, Biology Professor at Ursinus College.
