Lloyd E. Wakefield
Cedar Lake Soldier Receives Award
Staff Sergeant Lloyd F. Wakefield, son of Mrs. and Mrs. Lloyd S. Wakefield of R.R.3, Cedar Lake, Ind., has helped his air rescue organization in Southeast Asia earn the U.S. Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.Sergeant Wakefield will wear a distinctive service ribbon as a permanent decoration to mark his affiliation with the 3rd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group.
The group won the award for six months meritorious achievement while logging 236 rescues in the combat zone.
Sergeant Wakefield has served as a helicopter mechanic supporting helicopter aircrews -- whose members include some of the most decorated heroes of the Vietnam War -- that logged 178 "combat saves" during the period and undoubtedly prevented the rescued servicemen from capture or death by the enemy.
The 3rd, headquartered at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, and a previous recipient of the Presidential Unit Citation, was particularly cited for "adding immeasurably to the morale of combat aircrews in Southeast Asia." Unit personnel fly HH-3 Jolly Green Giant and HH-43 Huskie helicopters over North and South Vietnam, frequently under the most hazardous and dramatic of combat conditions, to evacuate U.S. and allied aircrews and ground forces to safety.
Sergeant Wakefield has been serving at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai AFB, Thailand.
The sergeant attended Crown Point High School.
His wife, Ellen, is the daughter of M.C. Funk of R.R. 3, Cedar Lake, Indiana.
This October 24, 1968, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 12, column 6:
Receives Commendation Medal
Staff Sergeant Lloyd E. Wakefield, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Wakefield of R.R. 3, Cedar Lake, has received the U.S. Air Force Commendation Medal at Laughlin AFB, Tex.Sergeant Wakefield, a helicopter mechanic, was decorated for meritorious service in Southeast Asia.
He is now at Laughlin in a detachment of the Central Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Center.
The sergeant is a 1962 graduate of Crown Point High School.
His wife, Ellen is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M.C. Funk of R.R. 3, Cedar Lake.
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