Medal of Honor

On Loan Courtesy of Dennis Mathies, L2014.008.001

This medal was issued to Archibald Mathies, an engineer-gunner in the United States Army Air Forces. After his B-17's pilot and copilot were hit, Mathies and a fellow crewmember managed to fly the aircraft over England, where the crew was able to bail-out. Mathies then refused to jump and abandon the aircraft's pilot, and instead was allowed to attempt a landing. Mathies was killed in the attempt.