Lightning Vet Gets His Medals:

Nov. 7, 2005

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Sixty years after serving in the Army Air Corps 7th Fighter Squadron, former 1st Lt. James Costley has received the last of his military decorations. Costley was a P-38 Lightning pilot in the Pacific theater, where he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal that were never presented. He flew 87 combat missions, flying with the 7th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, in the Philippines in 1944. SMSgt. Gregory Henneman, historian for the 49th Fighter Wing, Holloman AFB, N.M., discovered a 1949 letter authorizing the Air Medal and then found documentation for the DFC. Henneman prepared the final paperwork that resurrected the medals for Costley.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

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