THIS, YOUNG LADIES, IS THE SILVER STAR AND PURPLE HEART
Brigadier General William P. Fisher, 36th Air Division Commander at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, presents medals to Mrs. Joan Babasa, whose husband First Lieutenant Joseph M. Babasa, was reported missing in Korea. Lieutenant Babasa distinguished himself in aerial combat against MIG-15a on 28 June 1951. As the flight he commnaded regrouped after strafing enemy convoys, it was attacked from the rear by four MIGs. Lieutenant Babasa's plane was severely damaged in the right wing, and he reported being wounded in the left hand. Despite the pleas of his flight leader that he seek the cover of his flight and bail out, Lieutenant Babasa attacked the MIGs drawing fire away from other planes in his flight. He met six head-on attacks by MIGs and ran out of ammunition. Daughters Barbara Ann and Christine Babasa look at "Daddy's" medals. (Strategic Air Command archives)