Badass Report: Maj. Louis Sebille, USAF
Major Louis J. Sebille had said, “If you have to die, then take some of the enemy with you.” He was awarded the Medal of Honor for doing just that, as a pilot over Korea on Aug 5th 1950. However his status as a badass began back in WWII…
He joined after Pearl Harbor and flew B-26 Marauders over Europe, bombing Nazis on 68 combat missions, earning 2 Flying Crosses, and 12 Air Medals.
When the Korean war began Sebille was right there, this time flying P-51 Mustangs in close air support. On Aug 5th he and his wingman spotted an enemy armored column moving in support of the battle. Their Mustangs were armed with bombs and rockets, so Sebille entered a dive bomb run. He received heavy anti-aircraft fire as pulled out, sustained severe wounds, and serious damage to his plane. His wingman tried to get him to return to the US base which was nearby, but he refused, his last words were, “”No, I’ll never make it. I’m going back and get that bastard (column)”. He forced his damaged plane to turn and line up, entered into his dive and fired all his rockets. He then chose to not pull up, using his plane with its remaining bomb as a weapon, and crashed straight into the convoy, killing a large contingent of N. Korean troops, and instantly killing himself.
As an older, experienced pilot, he had been known to tell younger pilots during training, “If you have to die, then take some of the enemy with you.” Major Louis Sebille was the first person in the new USAF to be awarded the Medal of Honor, and showed he was a badass who practiced what he taught.
For more see http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=804