The Air Force Cross is presented to William Andrew Robinson, Airman First Class, U.S. Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force as on September 20,1965. Airman First Class Robinson, a helicopter mechanic, was a crewman on an HH-43B Rescue Helicopter on a mission to recover a downed American pilot in North Vietnam. While he and his fellow crewmembers were attempting to hoist the pilot aboard their helicopter, it was hit by enemy gunfire and crashed near Tan An, Laos. Three members of the crew, including airman Robinson, survived the crash and were captured. These spent the next seven and a half years in a North Vietnamese Prisoner of War camp. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, Airman First Class Robinson reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.