I posted this below on the premium and football forums as a way to give the news to some of his old classmates and contemporaries, but someone suggested to me that I post it on this board as well as there may be some old Ags who don't read those forums as much as this one. Forgive the redundancy, and intrusion if this isn't normally done here, as I'm much more familiar with SOP on the other boards:

Richard L Poling, class of '69, awarded the Air Force Cross for "extraordinary heroism in combat," former bass player in the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band, Lt. Col USAF (retired), father of three, grandfather of 7 with an 8th on the way, friend to all underdogs, crossed over to the other side of the river today.

His most conspicuous act of heroism occurred in 1972 near the coastal town of Mo Duc, south of Da Nang, in Vietnam, on his 105th combat mission: https://www.airforcemag.com/article/valor-long-night-at-mo-duc/ . With only one flight of tactical fighters scheduled in all of Vietnam, due to a monsoon, an army detachment of 120 men was under attack from a force of over 2,000 enemy soldiers.

The impossible odds, and Poling's San Antonio roots, led the Air Force Times to call him a "modern day hero of the Alamo." But this Alamo had a better ending, with the ground commander crediting Poling and his co-pilot with saving his troops from annihilation.

After a long night of Poling and his co-pilot directing artillery fire and countless attack runs from their OV-10 Bronco to hold off the enemy, the outpost was on the verge of being overrun as the enemy assaulted in waves with the dawn.

The outpost commander called for Poling to direct fire within his perimeter as the enemy closed to within 30 feet of the command bunker, leading to eight consecutive "low and slow" strafing passes by Poling which broke the enemy's will. Poling's plane was shot down on the final run, as the cumulative effect of hundreds of enemy rounds led to catastrophic engine and rudder failure. Both pilots ejected, drawing vengeful enemy fire on the way down. After a tense couple of hours evading capture in a rice paddy, Poling was picked up by an Army helicopter, only to have the helicopter shot down as well. The two pilots and the helicopter pilots were finally rescued by another chopper and ferried to safety.

For his actions in saving the Mo Duc garrison from being overrun, Poling was awarded the highest commendation for valor given by the Air Force, succeeded only by the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Self-deprecating and unassuming, he used to joke about "peaking at 25," but his family knows better. His most impressive personal accomplishment was being a "cycle breaker." Despite coming from a background of neglect and even abuse, he became the first one in his family to graduate from college, and never failed to express his love and affirmation to his children and grandchildren.

In his retiring years he chose to live in an apartment complex that was significantly less than what he could afford, so that he could pursue his lifelong devotion to "underdogs." He took in, fed, sheltered and supported numerous "stray humans" and struggling families and individuals, living modestly and giving away almost all of his discretionary income in personal service to those less fortunate, storing up his treasures in heaven.

A devoted Aggie and Aggie sports fan, he was almost as excited to tell you about the latest women's softball score as he was to talk about the big Aggie football game. Due to declining health in recent years, he hadn't been able to see a game in person in a while. We are sure he will enjoy his new seats immensely, and maybe he'll even get to watch the Ags win the big one "next year."

Here.

Thanks for sharing. I saw his obituary and looked up the story in Air Force Magazine

https://www.airforcemag.com/article/valor-long-night-at-mo-duc/

Valor: Long Night at Mo Duc
By John L. Frisbee
March 1, 1987

The night of Sept. 16-17, 1972, was not the kind pilots dream about when sleeping peacefully. It was the monsoon season, and some of the aircraft at Da Nang, where the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron was based, had been evacuated because of a typhoon warning. Only one flight of tactical fighters was scheduled for Vietnam that night. Weather or not, the ground war went on. An Army detachment of 120 men at Mo Duc, near the coast about 90 miles south of Da Nang, was under attack by some 2,000 enemy infantry.

Early that evening, the 20th TASS FAC team of Capts. Richard Poling and Joseph Personnett was alerted for a Quick Reaction Force launch to support the Mo Duc garrison, which had declared a tactical emergency. Since the Army troops could provide their own illumination, Poling and Personnett had their normal OV-10 load of flares replaced with marking, high-explosive, and flechette rockets.

By 9:50 p.m., the weather had improved enough for launch. Personnett in the front seat was on his 45th combat mission, Poling on his 105th. But neither pilot had worked the recently assigned Mo Duc area. They were informed that there was no safe bailout area in the vicinity.

The situation at Mo Duc turned out to be even worse than the two FACs had anticipated. Its defenders had been forced to abandon a 105-mm howitzer that had been taken over by the enemy, who was shelling the compound with it and with rockets and mortars. Poling and Personnett immediately silenced the 105 with flechettes, then continued to strafe and rocket other targets until the tac fighters they had requested arrived.

Intense antiaircraft fire could not be silenced since most of it came from a refugee center where the enemy had sited his guns. The FACs remained on station until their ordnance was expended. At about 2 a.m., they were forced to return to Da Nang to refuel and rearm.

While on the ground, they requested Naval and ARVN artillery support, gunships, and whatever tac air could be rounded up. At 3 a.m., they launched again with Poling now in the front seat. Enemy troops had completely surrounded the compound. With no USAF fighters on hand, they requested A-7s from an aircraft carrier, but were told that the Navy planes could not be there until 6:30 a.m. An ARVN relief force had been ambushed and stopped by enemy forces, with little prospect of reaching Mo Duc in time. It was up to Poling and Personnett to save the 120 Army men with their own ordnance and whatever other fire arrived.

The situation became so desperate that the ground commander requested friendly artillery to fire on his position. Throughout the remainder of the night, Poling and Personnett strafed and rocketed muzzle flashes, directed Navy and ARVN artillery, and marked targets for the Navy A-7s that arrived on schedule at 6:30 a.m. The FACs' OV-10 was under heavy AA fire on each pass, with one of many hits passing through the canopy, showering both pilots with splinters.

As dawn broke, Personnett in the back seat was directing Naval and ARVN artillery while Poling was working two sets of Navy A-7s, another OV-10 with cluster bombs, and a fast FAC. The hostiles were now attacking in waves.
Shortly after 7 a.m., the ground commander called in desperation for immediate strikes on enemy troops who had broken through the perimeter fence and were within 25 feet of his bunkertoo close for the faster aircraft to attack. Poling immediately rolled in with a volley of flechettes as all the ground fire focused on the OV-10. He and Personnett made eight passes, taking many hits, but they stopped the enemy assault.

On the final run, with the enemy withdrawing, the OV-10's rudders and right engine were shot out. Both pilots ejected from 2,000 feet as their aircraft rolled into an uncontrollable dive. Both were fired at as they parachuted into a rice paddy that was surrounded by enemy forces. After a tense 90 minutes, they were picked up by Army helicopters. The first chopper that reached Poling was shot down as it lifted off, but a second succeeded under heavy fire.

The ground commander later counted 265 enemy bodies on the perimeter fences and credited Poling and Personnett with saving his troops from annihilation. In seven hours of sustained combat, two gallant captains flying a lightly armed recce plane were primarily responsible for defeating a reinforced enemy regiment. For that extraordinary feat, both men were awarded the Air Force Cross.

Thanks to Maj. Jeffrey B. Floyd, author of "For Extraordinary Hero
ism: The Air Force Cross" (privately published), for opening his files to this writer.J.L.F.
Published March 1987. For presentation on this web site, some Valor articles have been amended for accuracy.