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Contact Info
Home Town Adamsville, Alabama
Last Address Leeds, Alabama
Date of Passing Jan 16, 2002
Location of Interment Elmwood Cemetery - Birmingham, Alabama
Air Force News Service WASHINGTON -- Fifty years ago an Air Force staff sergeant ignored his pain and injuries to save the lives of 11 other crewmembers aboard a B-29 flight over Japan. On April 18, 1945, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. This month, Air Force honored retired Master Sgt. Henry E. "Red" Erwin again by naming a new award after him. The Henry E. Erwin Outstanding Enlisted Aircrew Member of the Year Award will be presented annually to an airman, noncommissioned officer and senior noncommissioned in the active-duty or reserve forces, said Chief Master Sgt. Francis Mitchell, Air Force enlisted aircrew career field manager. Air Force selected the first three winners this month. However, future winners will be selected and announced in April, said Mitchell, who was the driving force behind the award and its name. Selections will be based on job accomplishments, sustained improvements which have major mission impact, leadership abilities, self-improvement efforts, and contributions to management goals. Winners will receive a certificate, plaque and the Air Force Recognition Ribbon, Mitchell said. The enlisted aircrew member award is only the second Air Force award named for an enlisted person. The first was named after Airman 1st Class John L. Levitow, a former loadmaster who saved the lives of fellow crewmembers aboard an AC-47 during the Vietnam War. Air Force presents the Levitow award to the top enlisted professional military education graduate. The Erwin award will go to enlisted aircrew members in career fields such as flight engineering, loadmaster, and air surveillance. Erwin, who lives in Leeds, Ala. with his wife, Martha, said in a telephone interview Aug. 9 that he is pleased to have an award named after him, but thought "there are lots of other men who are just as deserving but have never been recognized." Air Force is planning to name all awards presented to the enlisted force after an enlisted person. Last year, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David J. Campanale charged the Air Force Association's enlisted advisory council to head the task. The 75-year-old Erwin said he was glad to hear of such a plan. Erwin's name became known during World War II for heroic action over Koriyama, Japan, on April 12, 1945. A radio operator and gunner aboard the B-29, Erwin was launching phosphorus bombs during a raid on a gasoline production plant when one of the bombs proved faulty and exploded inside the aircraft. Erwin was knocked to the floor and badly burned. However, realizing that the aircraft and his crewmembers' lives were at stake, he carried the bomb in his bare hands to the co-pilot's window and threw it out. Two-and-one-half years and 41 operations later, Erwin was discharged from the military with the rank of master sergeant.
