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French Legion of Honor Medal to Thomas "Pinky" Funderburk

Washington, D.C., August 2, 2019

I’m here at Westminster Towers in Rock Hill to present the French Legion of Honor Medal to Thomas "Pinky" Funderburk, for his heroic actions during World War II. The Legion of Honor was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, and is the highest award from the country of France for military and civil merits. The President of the French Republic has recently bestowed this honor on Major Funderburk.

“Pinky” flew B-17 bombers for the Mighty 8th US Air Force during WWI. The first three of four dangerous missions for which “Pinky” was awarded the Legion of Honor took place on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of April, 1945 over Royan, France. His crew’s mission was to bomb the 30 thousand encamped German troops concentrated around Royan, which is along the coast of France.

One day, they approached their target from an altitude of 25,000 feet and noticed an absence of anti-aircraft activity in the skies, so they dropped down to 17,000 feet. The formation circled three times to drop their bombs more accurately, when a small flare used to follow bombs to their targets ignited in their bomb bay, filling the aircraft with thick sooty smoke that covered all the windows.

Fearing they were hit by ground fire the crew grabbed their parachutes and prepared to abandon their plane over enemy territory. Before jumping out the crew made one last check to see if the pilots were able to make it out safely, so they yelled through the intercom to see if they were coming, but received no reply.

Just as they were ready to bail out, co-pilot Funderburk yelled out, “Wait!” The smoke was so thick that the pilots were worried about their aircraft running into the other planes in the formation should they bail out. Fortunately, they were able to clear the smoke and fly their aircraft and crew safely back to their home base.

The final mission took Pinky deep into enemy territory into Horsching, Austria where French prisoners of war had recently been liberated from a POW camp. Pinky’s crew reconfigured their B-17 bomber to carry 31 prisoners of war back to Paris and their homeland.

Today, we honor Major Funderburk for his heroic duties and selfless service. is honored by both the United States and France. And I am honored to present him with this medal.