The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The medal was established on July 2, 1926, and is currently awarded to any persons who, after April 6, 1917, distinguish themselves by single acts of heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. Both heroism and extraordinary achievement are entirely distinctive, involving operations that are not routine. The medal may be awarded to friendly foreign military members in ranks equivalent to U.S. Pay Grade of O-6 and below, in actual combat in support operations.
Peter Pace is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 16th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pace was the first Marine officer appointed as chairman and the first Marine officer to be appointed to three different four-star assignments; the others were as the sixth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2001, to August 12, 2005, and as Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Southern Command from September 8, 2000, to September 30, 2001. Appointed chairman by President George W. Bush, Pace succeeded U.S. Air Force General Richard Myers on September 30, 2005.
Claudia Jean Kennedy is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army. She is the first woman to reach the rank of three-star general in the United States Army. She retired in 2000 after 31 years of military service.
Jonathan Trumbull Howe is a retired four-star United States Navy admiral, and was the Special Representative for Somalia to United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali from March 9, 1993, succeeding Ismat Kittani from Iraq, until his resignation in February 1994. During his time in Somalia he oversaw UNOSOM II operations including the 'Bloody Monday' raid which killed dozens and was a decisive turning point in the UNSOM II mission.
Quantico National Cemetery is a national cemetery in Triangle, Virginia for veterans who served in the United States Armed Forces. Adjacent to and originally part of Marine Corps Base Quantico, it was established as a national cemetery in 1983 with an area of 725 acres (293 ha).
William Richard Higgins was a United States Marine Corps colonel who was captured in Lebanon in 1988 while serving on a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission. He was held hostage, tortured and eventually murdered by his captors.
Carol A. Mutter is a retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general. She is one of the first women in the history of the United States Armed Forces to be appointed to a three-star grade, the first in the Marine Corps. She retired from the Marine Corps on January 1, 1999. Her last active duty assignment was as Deputy Chief of Staff, Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Paul Francis McHale Jr. is a retired American lawyer and politician. From 2003 to 2009, he served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense. From 1993 to 1999, he represented Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.
Bernard E. Trainor was an American journalist and a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general. He served in the Marine Corps for 39 years in both staff and command capacities. After retiring from the Marine Corps, he began working as the chief military correspondent for The New York Times. He was subsequently a military analyst for NBC. With Michael R. Gordon, he was the author of three accounts of American wars in Iraq, The Generals War (1995); Cobra II (2006); and Endgame (2012).
Frances Carlotta Wilson is a retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general, who served as the 12th president of the National Defense University.
William L. "Spider" Nyland, a veteran of the Vietnam War, is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star General who served as the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps from 2002 to 2005. He retired from the Marine Corps in November 2005 after over 37 years of distinguished service.
Orson G. Swindle III is a retired United States Marine Corps officer, a decorated Vietnam War prisoner of war, and a former Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission of the United States, serving from December 18, 1997 to June 30, 2005. He had previously served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce during the Reagan Administration.
Russell A. Rourke was an American lawyer and public official. He served in key staff positions on Capital Hill and in senior executive positions within the Federal Government. President Ronald Reagan appointed him to serve as the fifteenth Secretary of the Air Force.
Michael R. Strobl is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer from Stafford, Virginia, and is currently Assistant Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Headquarters, United States Marine Corps.
Dee Ann McWilliams is a retired United States Army major general. McWilliams is past President of the Women in Service for America Memorial Foundation. She took her commission in 1974 in the Women's Army Corps and was assigned to the Adjutant General Corps. In over 29 years with the army, she held a variety of Human Relations positions, commanding four companies, a training battalion, and a personnel brigade. She also taught national strategic studies and leadership, and served as an Equal Opportunity Officer.
James Daniel Howard was Special Assistant to President of the United States Ronald Reagan from July 1986 to February 1988, United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs from February 1988 to May 1989 and Under Secretary of the Navy from 1989 to 1993.
Lawrence Fontaine Snowden was a lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps. In 1995, he founded the annual Reunion of Honor, a program honoring those who lost their lives on both sides of the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Shawn Graham Skelly is a retired United States Navy officer, national security expert, and LGBT rights advocate who is currently serving as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness since July 27, 2021.
