On Mar. 10 1967, Merlyn H. Dethlefsen was flying an F-105F as No. 3 in a four-plane formation on a mission against the Thai Nguyen Steel Mill, 50 miles north of Hanoi. The task for the F-105s was to knock out surface-to-air (SAM) and antiaircraft gun sites before the bombing forces arrived. When the four F-105s made their low-altitude attack run, the flight leader was shot down and No. 2 was damaged so heavily that he had to head homeward. Although standard tactics called for only one attack pass on such a heavily defended area, or two at the most, Lt. Col.

Dethlefsen decided not to leave the area, but to continue his attacks. However, a MiG appeared and he had to fly through heavy antiaircraft fire to escape from the MiG; in doing so, his F-105 was also hit and seriously damaged. Instead of heading for home, the donor elected to carry-on and even after the steel mill had been bombed and the bombing force had withdrawn, he, along with his wingman, stayed in the target area looking for SAM sites.

After evading a second MiG and then having his F-105 hit once again by flak, the donor spotted two SAM sites and attacked, destroying them both. Only then did he head his battered F-105 for friendly territory. For his valor in combat above and beyond the call of duty, Dethlefsen was awarded the Medal of Honor, the third USAF member to receive the award during the South East Asian (SEA) conflict. The Bible and fingernail clippers on display were carried by the Lt. Col. Dethlefsen on this mission, and he was wearing the gloves and dogtags.