COUGHLAN, John Desmond
| Service Number: | A220788 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | No. 9 Squadron (RAAF) |
| Born: | Arncliffe, New South Wales, Australia, 1 February 1943 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Permanent RAAF |
| Died: | Cancer, 11 April 2013, aged 70 years, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Caloundra A2-1022 Iroquois Helicopter Memorial |
Vietnam War Service
| 25 Apr 1967: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Corporal, A220788, No. 9 Squadron (RAAF) | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Apr 1967: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Corporal |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Corporal John Coughlan became the first RAAF member awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (CGM), the highest flying award for non-commissioned ranks (other than the Victoria Cross), since World War II.
While a crewman with No 9 Squadron in Vietnam, he went to the assistance of personnel from an American gunship helicopter which crashed on this day into dense jungle inside enemy-held territory eight kilometres from the Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat.
Although the downed aircraft was burning fiercely, its ammunition and rockets exploding dangerously, he volunteered to be winched to the rescue of the badly injured crew. He successfully accomplished this, though frequently forced to take cover from shrapnel. Three months later he performed a similar feat in aid of another downed US helicopter.
Awarded the CGM in 1968, he was only the tenth member of the RAAF to receive the medal since it was instituted in 1943.
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