EL SALVADOR—
Black Aviator is Awarded Posthumous POW Medal
By Greg Walker (ret)
USA Special Forces
It was in 1994 that I wrote my first story regarding the 1991 shootdown of LTC David Pickett’s helicopter by Marxist guerrillas in El Salvador. Pickett’s pilot was killed in the ensuing crash of the aircraft; LTC Pickett and his crew chief, SP4 Earnest Dawson, were captured and then executed by their captors.
“Yet surprisingly, the first warrants issued since the amnesty was declared unconstitutional are for former guerrillas.
“The US army helicopter was shot down by a Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) patrol in January 1991 in the San Miguel district in eastern El Salvador, as it was flying back to base in neighboring Honduras.
“The pilot, Daniel Scott, was killed in the crash, but two wounded soldiers—Lt Col David Pickett and Cpl Earnest Dawson—were shot dead after the guerrillas stole the cache of weapons onboard the helicopter, according to the Truth Commission.”
In 1996, the U.S. Congress authorized the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal acknowledging the war in El Salvador was a U.S. military campaign. In 1997, full combat awards and decorations were authorized for all those who served and fought during the eleven-year counterinsurgency (1981-1992). Where Pickett’s posthumous Purple Heart and POW medal were ultimately authorized and his family presented with the awards, the recommendation for SP4 Dawson’s seemed to have disappeared.
In May 2023, I spoke with Dawson’s surviving sister, Lisa. She shared the family had been informed a posthumous POW award was in the system but they never heard anything else much less received the medal. A packet was pulled together and with a personal cover letter attached was sent to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Shortly afterward I received an official letter from the Deputy Chief of Awards and Decorations stating in part the packet would be actioned.
On November 13, 2023, in response to my article “Burying the Dead with Dishonor—Part One,” Richard Grell sent the following message to the Sentinel. “SP4 Dawson, according to DOA MEMO for COL John P. McMullen, J-33. SOD dated 15 JUL 99 was awarded the POW medal posthumously along with LTC Pickett; “2. On 14 Jun 99, the Secretary of the Army approved the posthumous award of the POW Medal to LTC Pickett and PFC Dawson. This determination was based on their being shot down, captured, and later killed by El Salvadoran Rebels (FMLN) on 2 Jan 91. As CWO Scott died from injuries he sustained in the helicopter crash, he is not eligible for the POW Medal.” signed by Bernard P. Gabriel, GS Chief, Military Awards Branch.”
“Burying the Dead with Dishonor—Part One”:
https://www.specialforces78.com/burying-the-dead-with-dishonor-part-one/
I recognized Richard’s name as I’d followed his efforts to see an AFEM authorized for those who’d served in Honduras. But it was Mr. Grell’s mention of Colonel John McMullen having been sent official documentation offering a posthumous POW medal had been authorized for both Pickett and Dawson that caught my attention. John and I had worked on the combat recognition effort together for years. Reading the notification, the awards had been authorized, engraved, and were being sent to McMullen put everything in focus.
John, still on active duty at the time, had either written or rewritten hundreds of award recommendations once the AFEM had been authorized. Two of these were Valor awards I had submitted to John for formal submission and which were ultimately authorized. The Army sent those awards to Colonel McMullen and he then sent them to me. My challenge then was to locate my two former teammates and get their medals to them.
Clearly John had received the awards for Pickett and Dawson. And clearly he’d been able to locate Pickett’s family but not SP4 Dawson’s. John recently passed away so I had no way of learning where the missing award might be. But, thanks to Richard Grell I was able to email the document he’d sent me along with what most likely had occurred to the Army Human Resources Command which was handling the inquiry.
“Requiem for a Friend”:
https://www.specialforces78.com/requiem-for-a-friend/
Army Awards and Decorations’ response was near immediate.
UNCLASSIFIED
Mr. Walker,
“We received email traffic requesting the POW medal for Earnest Dawson. We have confirmed Dawson’s entitlement to the award and we can mail this medal set, but only need an address and POC to send it. Can you email this info to us, or give us a POC that can? We’re available to talk and my contact info is below.”
Wesley Tuchtenhagen
CW4, AG
Policy Chief, Awards and Decorations Branch
Upon providing Chief Tuchtenhagen with Lisa’s contact information the next message from him, just two days before Thanksgiving, brought a multi-decade effort to its final and prayed for conclusion.
UNCLASSIFIED
“Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Submitted the order now (TACOM # D3MM9553346FM) with the address listed below. It is to be expedited by TACOM. My pleasure to assist.”
r/ Wes
Wesley Tuchtenhagen
CW4, AG
Policy Chief, Awards and Decorations Branch
I called Lisa immediately with the news. She offered her sincere thanks to all involved and said she’d be calling her 81-year-old father with the long-awaited news. “He’ll be so happy,” she told me.
On November 20, 2023, thirty-two years after his combat-related captivity and death in El Salvador, SP4 Earnest Dawson has now been officially honored for his service and sacrifice. He becomes the only black service member to have been taken prisoner during our war in El Salvador.
SP4 Dawson was 20 years old at the time of his execution.
“No Fallen Comrade Left Behind.”
To read either of the letters shown above, click on the images of the letters to view larger version images of each.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR — Greg Walker is an honorably retired “Green Beret” and U.S. Special Forces historian. Greg’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Combat Infantryman Badge (x2), and the AFEM (x2). Today Walker lives and writes from his home in Sisters, Oregon, along with his service pup, Tommy.
Army Awards and Decorations is presently reviewing a second award packet for SSG (ret) Timothy Hodge (Dishonor Part 2). Hodge was severely wounded in 1987 at CEMFA in La Union, ES, and left paralyzed for life. Due to the politics at the time and the number of American casualties that occurred that night in lieu of Tim’s being shot, he was spirited out of ES to Honduras and then to the U.S. where he spent four years in hospital. His packet’s cover letter is from Major General (ret) Ken Bowra, and the wealth of documentation to include the Sentinel series should see Hodge awarded a Purple Heart, CIB, and AFEM for ES. The last from Army HRC is that the SECDEF is reviewing at this time.