Billy Burr Hollingshead

1st Lieutenant, U. S. Army Air Forces

Silver Star

GENERAL ORDERS:
Headquarters, 5th Air Force, General Orders (1944)
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star (posthumously) to First Lieutenant (Air Corps) Billy B. Hollingshead (ASN: 0-663730), United States Army Air Forces, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action between. Gusap and Dumpu, New Guinea, Jan. 15, 1944. This officer was a wing-man on a patrol mission. As the formation climbed for altitude an undetermined number of hostile fighters approached from the rear. Lieutenant Hollingshead sighted the enemy first and received no response from his flight leader. While attempting to attract the flight leader's attention, Jap interceptors fired on him, wounding him in the leg. Although he could have dived away, he remained on the leader's wing, furnishing protection for other aircraft until it was finally shot down and his own plane badly damaged. His gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army Air Forces.