Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Flight Sergeant

Unit:

93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, U.S. Army Air Forces

Awarded on:

September 15th, 1942

"For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with 93d Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group (H), U.S. Army Air Force (Attached), in action between Queensland, Australia and Rabaul, New Britain, on 6 - 7 August 1942. When the airplane, in which he was co-pilot, returned to its base in Queensland, Australia, from a bombing mission at Lae, New Guinea, because of a disabled engine, Flight Sergeant Earp, knowing that his group was to execute on the following day an important mission in which the participation of every available airplane was essential, volunteered to accompany his airplane commander on this mission in an airplane which had been declared unserviceable for combat duty. Rejoining his squadron at Port Moresby, New Guinea, after having flown almost continuously during the preceding nineteen hours, he took off, after only three hours rest, in a mass attack by his group on an enemy-occupied airdrome near Rabaul, New Britain. Despite interception by about thirty enemy fighters as the target was approached, the group made a highly successful bombing attack. During the hostile fighter action, the airplane in which Flight Sergeant Earp was a crew member, was on the wing which bore the brunt of the enemy attack lasting for twenty- five minutes. It was observed to drop a blazing bomb-bay tank and fall behind the formation. It did not return to its base."

Headquarters: South West Pacific Area, General Orders No. 34 (posthumously awarded)