Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

2nd Lieutenant

Unit:

360th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group, U.S. Army Air Forces

Awarded on:

1944

Citation:
"For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Bombardier on a B-17 Heavy Bomber in the 360th Bombardment Squadron, 303d Bombardment Group (H), Eighth Air Force, while participating in a bombing mission on 13 April 1944, against enemy ground targets at Schweinfurt, Germany. Before his plane reached the target it was viciously attacked by enemy fighters, and Lieutenant Dello-Buono was seriously injured by a 20-mm. shell which exploded on contact with his flak suit. Despite the seriousness of his wounds, Lieutenant Dello-Buono manned his nose guns until the target was reached, and then dropped his bombs squarely in the group's pattern. He then returned to his guns and, ignoring his pain and the danger of frostbite from the cold air blasting through the nose, refused to leave his post until fighter attacks had ceased and the enemy coast had been passed on the way home. The personal courage and devotion to duty displayed by Second Lieutenant Dello-Buono on this occasion have upheld the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 8th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces."

Headquarters: U.S. Strategic Forces in Europe, General Orders No. 43 (1944).