COMPACAF presents Posthumous Silver Star to RAAF Flying Officer

by 1st Lt. Jessica Tait
Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs

3/19/2014 - JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- Gen. Hawk Carlisle, Pacific Air Forces commander, presented the Silver Star Medal posthumously to Royal Australian Air Force Flying Officer Edward Thompson Mobsby March 14, 2014, at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia.

Mobsby was the co-pilot of a B-25 Mitchell bomber shot down during a mission over Papua New Guinea in 1942, killing all five crewmembers aboard. He was serving as part of a combined Australian and US aircrew.

"Today, we right a wrong," said Carlisle. "We correct an oversight that is nearly three-quarters of a century old by properly honoring the gallantry and courage of Royal Australian Air Force Flying Officer Edward Thompson Mobsby, presenting his family with his Silver Star."

The Silver Star Medal is the third highest decoration for valor that can be awarded in the U.S. armed forces and is awarded for gallantry in action against the enemy.

With the rest of the American crew receiving the medal posthumously in 1942 and 1943, Mobsby's daughter Jennifer Read carried on her mother Erica's quest to honor her father.

"We, his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and our extended families are so very proud and grateful for this amazing day," said Read in an interview with ABC News.

"In December 2010, we were informed that the wreckage...had been positively identified as the plane in which my father was shot down."

The recovery of her father's remains revived Read's quest for her father's Silver Star and corrected a 72 year administrative oversight. She and her twin sister, Rae Rayner, accepted the Silver Star on their father's behalf.

"It matters to Jenny and Rae, his daughters, to see their father rightly honored. It matters to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren to know that they are the scions of a hero," Carlisle emphasized.

During the ceremony, Carlisle recognized and acknowledged the gallantry and courage Mobsby exhibited alongside his American crewmembers.

"Our Airmen need to know that they can rest assured that their bravery in battle will be honored," said Carlisle. "That even seventy-two years from now, the selfless sacrifices they are making will be remembered. That their service matters, and will be rightly honored. Heroes will not be forgotten."