The Twelfth Day — Quest for a Medal of Honor
Clemson alumnus and architect Jack Parillo '59 of Craig, Gaulden & Davis in Greenville, an Air Force veteran himself, has spent over a decade gathering information on Rudy Anderson's role in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
He began years ago trying to get a surplus U-2 aircraft for display in Greenville to honor Anderson. (An F-86 sabre jet like the one Anderson flew in Korea was installed in Cleveland Park in the 1960s to honor him because a surplus U-2 was not then available.)
The more Parillo has learned, the more he has become determined for Anderson to receive the recognition he deserves for the enormous "difference" he made for all of us.
Anderson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, as were his fellow pilots. He also received a Purple Heart; the Air Force Cross, the first ever awarded; and the Distinguished Service Medal, the nation's highest peacetime honor.
But for Parillo and others, particularly the late Frank Sherard '48, Clemson classmate and friend of Rudy Anderson, there's still one missing — the Medal of Honor.
Parillo explains: "To obtain the information that his country needed, Major Anderson flew unescorted, unarmed, at vulnerable altitudes and at comparatively slow jet speed repeatedly over exact and similar dangerous air routes.
"I see no difference in this act of courage and the infantry man who dashes through sniper fire to save his companions. Both realize their chances for survival are slim; they are both motivated to save lives — some indirectly, some directly.
"It appears . . . the man on the ground, surrounded by witnesses, is more likely to receive the Medal of Honor than his equally brave and courageous counterpart . . . in the lonely sky."
Jack Parillo suggests that if you would like to help promote the Medal of Honor effort for Rudy Anderson, to write your senator, congressman, Secretary of the Air Force or others who would be influential. Parillo can be reached at terrijack@worldnet.att.net or PO Box 2527, Greenville, SC 29602-2527.