Lance Sijan - Namesake of the Lance Sijan Award

Lance Sijan was born to Sylvester and Jane Sijan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father, who owned a restaurant, was of Serbian ancestry; his mother was an Irish American. Lance was the eldest of three children.^[2] On the night of November 9, 1967, on his 52nd combat mission over North Vietnam.  Sijan's F-4C was engulfed in a ball of fire and plunged into the jungle. Sijan managed to eject. In the first rescue attempt over twenty aircraft were damaged. Sijan, refusing to put other aviators in danger, insisted on crawling into the jungle and having a penetrator lowered by the helicopter. Para-Jumpers were sent to carry him. However, the helicopter crew could not spot him in the jungle and after 33 minutes the rescue team had to withdraw. Search efforts continued the next day, but they were called off. And he was placed on MIA status. Sijan had suffered multiple injuries,  was without food, with very little water, and no survival kit; nevertheless, he evaded enemy forces for 46 days (all the time scooting on his back down the rocky limestone karst on which he landed, causing more injuries). He was captured by the North Vietnamese on Christmas Day, 1967. Emaciated and in poor health, he still managed to overpower his guard and escape, but was recaptured several hours later.

Sijan was transported to a holding compound in Vinh, North Vietnam, where he was placed in the care of two other POWs, Air Force Colonel Robert R. Cramer and Air Force Captain Guy Gruters. In considerable pain from his wounds, he suffered beatings and extensive torture from his captors, but never gave any information other than what the Geneva Convention allowed. Suffering from exhaustion, malnutrition, and disease, he was sent to Hanoi. He contracted pneumonia and died in Hoa Lo Prison (the notorious Hanoi Hilton) on January 22, 1968.^[4]

First Lieutenant Sijan was promoted posthumously to captain on June 13, 1968. His remains were repatriated on March 13, 1974, and were positively identified on April 22, 1974. He was buried with military honors in Arlington Park Cemetery in Milwaukee. It was Colonel Cramer who recommended him for the Medal of Honor. This award was corroborated with Captain Guy Gruters' testimony and Sijan received the Medal of Honor posthumously in 1976. His parents received the medal on his behalf on March 4, 1976 from President Gerald R. Ford. Both Sylvester and Jane Sijan have passed away but Lance’s sister, Janine, has become the torchbearer for his memory.