Plaza to be created at Shaler area school to honor two war heroes

Thursday, March 01, 2007
By Milan Simonich, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Two brave men with roots in the northern suburbs will receive a lasting tribute -- a place in the Shaler Area School District's new plaza for Medal of Honor recipients.

The plaza will recognize Marine Lance Cpl. Billy Prom and Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, an Army helicopter pilot who specialized in rescue missions.

Though separated in age by almost 27 years, each served in Vietnam at the same time. Both received the Medal of Honor, America's highest award for combat valor, for different battles in 1969.

Warrant Officer Novosel, raised by an immigrant shoemaker during the Great Depression, graduated from the old Etna High School in 1940. Cpl. Prom grew up in Reserve and graduated from now-defunct Millvale High School in 1967.

Today, the Shaler Area School District covers the hometowns of both men, so creating a Medal of Honor Plaza for them seems appropriate, said school Superintendent Donald Lee.

He said a plaque outlining their achievements will be mounted on a brick base and displayed in the plaza near Shaler Intermediate School on Mount Royal Boulevard. The area will be renamed Medal of Honor Plaza.

School board members will formally authorize the project at their March 21 meeting. Work should be completed by summer, and the plaza will be dedicated on Veterans Day, Dr. Lee said.

Though they grew up within a few miles of each other and became military legends, Cpl. Prom and Warrant Officer Novosel never met.

Cpl. Prom died at age 20 on Feb. 9, 1969, in a firefight near An Hoa, Vietnam. A machine-gun squad leader, he had repeatedly put himself at risk to save other Marines.

"Disregarding his own safety, he advanced to a position from which he could more effectively deliver covering fire while first aid was administered to the wounded men," says his Medal of Honor citation.

Then, even after Cpl. Prom was wounded, he rose to protect Lt. Joe Thompson, of Cadillac, Mich., who had been shot in the head and chest. Lt. Thompson was evacuated and came home alive.

After saving Lt. Thompson, Cpl. Prom was so badly wounded that he could no longer fire his weapon. Even so, he kept fighting.

". . . He continued to advance to within a few yards of the enemy positions. There, standing in full view of the enemy, he accurately directed the fire of his support elements," his citation says.

Cpl. Prom was killed moments later, as the Marines overran the Vietcong.

His sister, Clara Burns, of Reserve, said she appreciates the school district helping to keep his memory alive. "I'm proud that people are still thinking about him," she said.

Warrant Officer Novosel's story was just as dramatic as Cpl. Prom's, and it had a happier ending. He lived through an epic battle near Kien Tuong Province on Oct. 2, 1969, in which he saved 29 wounded soldiers.

In a horrific span of 21/2 hours, he flew his unprotected helicopter into the battle six times to rescue wounded South Vietnamese allies.

On his last trip, Warrant Officer Novosel himself was hit by enemy gunfire. A sniper's bullets tore into his right leg, above and below the knee. Shrapnel cut his right hand.

But he maintained control of his chopper, flying his crew and the last wounded men to safety.

He was 47 at the time, more than twice as old as most men in the battle. Even more remarkable, he had re-enlisted in the Army after being diagnosed with glaucoma, a disease that ended his job as a civilian airline pilot.

Warrant Officer Novosel, who had flown airplanes in World War II and the Korean War, had to finagle his medical records to reinvent himself as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, said his son, Michael Novosel Jr., of Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

The Novosels flew rescue helicopters together in Vietnam. Young Mike saved his father after he was shot down.

The senior Novosel died in April of complications from liver cancer. He was 83. Even while gravely ill, he pulled himself out of bed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington to visit soldiers who had been wounded in Iraq.

"My dad was all about service, about helping others," Michael Novosel Jr. said. "We feel very honored that he is receiving this tribute."

(Milan Simonich can be reached at msimonich@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1956. )

Ellie