83-year-old WWII Marine vet awarded DFC
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday May 7, 2007 22:04:06 EDT

SAN DIEGO — An 83-year-old former Marine was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service in more than 50 combat missions flown in the South Pacific during World War II.

Robert B. O’Reilly of El Cajon was also awarded an Air Medal with seven gold stars during a ceremony Sunday at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

The Distinguished Flying Cross, the nation’s oldest military aviation award, is given to pilots and crew members who perform voluntary acts of heroism or extraordinary achievement during flight missions.

O’Reilly was a turret gunner on TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. He was responsible for firing machine guns at enemy planes while the Avenger dropped torpedoes aimed at Japanese submarines and warships.

His missions included flights from Iwo Jima, where his plane sometimes faced enemy fire as it took off.

He said he resisted applying for the medals owed to him, even as thousands of other aging veterans flooded the armed service branches with similar requests.

In the years following his discharge in 1945, O’Reilly raised a family with his wife, Deleurs, and pursued a career as a police officer in his hometown of Chicago.

In 1969, O’Reilly’s 19-year-old son, Tim, was killed by rocket fire only five weeks after being deployed to Vietnam as a Marine.

“I just didn’t feel right because of Tim,” O’Reilly said. “He deserved the medals.”

His children pushed him to apply for the medals anyway.

“We told him it would be good for his grandchildren,” O’Reilly’s son, Tom, said at the service.

Ellie