During a bombing run in February 1944, William Lawley was the pilot of a B-17 that came under attack by 20 enemy fighters.
The aircraft was quickly shot out of formation and left unprotected. Eight crew members were immediately wounded, the co-pilot killed, and the majority of the controls destroyed. On top of that, Lawley himself sustained a serious head wound, and learned one of the engines was on fire.
Blood splattered all over the windshield reduced his visibility nearly to zero.
Steering the plane with only his left arm, Lawley put the B-17 into a steep dive to extinguish the engine fire. During the dive, he was informed that two of his crew were too severely wounded to bail out. With that in mind, Lawley turned the plane back toward England, while giving the crew the option to bail out. With the engine fire spreading, Lawley refused first aid until he dove again to put the engine fire out, and in doing so, passed out from blood loss from his wounds.
He was revived by the bombardier and remained at the controls until he successfully crash-landed the B-17 at a base in England, after another engine fire and running out of fuel.
Lawley accomplished all this with the extra weight of bombs still onboard since the bomb racks were frozen.
Obviously, the Medal of Honor was bestowed to him and his balls.
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