Congressional Medal of Honor

Vincennes Sun Commercial: June 16, 1931

Lieutenant Schilt, who is visiting Olney, flies over Lawrenceville Saturday afternoon.  

Lieutenant Frank Schilt, who is spending a short furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Schilt was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Eshelman in Lawrenceville Saturday. During the afternoon he flew the army plane, a Curtis Hawk, in which he came to Olney, over Lawrenceville performing some sensational flying stunts.  He then landed at O'Neill Field east of Lawrenceville and placed the plane in the hangar where it was on display all day to visitors at the field.

The plane is the first of its kind seen at the O'Neill field and it attracted considerable interest. Lieutenant Schilt is one of the outstanding heroes of the Nicaragua campaign and recently was decorated with the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery by President Coolidge.

 The act of heroism for which he received the medal was for rescuing, under heavy gunfire and the most difficult conceivable conditions, ten wounded Marines from a gulch between two mountains. To land, it was necessary to tear down some buildings and level off sufficient area for the plane to descend. The performance was declared one of the most difficult in the history of aviation, and its accomplishment by Lieutenant Schilt is one of the outstanding features of heroism in American aviation.