Second Lieutenant Robert E. Femoyer was a Huntington-born Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who died November 2, 1944, of wounds suffered in air combat over Germany. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. After serving in several locations, he was assigned to the 711th Bomber Squadron of the 447th Bomber Group 8th Air Force in England.
Second Lieutenant Femoyer was navigator of a B-17 bomber flying his seventh combat mission over Germany when his aircraft was struck by anti-aircraft fire over Merseburg, Germany, on November 2, 1944. He was gravely wounded and the plane was severely damaged. Despite great pain and extreme loss of blood, he refused morphine, determined to retain clear faculties in order to direct his lone plane and comrades out of danger. Propped up in order to sec charts and instruments, he navigated for 2 1/2 hours, avoiding enemy flak and returning his crew to safety. He died of his wounds shortly after being removed from his plane.
For this act and his devotion to duty, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Lieutenant Femoyer is one of only two navigators and the only West Virginia airman to win the Medal of Honor. Duke Field's (USAFR) Femoyer Operations Building and Femoyer Hall at Virginia Tech University were named in his honor.
