In
1950, Reusser led an attack on a North Korean factory. Despite heavy
anti-aircraft fire, he dipped down to window level of the facility and
saw that it was being used to repair enemy tanks, according to the
citation for his second Navy Cross.

He flew to his
aircraft carrier to re-arm with rockets and napalm and then returned to
destroy the facility, again braving the anti-aircraft fire.

Reusser’s
plane had been damaged and his heavy ordnance was gone, but before
returning from the mission, he flew low and pumped his machine guns
into a North Korean oil tanker, the citation said.

The tanker exploded, knocking his plane momentarily out of con...

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In
1950, Reusser led an attack on a North Korean factory. Despite heavy
anti-aircraft fire, he dipped down to window level of the facility and
saw that it was being used to repair enemy tanks, according to the
citation for his second Navy Cross.

He flew to his
aircraft carrier to re-arm with rockets and napalm and then returned to
destroy the facility, again braving the anti-aircraft fire.

Reusser’s
plane had been damaged and his heavy ordnance was gone, but before
returning from the mission, he flew low and pumped his machine guns
into a North Korean oil tanker, the citation said.

The tanker exploded, knocking his plane momentarily out of control, but he managed to right it and return to the carrier.

In Vietnam, Reusser flew helicopters and was leading a rescue mission when his Huey was shot down. He was badly wounded and needed skin grafts over 35 percent of his burned body, the AP reported.

Reusser
lived in the Portland suburb of Milwaukie. He was born Jan. 27, 1920,
the son of a minister, and raced motorcycles to help pay for college
and earn a pilot’s license before WWII.

After retiring from
the Marine Corps, he worked for Lockheed Aircraft and the Piasecki
Helicopter Corp. and was active in veterans groups.