Retired Chief Master Sgt. Dennis M. Richardson will receive the Air Force Cross in a ceremony Saturday at the 106th Rescue Wing Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach, New York, becoming only the 21st airman to receive the medal since it was created nearly a alf-century ago.

It is the military’s second-highest combat decoration, behind only the Medal of Honor, Air Force officials said.

“I’m a little embarrassed about it,” Richardson said. “I really don’t think I deserve it.”

An Air Force board determined in December 2007 that a mistake had been made back in 1968, when Richardson should have received the honor, but it would not cite specifics.

Richardson said he has never been told why he didn’t receive the honor decades ago. “I’m not annoyed. I suppose everything happens for a reason.”

A flight engineer aboard a rescue helicopter on March 14, 1968, Richardson was part of a team trying to rescue two Air Force pilots who had been shot down and were surrounded by enemy troops along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Under heavy fire, and hovering 10 feet (3 meters) above the ground, an already wounded Richardson leaned outside the helicopter door, holding a “jungle penetrator” in one hand and his M-60 machine gun in the other.

He provided enough cover for the helicopter pilot to maneuver out of the danger zone.

A jungle penetrator is a device meant to be lowered through dense canopy for a downed airman to be lifted to an aircraft hovering above.

“The selfless actions of Sgt. Richardson undoubtedly saved his helicopter and crew from certain disaster,” says a citation awarding the Air Force Cross.

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