Lt. Col. Donald Downing was piloting an F-4C Phantom II aircraft during a night mission when his plane disappeared in a fireball.
Known as “Lefty,” Nancy Leftenant-Colon was one of six siblings who served in the military, including a brother who was a famed Tuskegee Airmen pilot.
This marks the fifth time a Navy vessel has donned the Intrepid name, and the first since 1974, when the carrier Intrepid was decommissioned.
Biden will bestow the medal posthumously to six men and one living recipient at a White House ceremony.
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