Christian Frank Schilt was born March 19, 1895, in Richland County, Illinois, and after attending Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana, he enlisted in the Marine Corps June 23, 1917.

[1] As an enlisted man he served at Ponta Delgada, in the Azores, with the 1st Marine Aeronautical Company, a seaplane squadron assigned to anti-submarine patrol.

While attached to that post, he won second place in the Schneider International Seaplane Race at Norfolk, in November 1926, flying a special Curtiss racer at a speed of 231.3 mph (372.2 km/h) over seven laps of a triangular 50 km course.

Then a lieutenant, he voluntarily risked his life to make ten flights into the besieged town, evacuating 18 casualties and carrying in a replacement commander and badly needed medical supplies.

To make a landing strip on the village's rough, rolling, main street, the Marines on the ground had to burn and level part of the town, and since his O2U Corsair biplane had no brakes they had to stop it by dragging from its wings as soon as it touched down.

Hostile fire on landings and take-offs, plus low-hanging clouds, mountains and tricky air currents, added to the difficulty of the flights, which the citation describes as feats of "almost superhuman skill combined with personal courage of the highest order."

He returned to the United States in August 1929, and after commanding Fighter Squadron 5-N at Quantico, was named Chief Test Pilot and Flight and Aerological Officer at the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia.

He returned to the United States in September 1943, and commanded Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, until March of the following year.

He left El Toro in July 1955, and assumed his duties at Headquarters Marine Corps as Director of Aviation on August 1, 1955, as a lieutenant general.

1st Lt Schilt bravely undertook this dangerous and important task and, by taking off a total of 10 times in the rough, rolling street of a partially burning village, under hostile infantry fire on each occasion, succeeded in accomplishing his mission, thereby actually saving 3 lives and bringing supplies and aid to others in desperate need.

The Wing contributed to the destruction of ammunition stockpiles, fuel lubrications and other combat material, and proved an efficient deterrent to the build-up of the enemy's war machine.

The outstanding combat efficiency of the First Marine Air Wing in sustained operations against the enemy in Korea was achieved through the able and mature guidance of General Schilt.