Garry Gordon Cooper, DFC (born 21 January 1938) is a retired airline captain and a former fighter pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) who attained the rank of flight lieutenant.

At the age of nineteen, Cooper gained his commercial pilot licence and obtained employment with the Flying Doctor Service in Central Australia.

He subsequently gained employment with Gibbes Sepik Airways in New Guinea where he flew the Norseman UC-64A, Junkers Ju 52, de Havilland DH84 and various Cessna aircraft.

After flying in New Guinea for three years, Cooper was selected to start pilot training with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

[5][6] After graduation and gaining his wings, Cooper was first posted to the School of Air Navigation flying the Dakota C-47, Canberra, Vampire and Winjeel aircraft.

During one mission, operating out of RAAF Butterworth, Malaysia on 10 April 1964, Cooper experienced an engine fire indication in his single-engine Sabre.

On 30 May 1966, approximately one minute after takeoff from RAAF Base Williamtown, Cooper experienced a total engine failure in his Mirage whilst climbing through only 1,500 feet (460 m) at 380 knots.

Being a single-engine fighter jet, Cooper flew the Mirage like a glider and landed on an abandoned war-time airstrip at Tomago (Hexam), New South Wales, without damaging the aircraft.

[13] Subsequent investigations revealed that the Mirage had ingested a large bird that had lodged against the face of the compressor blocking airflow into the engine.

Flemming provided Cooper with a Flying Log Book endorsement, approved by the Air Officer Commanding Operational Command, which read: "Flight Lieutenant Garry COOPER displayed a very high degree of professionalism throughout a difficult and dangerous situation and the manner in which he followed correct drills and procedures for the forced landing was exemplary.

That he could assess and take advantage of so critical a situation in the time available and then bring the heavily loaded aircraft to a stop in such a short distance reflects credit on himself, his training and the RAAF."

Due to increased security risks in 1968, the 19TASS detachment relocated to Đồng Tâm Base Camp, 67 km southwest of Saigon on the Mekong River.

After his FAC training, Cooper was required to perform his missions during the height of the Vietnam War which saw some of the most intense operational periods of combat, notably the May Offensive or Mini-Tet of 1968.

Whilst awarded in 1981, Cooper had a special contemporary commemoration ceremony of this achievement at the Evans Head Returned and Services League (RSL) in New South Wales, Australia on 4 December 2021.

On that date, after being shot down in an OH-23 observation helicopter, Flight Lieutenant Cooper rescued a badly wounded Brigade Commander from the wreckage under extremely heavy automatic weapons fire.

Although wounded himself, but with complete disregard of his own safety, he carried the Colonel to a protected area where he fought off several attempts to over-run them killing ten enemy soldiers at close range.

In 1918 during WW1, two French Soldiers fighting alongside the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front were both awarded two Distinguished Service Crosses; Major Charles M. Chanoine and Lieutenant Leon T. Marchand.

[39][40][41] After returning from Vietnam,[42] Cooper left the RAAF and took up employment as a co-pilot with Cathay Pacific Airways in Hong Kong, flying Convair 880 aircraft.

He received a notable commendation from King Hussein of Jordan for preventing a major airline accident, explained below in the 'Aviation Close Calls' section.

As the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) he had acquired from his Vietnam service became advanced, Cooper took retirement after accumulating over 25,000 hours of flying.

On the afternoon of 19 January 1963, Pilot Officer Cooper was assigned to take two glaciologists and a doctor on a low level reconnaissance mission to survey the Vanderford Glacier in Antarctica.

The Air Force safety team commented how this small piece of foreign loose wire could have resulted in an unnecessary aircraft ejection, had Cooper been flying further out at sea.

Cooper identified an engine compressor stall and zoomed the aircraft to approximately 4,300ft and 240 knots, at which time he transmitted a "Mayday" call over the radio.

Flemming circled overhead Tomago and coordinated the emergency Search and Rescue helicopter which arrived only 5 minutes after Cooper landed.

Today, the Tomago airstrip is no longer in existence, and only a small section remains here 32°49'01.6"S 151°42'57.7"E.[50][51][52] On 13 July 1967, Flight Lieutenant Cooper was conducting an engineering Air Test on a Mirage IIIO whilst operating from RAAF Base Darwin with 76 Squadron.

Whilst at 25,000ft and positioned 10 nautical miles north of Darwin, the low-pressure fuel cock switch malfunctioned, causing the engine to flameout.

Seeing the dire situation of the ground forces below, in between waves of fighter jets arriving and departing, Cooper was observed flying at low level whilst simultaneously firing his personal AR-15 automatic weapon into the enemy positions through the small window of his aircraft.

They witnessed streams of green tracer rounds passing by his O-1 Bird Dog, with some soldiers observing pieces of his aircraft being shot off and falling to the ground.

On 18 August 1968 Cooper was scheduled to perform an Air Liaison Officer duty for the US Army's 2nd Brigade Commander of the 9th Infantry Division, Colonel Robert E. Archer.

During an intense ground firefight that afternoon, the C&C helicopter was operating at low level above the combat area when it was struck by an accurate burst of small arms fire.