Pilot's Escape in Attack Shows Risks in Mideast

U.S. Air Force pilots Lt. Col. William "Skate" Parks and Maj. Michael "Danger" Blea were returning from a strike mission in Yemen last year, when Houthi militants lit up their F-16s with targeting radar.

- By MICHAEL R. GORDON AND ANDREW DOWELL

U.S. Air Force pilot Lt. Col. William Parks was awarded the Silver Star Medal.

For 15 minutes, the pilots struggled to evade a halfdozen surface-to-air missiles.