To prove to the men of his 94th Aero Squadron that he was one of them, Lieutenant Eddie Rickenbacker took to the air alone on 25 September, 1918, over Billy, France. Spotting seven enemy planes – five Fokker D.VIIs protecting two Halberstadt CL.IIs – Rickenbacker, disregarding the odds, attacked without hesitation and fired on the enemy formation. Diving through the German planes, he downed one of the Fokkers and one of the Halberstadts and returned home. For this action he was awarded his eighth (a record) Distinguished Service Cross, and in 1931 President Herbert Hoover awarded him the Medal of Honor for this action.