Compiled and Edited By C. Douglas Sterner

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  HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 308 (January 28, 1969)
  

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to James Douglas Birchim, Captain (Chemical Corps), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Command and Control Central, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces Group. Captain (then First Lieutenant) Birchim distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 15 November 1968, while serving as the team leader of a Special Forces long-range reconnaissance team operating deep within enemy-controlled territory with the mission of locating a missing team. After three days of fruitless search, Captain Birchim's team was ambushed by an enemy force. The team executed immediate actions to break contact. During the withdrawal, which scattered the team, Captain Birchim's ankle was broken by an exploding enemy grenade. In spite of his wounds, he successfully reassembled the team, led them out of the ambush area, and directed air strikes against the enemy. As the team moved toward an extraction zone, they were attacked twice by enemy forces. On both occasions, Captain Birchim's aggressive and courageous leadership enabled the team to break contact and continue toward the extraction site. During the last exchange, Captain Birchim was again wounded by an enemy grenade. At the extraction site, one of the helicopter's extraction ropes was rendered useless when it became tangled in the trees. After insuring that all other members of the team were secured in the remaining harnesses, Captain Birchim seized one of the extraction ropes in an attempt to ride "double" out of the jungle to safety. Weak from his wounds and exhausted by his efforts, Captain Birchim fell from the extraction rope during a storm on the return trip. Captain Birchim's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty, at the cost of his life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

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  Department of the Army, General Orders No. 9 (January 27, 1972)
  

Birmingham, John

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to John Birmingham, First Lieutenant (Corps of Engineers), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with 195th Aviation Company (Airmobile Light), 222d Aviation Battalion, 12th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade. First Lieutenant Birmingham distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 2 March 1969 as fire team leader of two helicopter gun ships supporting an eleven-man Special Forces reconnaissance team which was surrounded by an estimated two companies of North Vietnamese near Dau Tieng. Arriving over the battle site, where fierce antiaircraft fire had already badly damaged both ships of another fire team, Lieutenant Birmingham quickly located and destroyed a hostile machine gun emplacement with well-placed rockets. As he continued to make low level firing passes, his ship was riddled by enemy bullets, seriously wounding his pilot in the leg. Lieutenant Birmingham made one more suppressive run against the North Vietnamese in support of the ground forces and then was forced to autorotate his failing aircraft into an abandoned fire support base. Fifty meters from the ground the helicopter came under intense fire from positions around the base, wounding the pilot once again. Although he was himself hit in the head by shrapnel, Lieutenant Birmingham executed a perfect landing and established a defensive perimeter. Ignoring his own injury, he administered first aid to his pilot and engaged the communists with his rifle. When a rescue ship attempted to land, he exposed himself to the hostile fusillade to wave it away from the hotly contested area. After a second helicopter landed despite his warnings, he waited until his entire crew was aboard before entering the ship, which then sped to safety. First Lieutenant Birmingham's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

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  HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 1906 (May 27, 1969)
  

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Norman M. Bissell, Major (Infantry), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 7th Squadron, 1st Air Cavalry, 164th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade. Major Bissell distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 28 December 1968 as commander of an Iroquois helicopter southwest of Can Tho. Informed a Vietnamese unit was pinned down during heavy action and the American advisor had been seriously wounded, Major Bissell coordinated with supporting gun ships and attempted to rescue the man from a rice paddy. He touched down, but was unable to remain because of intense automatic weapons fire which scored three hits on his craft. After instructing the armed helicopters to again strike the communists' strongholds, he made a second landing and waited until the advisor was located in the tall grass. Leaving the ship to help the man aboard, the door gunner was hit in the face by automatic weapons fire. Major Bissell was wounded in the neck as bullets riddled his aircraft, forcing him to depart without the gunner and advisor. Making an evasive, spiraling approach, he then re-entered the rice paddy. Although enemy fire mortally wounded the door gunner, severed two engine oil lines and damaged the tail rotor drive shaft, Major Bissell successfully loaded the advisor aboard and flew the crippled helicopter to a hospital. Major Bissell's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

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  HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 1899 (May 27, 1969)
  

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to John D. Blair, IV, Captain (Infantry), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces. Captain Blair was Serving as Commanding Officer of Camp A Shau, Republic of Vietnam when, on 9 March 1966, it came under a severe attack by a large Viet Cong force. Captain Blair, responding to the attack, immediately began directing and organizing the defenses of the camp. Captain Blair repeatedly exposed himself to the intense fire in order to direct the evacuation of a seriously wounded American. When the Viet Cong launched their main attack with two reinforced battalions, Captain Blair directed the men until they were caught in a crossfire and forced to withdraw to another position within the camp. Reorganizing the men, Captain Blair led them in three counterattacks across the open terrain of the camp but was forced to order his small force to withdraw again. After fighting for thirty-eight hours, Captain Blair was ordered to evacuate the camp. He fought a delaying action while leading the troops to a landing zone to be evacuated. Captain Blair remained with those Americans not seriously wounded to cover the withdrawal of the remaining defenders. This action caused the Americans not to be picked up by the rescue team and they were forced to evade the Viet Cong for several days in the dense jungle until rescued by a helicopter. Captain Blair's extraordinary heroism and gallantry in action are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the military service.

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  HQ US Army, Pacific, General Orders No. 206 (August 26, 1966)
  

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to William Blakely, Private First Class, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company D, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry, 2d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile). Private First Class Blakely distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 14 February 1968 during a search and clear operation in the Hai Lang Area of Quang Tri Province. He was acting as point man for his platoon as it swept through a village. He discovered a line of bunkers manned by North Vietnamese Army Regulars, and the platoon was immediately hit with hostile automatic weapons fire and command detonated mines. Although wounded by the initial barrage, Private Blakely began hurling hand grenades onto the enemy positions, killing two North Vietnamese soldiers. He then sought cover behind a haystack to his platoon's front, and from there he saw his squad leader lying wounded and unconscious fifteen meters from the enemy bunkers. With complete disregard for his safety, Private Blakely crawled forward under intense fire to rescue the man and brought him back to the shelter of the haystack. Ignoring the pain of his injuries, he then continued to engage the enemy with rifle fire and hand grenades. While in an act of throwing a grenade, he was seriously wounded by an exploding enemy rocket round. He clutched the activated grenade and fell forward on it, saving the lives of his squad leader and a medic, and preventing injuries to other members of his squad who were close by. Private First Class Blakely's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

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  HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 4316 (November 11, 1968)
  

Blanford, Raymond V.

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Raymond V. Blanford, Captain (Infantry), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company A, 2d Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Captain Blanford distinguished himself on 11 June 1966 while serving a Commanding Officer during a company search and destroy operations near Loc Ninh, Republic of Vietnam. During the late morning hours, two of Captain Blanford's platoons took up blocking positions several hundred meters north of the battalion base camp while Captain Blanford, his third platoon, and a platoon of Civilian Irregular Defense Group Forces were heli-lifted to a landing zone north of the blocking position to begin sweeping operations to the south. Immediately after assuming their position, the blocking forces made contact with a large Viet Cong force. After being informed of the situation, Captain Blanford moved his forces south to complete the north extension of a horseshoe which circled the hostile force at the base of a hill. At this time, Captain Blanford, with complete disregard for his safety, repeatedly exposed himself to intense hostile fire to effectively direct friendly artillery fire on the positions of the insurgents. He then dauntlessly led his forces in an assault on the hostile emplacements. During the course of action, the Viet Cong increased their fire. When intense hostile fire met the advancing American and Vietnamese troops, Captain Blanford halted the assault and called in additional artillery fire. Coordinating the fire with extraordinary precision, he initiated a second assault. As he advanced up the hill in the wake of exploding mortar rounds, Captain Blanford was seriously wounded in the right eye. Despite intense pain, he continued to direct his men. He refused medical evacuation until reinforcements arrived to assist in the assault and the (Remainder of citation missing).

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  HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 6969 (December 20, 1966)
  

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Boots C. Blanks, Captain (Infantry), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company C, 3d Battalion, 1st Infantry, Americal Division. Captain Blanks distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 12 May 1969 while commanding an infantry unit conducting a search and destroy operations. A friendly unit had engaged a well-fortified North Vietnamese force of battalion strength in the hills near the village of Xuan Thanh. While moving in to reinforce their outnumbered sister company, Captain Blanks' troops came under heavy sniper fire. Quickly assessing the enemy's locations, he led his men to flanking positions in the hilly terrain from which they trapped the North Vietnamese in a deadly crossfire. When his own elements were pinned down by strafing machine gun fire, he assaulted the hostile emplacement and eliminated it with bursts of rifle fire and well-placed grenades. The company then pushed deeper into the enemy's foothill fortifications and were again immobilized by intense suppressive fire. Captain Blanks charged the hostile bunker through dense waves of automatic weapons fire. Though severely wounded by the enemy's fire, he rushed onward to the rear where he refused evacuation until he had seen all his wounded men extracted from the battlefield. Captain Blanks' extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

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  HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 3417 (September 7, 1969)
  

The is presented to Juan Blaz, Sergeant Major, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company A, 2d Battalion, 505th Infantry, 3d Brigade, 82d Airborne Division. Sergeant Major (then Staff Sergeant) Blaz) distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 18 January 1969, when his unit encountered an enemy unit armed with AK-47 rifles, light and heavy machine guns, hand grenades and RPG-7 rocket launchers. Sergeant Major Blaz took command during a fierce firefight in which his platoon leader was injured, rushing to drag wounded soldiers to safety and leading an assault to wipe out an enemy bunker. In the process, shrapnel pierced his right shoulder. Minutes later, his platoon was pinned down by heavy machine-gun fire, and Sergeant Major Blaz singly charged across a ravine to silence the enemy weapon. He suffered another wound to his right shoulder, this time from an AK-47. But rather than accept medical treatment, Sergeant Major Blaz again charged through the enemy's positions. After U.S. Cobra gunships fired rockets that missed their targets, he radioed the pilots and told them that he'd cross the ravine and mark the enemy positions with smoke grenades. He performed two more solo charges to help the pilots set up aerial supporting fire before allowing himself to be medevaced out. Sergeant Major Blaz's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

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  Department of the Army, Permanent Orders No. 87-8 (June 8 1994)
  

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to William H. Bledsoe, Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Battalion, 196th Infantry Brigade (Light), Americal Division. Specialist Four Bledsoe distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 12 May 1968 as a medic at Kham Duc Special Forces camp. He was stationed at an observation post when a large North Vietnamese force directed a series of mortar, rocket and ground attacks against it. When the post could no longer be defended, his team was ordered back to the base camp. While passing through a small village near the compound's perimeter, Specialist Bledsoe's element came under heavy mortar and small arms fire to aid his injured comrade. Afterwards, as the small band crossed into the perimeter, and enemy mortar round exploded in one of the camp's gun pits, and Specialist Bledsoe ran into the position and administer medical aid to the wounded. While he was treating the casualties, the emplacement was hit by another mortar round which severely wounded him and set fire to the position. Despite his wounds and the flames, he continued to treat the other casualties and move them to safety. He then prepared his patients for evacuation. As the ambulance helicopters arrived, one of them was shot down by the heavy enemy fire. Despite efforts to restrain him, Specialist Bledsoe ran over three hundred meters through a hail of mortar shrapnel to reach the downed aircraft. After freeing a trapped crew member, he carried the man through continuing intense fire to a position of cover. Specialist Four Bledsoe's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

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  HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 4325 (November 11, 1968)
  

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Ralph J. Bleskan, Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Platoon Sergeant Bleskan was acting as platoon leader, Company B, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. On 7 February 1966 he was assigned the mission of advancing on the insurgent lines to assault a numerically superior hostile force that had a friendly rifle company pinned down for some four hours. The intense automatic weapons and machine gun fire killed several of his men, wounded others, and made any attempt to move up further almost impossible. Dauntlessly, Sergeant Bleskan stood up in the face of the intense fire and led his men forward., overrunning the first Viet Cong line of defense. During the rush, Sergeant Bleskan received a serious wound in the neck which he disregarded and continued to lead his men against the insurgent's second defensive perimeter. Sergeant Bleskan noted his right element had been pinned down by fire from a nearby house. Responding quickly, he destroyed it with a round from a light anti-tank weapon. Having crushed the Viet Cong's outer defenses, Sergeant Bleskan, with complete disregard for his safety, led his men across a machine-gun-raked rice paddy. Then crawling unarmed, he led four men into a ditch only ten meters from the Viet Cong and began launching grenades into their positions. He received another wound in the leg. Despite the pain from both wounds, he managed to lead one more assault on the insurgents, killing the remaining defenders in savage close-in combat. Sergeant Bleskan's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

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  HQ US Army, Pacific, General Orders No. 221 (September 12, 1966)
  

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Stanley A. Blunt, Captain (Infantry), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company D, 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry, 1st Infantry Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized). Captain Blunt distinguished himself while leading his company during a search and clear operation through enemy controlled territory several kilometers south of the Demilitarized Zone in the northern area of I Corps Tactical Zone. On 11 November, his company was participating in a coordinated battalion attack on elements of the 27th North Vietnamese Army Regiment defending heavily fortified bunker positions. When his company's advance was halted by intense' Suppressive fire, Captain Blunt single handedly charged a heavily fortified machine gun emplacement and completely destroyed the position. In this same assault, he killed four other enemy soldiers at close range by hurling hand grenades into their positions. In the early morning hours of 13 November, in a continuation of the same operation, Captain Blunt infiltrated a seven-man patrol through some twelve hundred meters of closely defended enemy terrain under cover of darkness in order to reinforce and extract besieged friendly elements. He conducted this perilous mission without incident and undoubtedly saved the lives of the twenty-two trapped American soldiers. Captain Blunt's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

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  HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 913 (April 20, 1970)
  

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Billy E. Boedecker, Private First Class, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company A, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade (Separate). Private First Class Boedecker distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions in close combat on 18 November 1967 as acting assistant machine gunner of an airborne infantry company conducting search and destroy operations on Hill 882 near Dak To. His unit was moving toward the crest of the hill when it was subjected to savage automatic weapons, rocket and small arms fire from an estimated two companies of North Vietnamese Army soldiers. Private Boedecker unhesitatingly raced to the point of heaviest contact, set up his machine gun and placed devastating fire on the hostile force, killing six of the enemy. He was wounded by small arms fire and taken to the center of the perimeter. After receiving first aid, he quickly moved back to his machine gun, shouting words of encouragement to his fellow soldiers as he ran toward the forward position.. During the ensuing action, Private Boedecker was struck six more times by enemy bullets. He was evacuated to the rear, treated and told to remain with the other seriously wounded men. Although weak from loss of blood, he got to his feet and courageously returned once more to his exposed position, repelling furious North Vietnamese assaults with a heavy volume of fire. While fighting fiercely against the advancing hostile force, Private Boedecker was wounded yet again by an enemy rocket and evacuated from the battlefield to a hospital. Private First Class Boedecker's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

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  HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 1419 (March 29, 1968)