The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Sergeant Gary L. Lemonds, United States 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 F (Ranger), 75th Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division. Sergeant Lemonds distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 9 and 10 April 1969, while serving as Team Leader during an ambush patrol maneuver. When an enemy force launched a massive attack on 9 April, Sergeant Lemonds led his men in an assault on the enemy emplacements. He single-handedly charged a bunker and destroyed it with hand grenades. Sighting another fortification, he crawled through the fierce fusillade and killed the enemy with his rifle. After eliminating the hostile entrenchment system, he continued his patrol mission. On 10 April his patrol was attacked by another communist force. From his defensive position in a bomb crater, he called in artillery and air support on the large enemy element. When withdrawing his troops to a nearby landing zone for evacuation, he came under sniper fire from two North Vietnamese soldiers, whom he quickly annihilated with a well-thrown grenade. Intense machine gun fire thwarted the extraction craft’s first landing attempt, but after Sergeant Lemonds directed a gun ship on the enemy location, a successful evacuation was effected. Sergeant Lemonds’ 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.