The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Specialist Fourth Class Larry T. Reed (ASN: US-54442244), United States Army, for gallantry in action involving close combat against an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Specialist Fourth Class Reed distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 27 October 1968 while serving as a Rifleman with Company B, 3d Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, on a reconnaissance in force mission in Kien Hoa Province. After his unit came under a barrage of enemy rocket and machine gun fire while conducting a sweep of an area known to contain a Viet Cong base camp, several casualties were sustained and Specialist Reed’s platoon became pinned down in an open rice paddy. Sighting an enemy bunker from which heavy fire was emanating, Specialist Reed began an assault on the hostile position, running forward through the fusillade to get within grenade range of the emplacement. Although he was once forced to take cover behind a rice paddy dike, he again exposed himself to direct fire from the emplacement and continued his assault. Reaching the bunker, Specialist Reed threw grenades into the interior, destroying the emplacement and disrupting the enemy’s defensive perimeter. Specialist Fourth Class Reed’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty in close combat with an armed hostile force are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 9th Infantry Division, and the United States Army.