The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Captain (Field Artillery) Gary Lee Higbee (ASN: 0-5420467), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company D, 101st Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter), 101st Airborne Division, in the Republic of Vietnam on 8 August 1968. Captain Higbee distinguished himself while serving as commander on a combat operation in the Republic of Vietnam. On the morning of 8 August 1968, at approximately 0915 hours, Company A, 2d Battalion, 502d Infantry Regiment, was attempting the extraction of a captured North Vietnamese Army officer, utilizing a utility helicopter accompanied by two UH-1C helicopter gunships. The company, deep inside enemy territory, had been under intense sniper, automatic weapons and mortar fire for three days, necessitating extraction of the prisoner to gain intelligence information on enemy positions. As the utility helicopter came to a hover at tree top level and lowered the hoist for the extraction, the enemy opened up with intense automatic weapons fire. Captain Higbee’s gunship had made several passes in the area to draw attention away from the hovering utility helicopter. Upon spotting the source of the enemy ground fire, he immediately rolled his aircraft into the attack, with his crew providing suppressive fire, while the aircraft maneuvered to align its guns on the enemy. In an effort to draw fire, the aircraft passed at a dangerously low altitude. At an altitude of fifty meters above the trees, the aircraft received a direct hit from a rocket-propelled grenade round causing the aircraft to explode in mid-air, and killing all aboard. Captain Higbee’s decision to sacrifice safety for the welfare of the unarmed helicopter and protection of the ground troops, even at the expense of his own life, was in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.