The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Soldier’s Medal to First Lieutenant (Infantry) Ronald M. Goulet (ASN: 0-5334389), United States Army, for heroism at the risk of life not involving conflict with an armed enemy while participating in a night tactical parachute operation over Gatun Drop Zone, Panama Canal Zone on 23 September 1968. During the conduct of the parachute jump, as the jumpers were exiting from the door of the C-47 aircraft, the anchor cable in the aircraft broke loose from its forward terminal, resulting in the failure of one jumper’s parachute to deploy. As this jumper left the aircraft, he became entangled in the broken cable and was suspended outside and beneath the aircraft. Lieutenant Goulet displaying a complete disregard for his own safety, exposed more than half of his body outside the aircraft and, by holding onto the aft door frame with his legs, reached back and under the fuselage to grasp the static line of the unemployed parachute. By the exertion of almost superhuman strength, Lieutenant Goulet pulled the suspended trooper forward toward the door and finally was able to grasp the man’s extended hand. With the assistance of the other men in the aircraft, the towed jumper was gradually hauled back into the aircraft to safety. In his precarious position, Lieutenant Goulet was pulling against the dead weight of a man buffeted by a 125-knot wind, simultaneously being exposed himself to the turbulence of propeller blast and aircraft instability. Should he have fallen out of the aircraft, he faced serious injury or death. Lieutenant Goulet’s actions in preventing fatal injury to the towed jumper and in eliminating a situation extremely hazardous to the aircraft were in the highest tradition of unselfish courage and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.