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) David S. Keith (ASN: 0-5334569), 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 cable in the aircraft broke loose from its forward terminal, resulting in the failure of one of the jumpers parachute to deploy. As this jumper left the aircraft, he became entangled in the broken cable and was suspended outside and underneath the aircraft. Lieutenant Keith, displaying a complete disregard for his own safety, knelt on the very edge of the aircraft door and assisted by the static line officer, was able to drag the suspended jumper back into the aircraft to safety. Aside from the obvious dangers inherent in the position and actions, Lieutenant Keith took in the door of the aircraft; this situation was made extremely precarious by the fact that his parachute was attached to the broken anchor cable, rendering it ineffective. Should he have fallen out of the aircraft his situation would have been the same or worse than that of the man he was trying to save. Lieutenant Keith’s actions in preventing fatal injury to the towed jumper and in eliminating a situation extremely hazardous to the aircraft were clearly beyond those expected from his duty position. His heroism was inspirational to the remaining men in the aircraft and does great credit to himself and to the United States Army.