The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant Ronald A. Weigand, United States Marine Corps, for heroism while participating in aerial flight while serving as a Pilot with Marine Light Helicopter Squadron THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN (HML-367), Marine Aircraft Group Sixteen, FIRST Marine Aircraft Wing, in connection with military operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On the afternoon of 29 September 1970, First Lieutenant Weigand launched from the Marble Mountain Air Facility as Wingman in a flight of two AH-1G Cobra helicopters assigned the mission of supporting the emergency extraction of a Marine reconnaissance team which was heavily engaged in combat with a large hostile force in a mountainous area west of DaNang. Arriving over the designated area, he found that the beleaguered patrol was located on the finger of a seven hundred and fifty foot high ridge and was pinned down by intense enemy automatic weapons and small arms fire from positions higher on the ridge as well as from positions near an enemy base camp below the Marines’ perimeter. Undaunted by adverse weather conditions which created a ceiling of approximately two hundred and fifty feet and the heavy volume of hostile fire directed at his gunship, First Lieutenant Weigand boldly maneuvered his Cobra on repeated rocket and strafing runs which silenced some of the enemy firing positions and suppressed the fire from others. With exceptional skill, he then laid down a smoke screen and strafed hostile positions while escorting a transport helicopter into the hazardous area. With complete disregard for his own safety, he continued to execute repeated strafing runs which suppressed the enemy fire sufficiently to enable all of the Marines to embark and the transport to safely lift out of the dangerous area. After expending the remainder of his rockets upon the hostile positions, he escorted the extraction aircraft to the reconnaissance team’s combat base. First Lieutenant Weigand’s courage, superior airmanship, and unwavering devotion to duty at great personal risk were instrumental in accomplishing the hazardous mission and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.