The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain Richard Keith Young (MCSN: 0-78069), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as the Commanding Officer of Company I, Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, THIRD Marine Division, in connection with military operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 4 September 1967, during Operation KINGFISHER west of Con Thien, Captain Young was conducting a routine patrol when the lead elements of his company suddenly came under heavy automatic weaponsfire from a well entrenched North Vietnamese Army force estimated to be a reinforced company. In the initial burst of fire, one Marine was seriously wounded. Reacting immediately, Captain Young established a hasty defensive perimeter and began delivering a heavy volume of fire on the hostile positions. Realizing that the critically wounded man required immediate helicopter evacuation, he began to enlarge the perimeter to provide a landing zone. The platoon engaged in this task came under intense enemy fire and suffered several casualties, some of whom were unable to return to the perimeter. Observing one of the seriously wounded Marines in the open and exposed to continuing North Vietnamese fire, Captain Young completely disregarded his own safety as he crawled seventy-five meters under heavy enemy fire to the fallen man and, with the aid of another Marine, moved him back to the perimeter and began first aid treatment. When another company was deployed to reinforce his beleaguered unit, Captain Young displayed exceptional professional skill in providing a detailed description of both friendly and enemy positions and in calling in air strikes and artillery fire close to the front of each company. As the relief company launched an attack moving parallel to Company I, it began to receive fire from a pocket of North Vietnamese soldiers between the two units. Exhibiting a superior knowledge of tactics and displaying outstanding leadership, Captain Young moved from his company’s perimeter to the right flank of the relief company to coordinate and direct a tank and infantry attack against the hostile resistance, successfully overrunning and destroying the North Vietnamese position. After the ground attack had cleared the initial objective, he returned to his company and was immediately subjected to enemy artillery fire as he led his unit in pursuit of the hostile force. Although wounded by artillery fragments during the attack, he disregarded his injuries and personally supervised the evacuation of casualties aboard tanks while under heavy fire. Only after ensuring that his men had safely returned to their night defensive position did he reveal that he had been wounded and accept treatment. Due largely to his dauntless courage and bold initiative, he was undoubtedly instrumental in preventing greater casualties to his company while accounting for thirty-seven North Vietnamese confirmed killed and ten probable killed. By his inspiring leadership, outstanding professional skill and selfless devotion to duty at great personal risk, Captain Young contributed materially to the successful accomplishment of his unit’s mission and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.