The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Hospitalman John V. Kickham, United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Corpsman with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR (HMM-364), Marine Aircraft Group SIXTEEN (MAG-16), FIRST Marine Aircraft Wing in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. During the early morning hours of 5 February 1971, Hospitalman Kickham launched aboard a CH-46 transport helicopter assigned to medically evacuate a Marine who had been seriously wounded by fragments from an enemy antipersonnel mine. As the aircraft was lifting off after embarking the casualty, it came under intense hostile fire, some rounds of which penetrated the cabin and ruptured the hydraulic fluid line, spilling a heavy flow of volatile liquid over Hospitalman Kickham and soaking his clothing. Disregarding the obvious personal danger, he continued treating his patient as the pilot prepared to execute an emergency landing at an abandoned French fort nearby. The severe loss of hydraulic fluid prevented the pilot from maintaining absolute control of the transport and it crash landed in a moat surrounding the fort and rolled over with the windows on the right side beneath the surface of the water in the moat. While water rushed in through the back ramp, filling the cabin to knee depth, Hospitalman Kickham attempted to lift the wounded man to an escape hatch and the waiting hands of the crewmen who had exited he crashed aircraft. At this point, the helicopter burst into flames which detonated ammunition and ignited his fluid-soaked clothing, causing him to sustain severe burns. Although suffering intense pain, Hospitalman Kickham resolutely attempted to carry his companion away from the fire and to the forward cabin where there was another escape hatch but, in doing so, he fell through one of the submerged windows and became almost hopelessly entangled in concertina wire lining the moat. After a heroic struggle, he freed himself and swam to the other side of the helicopter in the hope of reentering the cabin and rescuing the patient who had slipped from his arms during his fall into the water. Becoming entangled in wire a second time, he again struggled desperately to free himself and, upon reaching the surface of the water, realized that the wire surrounded the transport, which made any further rescue attempt impossible and forced him to abandon his selfless mission. By his indomitable courage, fearless determination, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of grave personal danger, Hospitalman Kickham inspired all who observed him and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.