The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 8, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant Edward Charles Dierling (ASN: RA-12748920), United States Army, for gallantry in action while engaged in military operations involving armed conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam while assigned to the 135th Military Intelligence Group. Sergeant Dierling distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions from 30 January to 23 February 1968, during the communist Tet Offensive against the city of Hue. North Vietnamese Army forced infiltrated the city and directed a series of coordinated attacks against military housing and installations. Enemy elements surrounded the area he and his team occupied, and Sergeant Dierling immediately helped destroy vital intelligence documents in the team’s possession. After moving to a more tenable position in a nearby house, he organized defenses and distributed weapons and ammunition. The enemy delivered ravaging machine gun, mortar and rifle fire on his small unit, and he fought furiously to repel the attacks. Firing deadly barrages into the advancing North Vietnamese troops, his team succeeded in repulsing several fanatical assaults which reached point-blank range. Reinforcements were unable to reach Sergeant Dierling and his men, and the North Vietnamese forces captured them after forty-eight hours of savage fighting. They were taken to an enemy camp outside the city and held captive there for nineteen days. Throughout the period, Sergeant Dierling remained alert for escape possibilities despite weariness from lack of food and sleep. On 19 February, he and twenty other prisoners began a march to another camp. When a guard became careless after four days of travel, he made a fearless dash into the jungle and fought through the dense vegetation to reach friendly lines with highly valuable intelligence information. Sergeant Dierling’s gallantry in action was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.