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 Marshall A. Thomas, United States Army, for gallantry in action on 21 November 1970 as a member of an all-volunteer joint U.S. Army and Air Force raiding force in the Joint Chiefs of Staff-directed heliborne assault mission to rescue United States military personnel held as prisoners of war at Son Tay prison in North Vietnam. This valiant effort was motivated by deep compassion for his imprisoned fellow men-at-arms, and by a strong sense of military duty and national pride. Sergeant Thomas was inserted into the enemy compound where he repeatedly exposed himself to enemy automatic weapons fire. Fighting valiantly while surrounded in a hostile environment, he cleared his assigned area of enemy forces and secured the essential withdrawal landing zone. He again exposed himself to enemy automatic weapons fire to clear a trench between himself and the unit forward of his position. Fighting in a cool and fearless manner, he was able to clear a route of withdrawal for the headquarters element. Sergeant Thomas’ conscious disregard for his own personal safety, extraordinary heroism against an armed hostile force, and extreme devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself and the United States Army.