The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant David C. Anderson (NSN: 0-668171), United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a Pilot of a Jet Aircraft attached to Fighting Squadron TWO HUNDRED THIRTEEN (VF-213), embarked in U.S.S. KITTY HAWK (CVA-63), during a major strike in support of combat operations in Southeast Asia against North Vietnamese forces on 5 February 1967. Flying as wingman in a strike element of six F-4 fighter/bombers during a coordinated attack against the heavily defended Thanh Hoa logistics complex in North Vietnam, Lieutenant Anderson displayed courageous determination and exceptional airmanship in the destruction of a key enemy industrial plan consisting of 45 buildings. The size and arrangement of the target required precise bombing of assigned segments by each of the six aircraft in near simultaneous dives to preclude obscuration of aim points by smoke. In the presence of great personal danger, Lieutenant Anderson ignored the intense anti-aircraft fire that covered the dive path and courageously maneuvered his aircraft through a precision dive bombing run, placing his bombs on the assigned target with extreme accuracy, contributing to the confirmed destruction of 41 buildings. By his courageous action, exceptional airmanship, and loyal devotion to duty, Lieutenant Anderson upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.