The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Major LeRoy Arthur Bickley (MCSN: 0-77461), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with Operations Officer of the First Battalion, Fifth Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Rein.), FMF, in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 26 February 1970, Major Bickley was walking behind the point man in a six-man reconnaissance team on patrol through hilly terrain and dense underbrush shrouded by heavy fog, to select a site for his unit’s command post in a sector of Quang Nam Province. As the team made its way down the steep side of a ravine, a fragmentation grenade emplaced in the underbrush by the enemy as an anti-personnel device was dislodged, activated, and rolled down the slope at the heels of the point man. Reacting instantly and with complete disregard for his own safety, Major Bickley shouted a warning to his patrol to take cover while he simultaneously seized the grenade and hurled it into the nearby brush. In the same motion, he jumped forward and knocked the point man to the ground, placing his own body between the point man and the grenade. When the grenade detonated, Major Bickley was wounded. His valiant and instantaneous actions and his willingness to sacrifice personal injury to protect his comrades from harm saved his fellow Marines from serious injury or possible death. By his courage, bold initiative, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of grave personal danger, Major Bickley inspired all who observed him and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.