The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Lance Corporal Walter Scott Brank, III (MCSN: 2212179), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE (HMM-165), Marine Aircraft Group THIRTY-SIX (MAG-36), FIRST Marine Aircraft Wing, in connection with operations against insurgent communist (Viet Cong) forces in the Republic of Vietnam. On 5 May 1968, Lance Corporal Brank launched as Crew Chief aboard the lead aircraft in a section of two CH-46 helicopters assigned an emergency medical evacuation mission in support of a friendly unit which was heavily engaged with a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army force northeast of Dong Ha in Quang Tri Province. Arriving over the designated area, he was advised that two groups of Marines had been pinned down for fifteen hours within 150 meters of the enemy positions and had sustained several casualties. Upon completing extraction of the first group of men, his helicopter sustained extensive battle damage and crashed in a nearby rice paddy. After ensuring that his passengers had exited the burning aircraft, Lance Corporal Brank moved into the cockpit where he found his co-pilot seriously wounded in the leg. Rapidly assisting him from the helicopter, he ignored the hostile rounds impacting near him and resolutely carried the casualty to a position of relative safety. Alertly observing a rescue helicopter land, he fearlessly carried the injured officer aboard the aircraft. His bold initiative and sincere concern for the welfare of his comrades inspired all who observed him and were instrumental in saving the life of a fellow Marine. By his courage, resolute determination and steadfast devotion to duty in the face of great personal danger, Lance Corporal Brank upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.