The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant Norman B. Centers (MCSN: 0-91328), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as the Commanding Officer of Company A, First Battalion, Twenty-Sixth Marines, THIRD Marine Division (Rein.), FMF, in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On the afternoon of 7 June 1967, when two platoons of Company B became heavily engaged with a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army force in the vicinity of Hill 881 South and sustained numerous casualties, First Lieutenant Centers aggressively led a platoon to the area to reinforce and assist the beleaguered unit. Skillfully maneuvering his platoon through intense enemy fire, he advanced to the patrol’s perimeter, deployed his men into defensive positions and directed accurate fire against the enemy. After organizing an assembly area for the wounded and directing the establishment of a landing zone, he assumed control of the unit’s four radios, enabling the company commander to rally his men, reorganize his defenses and evacuate the casualties. With complete disregard for his own safety, First Lieutenant Centers moved to a position exposed to heavy mortar and machine gun fire and skillfully directed the supporting fires of twenty-eight fixed-wing aircraft and five armed helicopters. The air strikes forced the enemy to discontinue the assault and flee and resulted in sixty-six North Vietnamese soldiers confirmed killed. Lieutenant Centers assumed control of the rear security and directed the armed helicopters into support positions to cover the unit’s movement to a secure area. By his dynamic leadership, bold initiative and unfaltering devotion to duty, First Lieutenant Centers was an inspiration to all who served with him and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.