The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant Franklin A. Gulledge, Jr., United States Marine Corps, for heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight while serving as a pilot with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR (HMM-364), Marine Aircraft Group Sixteen, First Marine Aircraft Wing in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On the morning of 18 January 1970, Major Gulledge launched as Aircraft Commander of a transport helicopter assigned the mission of an emergency extraction of a seven-man Marine reconnaissance team which was surrounded and heavily engaged in combat with a numerically superior hostile force in a mountainous area of Quang Nam Province. Arriving over the designated area, he was given a zone brief and was informed that the team had moved halfway up a steep hillside and had cleared a small landing zone. With exceptional skill, Major Gulledge executed a high speed approach to the zone and then backed toward the hillside until he had established a partial hover with only two wheels touching the ground. When his aircraft came under intense enemy fire and his ramp had been forced shut after striking the undergrowth in the area, he completely disregarded his own safety as he resolutely remained in his precarious position until each member of the beleaguered patrol had been pulled aboard through the small opening over the top of the ramp. Undaunted by the heavy volume of fire from hostile positions on the hillside, Major Gulledge calmly maneuvered his helicopter to avoid the trees in the area and succeeded in safely lifting out of the dangerous area and then inserted the reconnaissance team into another area where it continued its surveillance of enemy activities. Major Gulledge’s courage, superior airmanship, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of great personal danger were instrumental in accomplishing the hazardous mission and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.