The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant Robert Maynard Fellers (MCSN: 0-90862), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as Third Platoon Commander of Company F, Second Battalion, First Marines, FIRST Marine Division, in action against insurgent communist (Viet Cong) forces in the Republic of Vietnam. On 28 February 1966, during Operation New York, Second Lieutenant Fellers’ Company was engaged in a search and destroy operation in the Thua Thien Province when it was taken under heavy machine gun and mortar fire by a well entrenched, numerically superior Viet Cong force. Without hesitation, Second Lieutenant Fellers courageously moved his men forward under the devastating enemy fire and employed them in an effective manner which blocked the enemy’s retreat. The skillful execution of this maneuver not only thwarted the Viet Cong retreat, but left seven of them dead. With brilliant initiative and complete disregard for his own safety, Second Lieutenant Fellers then attempted to cross seventy meters of fire raked rice paddies in order to destroy a serious wound in the hip which prevented further movement. His skill and aggressiveness contributed in large measure to the Marines’ success in the engagement, which accounted for one hundred and twenty-two Viet Cong killed and an undetermined number wounded. By his intrepid fighting spirit, fortitude in the face of grave danger and unfaltering dedication to duty throughout, Second Lieutenant Fellers upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.