The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Staff Sergeant James Howard McCoy (MCSN: 1495782), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Platoon Sergeant with Company F, Second Battalion, Fifth Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Rein.), FMF, in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 4 February 1968, during Operation HUE CITY, Staff Sergeant McCoy’s platoon was occupying a building opposite the Treasury Building, which was occupied and strongly defended by a determined North Vietnamese Army force. Unable to maneuver toward the enemy stronghold due to the extremely heavy and accurate sniper fire, the Marines positioned a machine gun on the top floor of their building to counter the hostile fire. Realizing the difficulty in accurately pinpointing the North Vietnamese sniper positions, Staff Sergeant McCoy instructed the machine gun team to carefully observe the street and buildings in the area and then calmly stepped into the open to present the enemy gunners with a target. When the snipers fired at him, the Marines as well as supporting tanks directed a heavy volume of fire at the enemy positions, silencing their fire. After he repeatedly exposed himself to the accurate sniper fire with complete disregard for his own safety, the Marines were able to systematically eliminate most of the sniper positions, enabling the company to assault the Treasury Building and seize the North Vietnamese stronghold. On 5 February, while assaulting another enemy-held structure in the city of Hue, his platoon sustained ten casualties from a volley of anti-tank rocket rounds. After the Marines seized their assigned objective, Staff Sergeant McCoy supervised the expeditious medical evacuation of the casualties from the hazardous area, despite accurate sniper fire directed at his position. Subsequently, while Staff Sergeant McCoy and his platoon commander were directing 81-mm. mortar fire on enemy movement observed across a river on 11 February, the officer was (Remainder of Citation Missing)