The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Captain (Infantry) Boots Carter Blanks, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company C, 3d Battalion, 1st Infantry, Americal Division. Captain Blanks distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 12 May 1969 while commanding an infantry unit conducting a search and destroy operations. A friendly unit had engaged a well-fortified North Vietnamese force of battalion strength in the hills near the village of Xuan Thanh. While moving in to reinforce their outnumbered sister company, Captain Blanks’ troops came under heavy sniper fire. Quickly assessing the enemy’s locations, he led his men to flanking positions in the hilly terrain from which they trapped the North Vietnamese in a deadly crossfire. When his own elements were pinned down by strafing machine gun fire, he assaulted the hostile emplacement and eliminated it with bursts of rifle fire and well-placed grenades. The company then pushed deeper into the enemy’s foothill fortifications and were again immobilized by intense suppressive fire. Captain Blanks charged the hostile bunker through dense waves of automatic weapons fire. Though severely wounded by the enemy’s fire, he rushed onward to the rear where he refused evacuation until he had seen all his wounded men extracted from the battlefield. Captain Blanks’ extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.