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) Chester Garrett (ASN: 0-5318178), 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 Detachment A-341, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces. Captain Garrett distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 3 February 1967 while serving as Special Forces advisor to a Vietnamese strike force on a search and destroy mission near the Cambodian border. Early in the morning, his unit was savagely attacked and pinned down by a North Vietnamese battalion firing machine guns, mortars and small arms. Completely disregarding his own safety, Captain Garrett dashed to the point of heaviest fighting to assess the situation and coordinate the defenses. He saw an enemy position manned by four hostile soldiers placing heavy fire on his men and charged through a hail of bullets, killing the insurgents with accurate hand grenade and rifle fire. He quickly established a hasty perimeter and moved back to bring reinforcements to the forward positions. His Vietnamese counterpart was killed by the intense barrage and the men began to withdraw, but he stood up in the midst of the raging firefight and rallied his men to fight furiously against the determined attackers. Seeing two men fighting against a numerically superior element, he dashed to their side and helped kill ten enemy soldiers within ten meters of his position. Supporting aircraft were unable to pinpoint his location in the dense jungle, so he moved into the open to direct them with a hand-held smoke grenade. Under cover of artillery and air strikes, he led a withdrawal to a landing zone and personally carried a wounded comrade more than six hundred meters on his back. Again, disregarding the savage fire, he led a carrying party back to the battle site and recovered all friendly casualties before leaving the area. Captain Garrett’s 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.