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 First Lieutenant (Infantry) Gregory D. Hering (ASN: 0-5339014), 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 E, 2d Battalion, 39th Infantry, 1st Brigade, 9th Infantry Division. First Lieutenant Hering distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 3 June 1968 in Din Tuong Province. His platoon was the lead element of a company which was going to the aid of a sister company pinned down in an open rice paddy by a Viet Cong battalion occupying deeply entrenched bunkers. Suddenly his unit came under heavy fire from the flank. Without hesitation, Lieutenant Hering charged into the enemy with his men and eliminated three communist positions. For the next eight hours, he repeatedly exposed himself to the hostile barrage as he redistributed ammunition, directed return fire and moved from man to man giving advice and encouragement. During the battle he also made nine trips across two hundred and fifty meters of open rice paddy to bring water to the wounded and those who were suffering from heat exhaustion. Another time he left a protected location to run a hundred meters to a wounded soldier who lay trapped under the enemy fusillade. While Viet Cong machine gun fire poured in on the position, he applied first aid to stop the man’s bleeding, and then moved him to the protection of a dike. First Lieutenant Hering’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.