The President of the United States of America, authorized by Executive Order 11046, 24 August 1962, takes pleasure in presenting the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V” to Specialist Fourth Class Harlan B. Lanou, Jr., United States Army, for heroism while serving with the 131st Aviation Company in the Republic of Vietnam, on 20 February 1967. Specialist Fourth Class Lanou was serving as a volunteer member of a recovery team whose mission was to recover and assist in the salvaging operation of a downed aircraft. The aircraft landed in a rice paddy and the two crew members with ejection seats were buried in the mud. Fuel from the ruptured tanks was floating on the water but he continued with the mission even though this fuel was causing a burning sensation to the lower portion of his body. He knew the ejection seats had not fired providing an even more dangerous situation for the seat could explode and the fuel could ignite. After four hours of work trying to free the bodies, they came under enemy sniper fire. Disregarding the enemy fire and the surrounding hazards they continued their work.