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 Staff Sergeant Perez E. Cotto (ASN: RA-50145800), 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 B, 4th Engineer Battalion, 4th Infantry Division. Staff Sergeant Cotto distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 1 March 1969 while serving as an engineer squad leader in support of an infantry unit at Landing Zone Swinger. Immediately upon disembarking, the landing force encountered a hail of hostile small arms fire. Seeing a wounded soldier in need of assistance, Sergeant Cotto attempted to retrieve him, until enemy fire from a well-concealed bunker halted his advance. With complete disregard for his own safety, he charged the fortification, destroying it with hand grenades. He then pulled the wounded man to safety. During another foray into the terrain around the perilous landing zone to search for wounded infantrymen, he observed a North Vietnamese soldier taking aim at a wounded American lying in a ditch. Sergeant Cotto rose to his feet and shouted, distracting the communist who turned to fire. Sergeant Cotto instantly shot the enemy soldier with a burst from his M-16 and then proceeded to remove the wounded American. Throughout the battle to secure the landing zone, Sergeant Cotto constantly exposed himself to the hostile fusillade to rescue and evacuate wounded soldiers. Staff Sergeant Cotto’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.