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 Charles A. McDonald (ASN: RA-54149587), 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 Airborne Division Advisory Detachment (Airborne), United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Staff Sergeant McDonald distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 19 February 1967 while serving as Assistant Battalion Advisor to a Vietnamese airborne battalion during an attack by an overwhelmingly larger Viet Cong force. Sergeant McDonald was thrown to the ground by the initial mortar explosions that hit his camp. He rushed to the perimeter, through darkness that was filling with the light of hostile tracer rounds, and saw waves of Viet Cong assaulting to within close range. Engaging the insurgents at the point of heaviest fire, he succeeded in closing a gap in his unit’s perimeter and killed four of the enemy. Although he was wounded in a subsequent mortar attack, Sergeant McDonald refused to be evacuated and resolutely remained at his post for eight and one-half hours. To prevent the Viet Cong from massing for an effective attack, he periodically saturated his perimeters with air and artillery strikes to within 30 meters of his own position. During the pauses, he led his men in fierce counterattacks on the insurgents. At one point, a Vietnamese soldier ran out to capture an enemy weapon and was cut down by hostile machine gun fire. Sergeant McDonald took two grenades with him, crawled under friendly machine gun covering fire, and threw the grenades into the hostile emplacements, and dragged the soldier to safety. Sergeant McDonald’s indomitable fighting, and that of the Vietnamese, inspired by his bravery, accounted for more than 100 Viet Cong killed in action. Staff Sergeant McDonald’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.