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 Sergeant First Class Andrew H. Waldrop, Jr., 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 Advisory Team 87, U.S. Advisory Group, United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Sergeant First Class Waldrop distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 18 November 1969 while serving as advisor to a Vietnamese artillery battery. That afternoon, he and three other advisors were driving two jeeps to Phan Thief in order to obtain supplies for their battery. As the soldiers rounded a sharp curve on Highway QL1 in their jeeps, they encountered approximately thirty North Vietnamese soldiers moving in columns along both sides of the road. Sergeant Waldrop, who was riding shotgun in the lead jeep, began firing immediately on the enemy troops with his canister-loaded M-79 grenade launcher. Noticing that two of the enemy were closing in on the second jeep and preparing to fire on it, Sergeant Waldrop spun round in his vehicle as it passed the two soldiers and killed both of them with one well placed round with his weapon. By now the surprised enemy troops had taken up defensive positions on both sides of the road and were retaliating on the moving jeeps with automatic weapons fire. Although hit by enemy fire in the lower abdomen and right side, Sergeant Waldrop continued firing on the enemy troops with devastating accuracy. As the two vehicles sped through the middle of the enemy positions, the driver of Sergeant Waldrop’s jeep was critically wounded by enemy fire. Sergeant Waldrop quickly put down his weapon and took control of the jeep, holding the wounded driver in with one hand and driving the speeding jeep out of the kill zone with the other hand. Sergeant First Class Waldrop’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.