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 Private First Class Malvin E. Jones (ASN: US-56532352), 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 Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. Private First Class Jones distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 7 February 1969, as a member of a four-man long range reconnaissance patrol operating in the Central Highlands. The team suddenly came under small arms and automatic weapons fire from concealed enemy troops twenty-five meters away. Within seconds all four men except Private Jones had been shot with two receiving serious chest wounds. Private Jones momentarily silenced the communists with a barrage from his grenade launcher and radioed for assistance. He then began administering first aid, while pausing to place suppressive fire with his grenade launcher on widely scattered hostile positions. When the gunships and an extraction helicopter arrived, he directed gunship strikes on the aggressors and started to carry the casualties individually to a clearing one hundred meters distant where the rescue ship had landed, moving quickly because the craft had radioed that it was running low on fuel. He was shot at by enemy snipers and tried to return fire, but his weapon malfunctioned. After taking two of the wounded to the helicopter, he returned for the third despite a sharp increase in the volume of hostile fire. The door gunner saw that he was nearing exhaustion and, leaving his machine gun, met his sixty meters from the ship to help carry the last man. With everyone safely aboard, the ship rose to safety. Private First Class Jones’ 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.