The President of the United States of America, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Sergeant Lawrence Cordova, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving with Infantry Company of the 7th Infantry Division. Sergeant Cordova distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces in the vicinity of Tang-Wan-Ni, Korea, on 16 June 1952. On that date, Sergeant Cordova, while leading an automatic rifle team in a raid on a strategic hill, consistently exposed himself to an intense barrage of hostile fire to direct accurate and deadly fire into the enemy ranks. In his attempt to pin down the hostile troops so that the assault forces could move in, Sergeant Cordova unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own safety, rose from his covered position and charged the strongly fortified enemy emplacements, using hand grenades and carbine fire. When he had exhausted his supply of ammunition, Sergeant Cordova took an automatic rifle from one of his comrades and moved directly into the enemy positions. Sergeant Cordova refused to be stopped by the overwhelming numerical superiority of the enemy forces until his platoon leader gave him a direct order to withdraw. He then continued to expose himself to hostile fire while directing the other members of the platoon in providing covering-fire for the evacuation of the dead and wounded. The extraordinary heroism displayed by Sergeant Cordova on this occasion reflects the greatest credit on himself and is in keeping with the high traditions of the military service.