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 Major (Field Artillery) John Cecil Fralish, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving with Headquarters, 503d Field Artillery Battalion, 2d Infantry Division. Major Fralish distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces at Ch’ongnyongch’am, Korea, on 30 November 1950 and 1 December 1950. When his battalion was cut off several miles behind enemy lines, surrounded and attacked from all sides by vastly superior numbers of enemy troops, Major Fralish took command of and led a successful attack to break out of the trap and thwart the enemy’s plan to destroy the entire command. When the battalion’s motorized column was halted by fanatical attacks at dusk, he voluntarily executed a detailed ground reconnaissance of enemy strength and locations, during which he was under intense enemy fire and suffered wounds three different times. Despite the heavy volume of mortar, machine-gun and small-arms fire from the surrounding hills, Major Fralish succeeded in emplacing a 155-mm. howitzer and took the enemy positions under direct fire, personally bore sighting the howitzer for each round, until enemy fire disabled the weapon and killed the cannoneer. He then ordered the anti-aircraft self-propelled automatic weapons with the column to be brought forward and directed their fire on the targets he had located by reconnaissance. After neutralizing many of the enemy weapons and repelling several direct assaults on the head of the column, he gave orders to maintain fire on enemy positions and started organizing a convoy to move out at the opportune time. Ignoring the constant hail of mortar fire and bullets, Major Fralish moved confidently from place to place within the perimeter, pushing the self-propelled weapons forward, pointing out targets to be taken under fire, directing the clearing of burning and disable vehicles from the road, recruiting drivers to replace those who had been killed or wounded, directing the loading of those who were wounded onto the vehicles, and giving orders and instructions on every hand. Major Fralish continued to display such leadership, confidence, and valor that the men around him were imbued with his indomitable spirit until the disorganized group became in invincible fighting force. Thus inspired, hundreds of men rallied around him and placed a devastating volume of fire on the enemy positions as he directed. Finally the convoy fought a running fight for eight miles and broke clear of the enemy trap. Major Fralish’s inspired leadership, combined with his absolute disregard for his own safety, and his extreme coolness under intense enemy fire were directly responsible for the success of the battalion in its mission. The extraordinary courage and indomitable will displayed by Colonel Fralish in risking his life repeatedly to organize and lead the remnants of his own and several other units reflect the highest credit on himself and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.