The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Platoon Sergeant Daniel Ernest Harper (ASN: RA-53124101), United States Army, for gallantry in action against a hostile force whole serving with Troop C, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, in the Republic of Vietnam on 23 November 1967. On this date, Sergeant Harper was serving as a Platoon Sergeant with an armored cavalry troop. His unit was providing security for an infantry night defensive position north of Chon Thanh. Late at night, the camp suddenly received an intensive mortar and rocket barrage, followed by a massive Viet Cong ground attack. During the initial barrage, Sergeant Harper’s tank was struck by a rocket round which seriously wounded two crew members and started a fire in the turret. He unhesitatingly helped move the two casualties outside of the tank, ignoring the intensive automatic weapons and mortar fire raking the area as he did so. Although he realized that his ammunition might explode at any moment, Sergeant Harper, with complete disregard for his personal safety, climbed back inside the tank and put out the fire. He then took an exposed position atop the turret and began placing heavy machine gun fire on the advancing insurgents. After a few minutes, another rocket hit the vehicle, wounding him and again setting fire to the turret. Disregarding his wounds, Sergeant Harper braved the hostile fire as he ran 30 meters to another vehicle to secure a fire extinguisher. After putting out the fire, he again took an exposed position atop the tank and directed the fire of his main gun against the insurgents. In addition to stopping many ground assaults, he was responsible for destroying three rocket positions and one automatic weapons emplacement. His courage under fire and his bold leadership were instrumental in enabling his unit to rout a numerically superior Viet Cong force. Platoon Sergeant Harper’s unquestionable valor in close combat against numerically superior hostile forces was in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 1st Infantry Division, and the United States Army.