The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Soldier’s Medal to Corporal [then Specialist Fourth Class] Wilson Blankenship, United States Army, for heroism at the risk of life not involving conflict with an armed enemy as a member of Headquarters Company, SIXTH United States Army Security Agency Field Station, at Herzogenaurach, Germany, on 31 May 1958. While performing duty as Security Guard, Corporal Blankenship was informed of a soldier creating a disturbance by threatening to jump from the roof of a building, a distance of approximately 28 feet to the ground. Upon arrival at the scene, Corporal Blankenship ran into the building, climbed out on the ledge of a window directly beneath the enlisted man on the roof and urged him not to jump. When it became apparent that the man insisted upon plunging from the roof, Corporal Blankenship, immediately and without concern for his own personal safety, proceeded onto the dangerously sloping 45-degree roof. Moving quickly on the roof in complete darkness, Corporal Blankenship managed to break the man’s headlong fall toward the ground and suffered severe cuts to his own hands as he caught the slipping soldier by the leg and held him until additional help arrived. Corporal Blankenship’s prompt, courageous and selfless actions saved a fellow soldier from serious injury or possible death, and reflect distinct credit upon himself and the military service.