By Direction

of the

President of the United States

The

Distinguished Service Cross

Is Awarded

To

Lester W Brown

Rank and Unit:  Specialist Four, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2 Battalion, 27th Infantry, 2d Brigade, 25 Infantry Division

Date and Place:  27 August 1968,  Republic of Vietnam

Reason:  For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam:  Specialist Four Brown distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 27 August 1968 while serving as a medical aidman with an infantry unit.  He was a member of an ambush patrol operating five hundred meters beyond the main unit's defensive perimeter.  The enemy launched an intense mortar and rocket attack on the small element, and followed it with a ground assault.  Nineteen members of the thirty-man team became casualties.  Specialist Brown moved through the heavy enemy fire and administered first aid to his wounded comrades until he had expended his medical supplies.  He than crawled through a hail of bullets to the base camp where he gathered a desperately needed resupply of medical materials and organized a rescue team.  Leading two armored personnel carriers to the stricken patrol's location, he placed the wounded on the vehicles and returned with them to the unit's position.  He was directly responsible for saving the lives of fourteen men.  Specialist Four Brown's 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.