By Direction

of the

President of the United States

The

Distinguished Service Cross

Is Awarded

To

Leslie L. Brucker

(Posthumously)

Rank and Unit:  Staff Sergeant, Detachment B-20, Company B, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces

Date and Place:  25 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:  Staff Sergeant Brucker distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 25 August 1968 as a medic and platoon leader of a mobile strike force company during an assault against fortified positions held by North Vietnamese Army troops inside the Duc Lap Special Forces camp.  He was leading his platoon forward under intense enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire when he saw his company commander and a fellow medic felled by the fusillade.  Disregarding his safety, Sergeant Brucker rushed across open ground through the withering hail of bullets to reach the fallen aidman.  while treating the medic he was asked to help carry his wounded company commander out of the line of enemy fire.  Sergeant Brucker moved the officer to safety with the help of another American, whom he then instructed to stop the bleeding unit he returned with his aid kit.  Ignoring a heavy concentrations of machine gun fire directed at his position, Sergeant Brucker returned to the injured medic.  As he collected his aid kit and prepared to drag his comrade to cover, he was mortally wounded.  Staff Sergeant Brucker extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty, at the cost of his life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the Unites States Army.