By Direction

of the

President of the United States

the

Distinguished Service Cross

Is Awarded 

to

Darrell E. Burns

(Posthumously)

Rank and Organization:   Sergeant, Company B, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)

Date and Place:  22 June 1970,  Republic of Vietnam

Reason:  For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam: Sergeant Burns distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 29 March 1969 as a rifleman in Cambodia.  Sergeant Burns' squad was deployed in a company-size perimeter when it began to receive small arms and rocket fire from an unknown-size enemy force.  After the initial contact subsided, Sergeant Burns detected movement to the front.  Disregarding his personal safety, he moved outside the perimeter in order to gain a satisfactory position from which to use fragmentation grenades on the suspected enemy.  Sergeant Burns threw a grenade in the direction of the hostiles and the grenade hit a tree and bounced back toward the company perimeter.  Realizing that the grenade would explode close to his comrades and the number of friendly casualties that could result, Sergeant Burns unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, lunged in the direction of the grenade as other personnel scrambled for cover.  Sergeant Burns sacrificed his life as he threw himself in the direction of the grenade and absorbed the total and lethal fragmentation effects of the grenade as it exploded. Sergeant Burns' extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty, at the cost of his life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.