THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
Washington

The President of the United States, takes pride in presenting the
NAVY CROSS posthumously to:

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS DENNIS D. DAVIS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

for service as set forth in the following:

CITATION:

For extraordinary heroism while serving as a Rifleman with Company K, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 28 August 1969, while Company K was conducting a search and destroy operation in Quang Nam Province, the lead platoon was pinned down by enemy small arms, automatic weapons, and antiaircraft fire. Crawling toward a vantage point from which to better observe enemy activities when he saw a hostile soldier moving into a bunker, Private First Class Davis raced across ten meters of open terrain and, leaping to the top of the fortification, hurled a grenade into the rear aperture. When a hostile grenade landed beside him, he quickly retrieved it and heaved it toward the opening of the bunker. However, the grenade detonated prematurely and the resultant explosion knocked Private First Class Davis to the ground, seriously wounding him and rendered his weapon useless. Undaunted, he crawled under the enemy fire, to the front of the fortification and pushed another grenade through the firing aperture, fatally wounding the hostile occupant. Quickly entering the smoking bunker, he captured an enemy machine gun and utilized it to deliver devastating fire at othe nearby hostile positions until the weapon malfunctioned. When he saw a companion fall in a position dangerously exposed to the enemy fire, he dashed through the hostile fusillade to the side of the casualty, picked him up, and moved across twenty meters of fire-swept terrain to a relatively covered location. Despite the pain of his own wounds, he then armed himself with the casualty's rifle and charged forward to attack another enemy fortification, but was mortally wounded before he could reach it. By his courage, aggressive fighting spirit and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of grave personal danger, Private First Class Davis contributed significantly to the accomplishment of his unit's mission and upheld the highest traditons of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

For the President,

Secretary of the Navy