Oscar Lee O'Connor

Captain, U. S. Army

Distinguished Service Cross

GENERAL ORDERS:
Department of the Army, General Orders No. 13 (March 6, 1969)
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Captain (Infantry) Oscar Lee O'Connor (ASN: 0-5322152), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving as Commanding Officer of Company D, 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. Captain O'Connor distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 4 November 1967. On that date, Captain O'Connor was leading two platoons on a search and destroy mission near Phan Thiet, Republic of Vietnam, when an abandoned Viet Cong camp site and bunker complex was found. In searching the area, a rice bowl was turned over exposing a hand grenade booby trap. Immediately Captain O'Connor yelled, "Grenade." Everyone rushed to cover and the grenade exploded harmlessly. Captain O'Connor ordered everyone out of the area. He left two engineers to destroy the first bunker and proceeded through very thick undergrowth to the next bunker. While moving through the brush, the pointman tripped a tripwire releasing a Viet Cong hand grenade wedged in the fork of a bush. The grenade fell to the ground landing in the midst of the element. Realizing that the grenade could destroy all of the men in his element, Captain O'Connor threw his body onto the grenade to smother the blast and yelled, "Grenade." Still expecting the grenade to explode at any instant, he ordered everyone out of the area. Captain O'Connor reached under his body, grasped the grenade and threw it into a bunker opening about five feet away. The grenade exploded the instant it entered the bunker, with the force of the explosion inflicting minor concussion and fragment wounds in the leg of Captain O'Connor. Captain O'Connor's extraordinary heroism and willing self-sacrifice are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.