FIELDS, LLOYD, JR.
FIELDS, LLOYD, JR.
Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army
Troop E, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate),
Date of Action: April 13, 1966
Citation:
The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Lloyd
Fields, Jr., Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection
with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the
Republic of Vietnam. On 13 April 1966, Sergeant Fields was serving as Lead
Scout, Troop E, 17th Cavalry, 173d Airborne Brigade (Separate), while on the
assigned mission of clearing an important road ten miles northwest of Song Be.
In the early part of the day, the platoon encountered hostile forces resulting
in the destruction of several insurgent sniper nests and breaking up of one Viet
Cong ambush. As he started up a small hill, Sergeant Fields spotted several Viet
Cong in a position for a carefully planned ambush. He immediately fired on them
and while his men were moving up to his position they were pinned down by heavy
automatic and small arms fire. Realizing that his men could not move until the
closest insurgent machine gun was put out of action, Sergeant Fields, without
regard for his own personal safety, stood up and shouted for his comrades to
cover him while he assaulted and destroyed the machine gun crew and suppressed
much of the small arms fire which enabled his men to catch up with him. Again
attempting to move up on the Viet Cong, Sergeant Fields was mortally wounded by
a sniper. Sergeant Fields' 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.
HQ US Army, Pacific, General Orders No. 219 (September 12, 1966)
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