65th Infantry Regiment
Distinguished Service Cross
EIGHTH UNITED STATES ARMY
APO 301
GENERAL ORDERS 23 July 1953
NUMBER 684
Section I
AWARD OF THE DISTINGUISHED-SERVICE CROSS
By direction of the President, under the provisions of the Act of
Congress approved 9 July 1018 (WD Bul 43, 1918), and pursuant to author-
Ity in AR 600-45, the Distinguished-Service Cross for extraordinary hero
Ism in action is awarded in the name of the Command-in Chief, Far
East, to:
First Lieutenant SMITH B. CHAMBERLAIN, 027587, Infantry, United
States Army. Lieutenant CHAMBERLAIN, a member of an infantry company,
distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against the
enemy in Korea. On 3 June 1951, Lieutenant CHAMBERLAIN, a platoon
leader, was ordered to make the initial crossing of a river and to
led his men in an attack on the first objective in the Allied assault
to capture a vital, enemy-held position. While Lieutenant CHAMBERLAIN
was organizing his men for the crossing, the platoon was subjected to
heavy enemy first. Ordering his men to take cover, Lieutenant CHAMBERLAIN
waded the river to check it for depth and swiftness and then swam back
and recrossed with a rope to be used as a guide line. While the platoon
was moving across the river, one of the men lost his footing and the
swift current carried him downstream toward the swirling rapids. Lieu-
tenant CHAMBERLAIN rescued this man and three others in similar mishaps
and sustained rib injuries when he was hurled against rocks and boulders
in the water. Once the men had crossed the river, Lieutenant CHAMBERLAIN
reorganized them and, after a valiant three-hour struggle, succeeded in
securing the first objective. When the platoon was relieved, Lieutenant
CHAMBERLAIN went to the battalion aid station for treatment of his
side injury and grenade wounds which he suffered during the fighting. Upon
return, he found that a bridge which had been constructed across the
river had been knocked out by an enemy counter-attack and the Allied
elements had withdrawn to the opposite bank. Again swimming the river,
though suffering from a possible rib fracture and subjected to heavy
machine gun fire, Lieutenant CHAMBERLAIN repeatedly tried to establish
a guide line, but heavy rains had swollen the river until it was impos-
sible to successfully navigate it with a rope. Refusing to be stopped,
Lieutenant CHAMBERLAIN made continuous trips back and forth with an in-
flated air mattress carrying wounded men and equipment and rescuing men
who had become marooned on the rocks when they attempted to swim. The
following morning, Lieutenant CHAMBERLAIN was successful in establishing
a guide line across the river. He then organized a thirty-man patrol
and led them in the recovery of the ground lost the previous day. The
extraordinary heroism exhibited by Lieutenant CHAMBERLAIN on this occa-
sion reflects great credit on himself and is in keeping with the finest
traditions of the military service. Entered the Federal service from
New York.
Source: Record Group 500: Records of U.S. Army Operational and Tactical Formations, 1940-, Eighth U.S. Army, 1944-56 Adjutant General Section, Box 1107 General Orders 1953, Jan 1953 to July 1953, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland.
*Submitted by Colonel Gilberto Villahermosa, United States Army.
Distinguished Service Cross Page
HOME