Puerto Rico
65th Infantry Regiment
Distinguished Service Cross


First Lieutenant Richard E. Cavazos

1. DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS - By direction of the President, under the act of Congress approved 9 July 1918 (WD Bul. 43, 1918), the Distinguished Service Cross for estraordinary heroism in action against an enemy on the dates indicated is awarded to the following named enlisted men :

   
The Distinguished Service Cross is awarded to First Lieutenant Richard E. Cavazos, Infantry, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with an infantry company on June 14, 1953, in the vicinity of Sagimak, Korea. On the night of June 14, 1953, Lieutenant Cavazos, a company commander, led his men in a raid on the entrenched enemy upon whom heavy casualties were inflicted. When a heavy barrage was laid on the position by the enemy, Lieutenant Cavazos withdrew the company and regrouped his men. Lieutenant Cavazos three times led the company through the heavy barrage in assaults on the enemy position, each time destroying vital enemy equipment and personnel. When the United Nations element was ordered to withdraw, Lieutenant Cavazos remained alone on the enemy outpost to search the area for missing men. Exposed to heavy hostile fire, Lieutenant Cavazos located five men who had been wounded in the action. He evacuated them, one at a time, to a point on the reverse slope of the hill from which they could be removed to the safety of the friendly lines. Lieutenant Cavazos then made two more trips between the United Nations position and the enemy-held hill searching for casualties and evacuating scattered groups of men who had become confused. Not until he was assured that the hill was cleared did he allow treatment of his own wounds sustained during the action

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