- SURNAME
Nickerson
- FORENAME
David S.
- UNIT
6 SF Group (Signal Company)
- RANK
Staff Sergeant
- NUMBER
- AWARD
Silver Star
- PLACE
North Vietnam 1970 (Son Tay)
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
CITATION:
Silver Star : The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 8, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Staff Sergeant David S. Nickerson, United States Army, for gallantry in action on 21 November 1970 as a member of an all-volunteer joint U.S. Army and Air Force raiding force in the Joint Chiefs of Staff-directed heliborne assault mission to rescue United States military personnel held as prisoners of war at Son Tay prison in North Vietnam. This valiant effort was motivated by deep compassion for his imprisoned fellow men-at-arms, and by a strong sense of military duty and national pride. Sergeant Nickerson, the Army component commander's FM Radio Operator, debarked from the assault aircraft with the support element and was immediately taken under enemy automatic weapons fire. Realizing that the force had landed on the wrong landing zone and knowing that it was imperative that his element rejoin the main body of the raiding force, he fearlessly, with complete disregard for his life, exposed himself to enemy fire in order to personally mark the landing zone with a hand-held strobe light. His heroic action facilitated the extraction of the force without a casualty, enabling it to move swiftly to rejoin the main force. Sergeant Nickerson's courageous performance under fire, extraordinary heroism against an armed hostile force, and extreme devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself and the United States Army.
WEB LINKS:
https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/24595
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