Acuff, Eddie Duane, SP 4

Headquarters, II Field Force Vietnam, General Orders No. 684 (September 27, 1969)

CITATION:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Specialist Fourth Class Eddie Duane Acuff (ASN: 54722180), United States Army, for gallantry in action. Specialist Fourth Class Acuff distinguished himself by gallantry in action while engaged in military operations against an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam on 23 June 1969, while serving as a perimeter guard with Battery A, 3d Battalion, 6th Artillery. Specialist Acuff, a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, had volunteered, along with three other members of the survey section, to go to Battery A in response to an urgent need for personnel to fill the severe shortages caused by large numbers of casualties in recent action. During the early morning hours of 23 June, five North Vietnamese penetrated the perimeter under cover of dense fog, and Specialist Acuff opened fire on them with a .50 caliber machine gun. The enemy attacked his bunker despite his continuous fire and managed to throw a satchel charge into it. Specialist Acuff, not heeding the immediate danger to his own life, continued to deliver deadly fire into the attacking enemy until the satchel charge exploded. His body received most of the shrapnel which saved the two men in the bunker with him. Specialist Acuff died valiantly in defense of the battery. His heroism in close combat against North Vietnamese ground forces, heavily armed with high explosives, was in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.