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Casualty Info
Home Town Harlingen
Last Address Mont Meta Memorial Park San Benita, Texas
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Details Behind Award
The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross ( Posthumously ) to Henry Chamberlain, 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, while serving with Company A, 3d Battalion, 21st Infantry, 196th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. Staff Sergeant Chamberlain distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 13 March 1969 as a platoon sergeant during a search and clear mission near Tien Phuoc. When his platoon came under intense fire from an estimated company-size North Vietnamese Army force in a concealed bunker complex, Sergeant Chamberlain led an assault on the communists. Seeing the point man wounded by enemy fire within ten feet of a bunker, he rushed forward and killed both occupants of the fortification. As the platoon continued to advance, the left flank received a heavy volume of automatic weapons and small arms fire from several concealed positions which wounded two men and trapped them in the hostile killing zone. Sergeant Chamberlain quickly organized an attack, sending one element against another stronghold that suddenly began firing from the right flank and spearheading the assault on the original positions. While fearlessly exposing himself to the enemy so that he could effectively fire into a bunker aperture, he was mortally wounded by the hostile fusillade. His men were inspired by his actions and succeeded in overrunning the North Vietnamese. Staff Sergeant Chamberlain's 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.
