SILVER STAR

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the SILVER STAR MEDAL to

 LANCE CORPORAL ROBERT McMULLIN

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

For service as set forth in the following

 CITATION:

           For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Squad Leader with Company L, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division in connection with operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On the afternoon of 12 May 1969, Company L was conducting a search and destroy operation when the Marines came under intense fire from a hostile force entrenched in a tree line. Reacting instantly, Lance Corporal McMullin began maneuvering his squad toward an enemy bunker complex in an effort to silence the hostile fire which had pinned down an adjacent platoon and was causing numerous casualties. As he fearlessly led his men toward the objective, the squad came under a heavy volume of enemy fire, and two of his men were seriously wounded. Immediately delivering return fire upon the hostile force, he thereby enabled the remainder of his men to take cover. Realizing that his squad members were unable to advance across the fire-swept terrain, Lance Corporal McMullin, boldly disregarding the enemy rounds impacting around him, threw several grenades into the hostile emplacements and temporarily silenced the hostile fire. With complete disregard for his own safety, he then crawled over a dike and out into an area dangerously exposed to the enemy and pulled one Marine casualty to safety. Repeating his courageous act a second time, he evacuated another Marine, and on the third time, he retrieved a radio which was necessary for his unit’s communication during the fire fight. His heroic and timely actions inspired all who observed him and were responsible for saving the life of a seriously wounded comrade. By his courage, bold initiative and selfless devotion to duty in the face of great personal danger, Lance Corporal McMullin upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.

FOR THE PRESIDENT,

H. W. BUSE, JR.

LIEUTENANT GENERAL, U. S. MARINE CORPS

COMMANDING GENERAL, FLEET MARINE FORCE, PACIFIC