Duane E. Litzinger

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Duane E. Litzinger, Private First Class, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving as a Squad Leader with an Infantry Company of the 1st Cavalry Division. Private First Class Litzinger distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces in the vicinity of Mago-ri, Korea, on 11 and 12 October 1951. On that date, Private Litzinger’s company was engaged in an assault against well-fortified enemy emplacements. In the opening phases of the attack, Private Litzinger was assigned to provide overhead machine-gun fire to support the attacking infantry. The heavy enemy counter-fire soon disabled his weapon and wounded two of his comrades. Exposing himself to the direct observation of the enemy, he fearlessly moved to the two men and evacuated them to safety. Upon returning to the battle Private Litzinger, armed only with his carbine, single-handedly advanced against a hostile automatic-weapon emplacement and killed the crew manning the machine gun. Later, when another attack was launched by the friendly troops, Private Litzinger, observing that his comrades were pinned down by intense enemy automatic-weapons fire, organized five men and led them against the hostile bunkers. Working their way to within a few yards of the enemy positions, the men assaulted the emplacements with grenades under the direction of Private Litzinger and destroyed three of them. With the enemy automatic-weapons silenced, the friendly troops were able to renew their assault and secure their objective. The platoon was immediately arranged in a defense perimeter, with Private Litzinger and two comrades in a forward position. When the fanatical enemy counterattack came, Private Litzinger’s emplacement bore the brunt of the assault. Fighting fiercely and with great determination, he held his ground, repulsing the enemy with extremely heavy casualties.
Headquarters, Eighth U.S. Army, Korea: General Orders No. 1003 (December 20, 1951)