Alton JOSEPH Zerangue, Jr.

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Silver Star Medal (Posthumously) to Alton Joseph Zerangue, Jr., Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in connection with military operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Staff Sergeant Zerangue distinguished himself by intrepid actions on 16 February 1967 while serving as the point Squad Leader with Company A, 1st Battalion, 22d Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. During a search and destroy mission west of Pleiku, the company made contact with a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army force. Staff Sergeant Zerangue’s squad received intense enemy automatic weapons fire and was subsequently cut off from the remainder of the company. He immediately organized his men into a defensive perimeter, and they countered the attack with a heavy volume of fire. Although the enemy inflicted many casualties among his squad, he utilized the forces remaining and delayed the enemy attack giving the rest of the company time to regroup and form a defensive perimeter. During the attack, Staff Sergeant Zerangue was twice wounded, but refused to be evacuated. Instead, he remained in the heat of the battle, guiding and positioning his squad in order to counter t he enemy’s attack. He was subsequently wounded a third time, but remained with his squad to lead them against the enemy until he was mortally wounded. Staff Sergeant Zerangue’s prominent display of aggressiveness, devotion to duty and personal bravery was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.