AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  Vietnam
MODEL:  UH-1E

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant Richard C. Regan for heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight while serving as a Pilot with Marine Light Helicopter Squadron 167, Marine Aircraft Group Sixteen, First Marine Aircraft Wing in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On the afternoon of 2 February 1969, First Lieutenant Regan launched as Wingman in a flight of two armed UH-1E helicopters assigned the mission of supporting the emergency extraction of a seven-man Marine reconnaissance team which was heavily engaged in combat with a large North Vietnamese Army force in a mountainous area southwest of An Hoa. Arriving over the designated area, he was informed that the patrol was surrounded by the enemy and pinned down by intense automatic weapons fire and that fixed-wing aircraft and CH-46 transport helicopters equipped with extraction ladders had been requested for the extraction attempt. Undaunted by the extremely heavy volume of North Vietnamese fire directed at his aircraft, First Lieutenant Regan boldly maneuvered his gunship on rocket and strafing runs and delivered is ordnance with such devastating effectiveness that the Marines were able to move to a bomb crater which had been selected as a pick-up site. Skillfully coordinating his firing runs with air strikes by a flight of A-4 Skyhawk aircraft and the rocket and strafing runs of a supporting OV-10 Bronco aircraft, he continued to ignore the intense hostile fire as he fearlessly executed repeated low-altitude rocket and strafing runs and delivered his ordnance on the target with pinpoint accuracy. As a result of his flight's devastating attacks, the North Vietnamese fire was suppressed sufficiently to allow the transport helicopters to enter the precarious area and safely extract the reconnaissance team. First Lieutenant Regan's courage, superior airmanship, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of great personal danger were instrumental in accomplishing the hazardous mission and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.