The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Nicholas W. Schoch, Specialist Fourth Class, 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 B, 3d Battalion, 187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile). Specialist Four Schoch distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions during the period 10 to 18 May 1969 while serving as a medical aidman during a mission to capture the enemy citadel of Dong Ap Bia Mountain.

On 10 May his company engaged an entrenched North Vietnamese force, and Specialist Schoch rushed to the area of fiercest conflict and began to administer medical aid to the wounded. Once, he moved to aid three seriously wounded men lying in an area completely devoid of cover. While treating one of the men, he became the target of a sniper in a nearby tree. Taking the weapon of the man he was treating, he killed the sniper.

On 13 May his unit assaulted the enemy stronghold and again came under heavy concentration of hostile fire. As Specialist Schoch was applying first aid to the wounded of the lead element, the medical aidman of another platoon sustained serious wounds and could not breathe. Braving hostile fire, he skillfully performed a tracheotomy on his wounded comrade who resumed breathing and was evacuated. Later as he was treating a casualty, an enemy fragmentation grenade fell near him and the wounded man. He instantly grabbed the grenade and threw it into a nearby bomb crater and then eliminated the enemy soldier who had thrown the device. After completing treatment, he carried the American to a landing zone for evacuation. On the following day, Specialist Schoch treated and evacuated four wounded soldiers who had been well forward in a maneuver toward the summit of the mountain.
On 15 May, as the battle for the hill still raged, a helicopter carrying ammunition was downed by hostile fire. Despite the fact that the burning aircraft might explode at any moment, Specialist Schoch ran to the wreckage and retrieved an unconscious survivor and carried him through a barrage of sniper fire to safety where he administered first aid, saving the man’s life. For the remainder of the day and until 18 May, he took charge of medical treatment and evacuation on the emergency landing zone. Specialist Four Schoch’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.