Captain Robert G. Mayor, gained the Distinguished Service Cross for his extraordinary heroism in the Republic of Vietnam during the period from 19 October through 25 October 1968 while leading a reconnaissance-in-force operation in the enemy-infiltrated mountains near Da Nang. Late in the afternoon of 19 October, Captain Mayor detected movement on a nearby ridge and quickly positioned his company in an ambush formation. When the North Vietnamese force entered the killing zone, he initated an attack with Claymore mines and grenades. After the successful skirmish, the unit continued to seek out the enemy. During the early morning hours of 25 October, the company’s night position was hit by a hostile force that penetrated the defensive line and swarmed toward the command post. Captain Mayor immediately ordered his men to fire into the center of the camp, even though the members of the command post had only scant protection. After the perimeter troops had unleashed a barrage on the invaders, the command group engaged the fleeing enemy soldiers at close range. Captain Mayor shot one hostile soldier and used his empty rifle to bludgeon another to death. The remnant North Vietnamese force fled into the jungle. Later in the day as communist mortar rounds began to pound the hill, Captain Mayor decided to break camp and capture a nearby hill held by a well-entranced enemy force. He located the site of the hostile mortar emplacement and called in artillery strikes on the North Vietnamese entrenchments. When the enemy soldiers were forced out of their bunkers by the devastating barrage, he led an assault up the hill-side. Suddenly his men were pinned down by strafing machine gun fire. Running and crawling forward through the fusillade, Captain Mayor neared the machine gun emplacement which he destroyed with a well-thrown grenade. Shortly afterward, his men successfully routed the enemy force and secured the hill. Captain Mayor’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.

Major Mayor joined the Legion of Valor in 1973.