Rank: First Lieutenant
Unit: I Troop, 3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 1204 – Armored Reconnaissance Unit Commander
Awards: Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Unit awards: Valorous Unit Award, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Reserve
Commission Source: Armor OCS Class 30-67 D1, Fort Knox, Kentucky
Date of birth: 25-Oct-1946
Hometown: Windsorville, Connecticut
Marital status: Never Married
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Entered service: 6-Oct-1965
Start of tour: 5-Oct-1968
Incident date: 19-Jun-1969
Date of casualty: 19-Jun-1969
Age at death: 22
Cause of death: Hostile, died. Grenade. Multiple fragmentation wounds.
Bernard Lawrence Pierce was killed while on a combat operation when a hostile force was encountered. / On combat operation. Engaged hostile force in firefight.
Location of fatality: Binh Long, South Vietnam, XT 695 873
Place of interment: Saint Catherines Cemetery, Broad Brook, Connecticut, USA
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DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS
POSTHUMOUS
FIRST LIEUTENANT BERNARD LAWRENCE PIERCE, ARMOR
19 JUNE 1969
I TROOP, 3rd SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
First Lieutenant Pierce distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Troop I, 3d Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. First Lieutenant Pierce distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 19 June 1969 while serving as leader of an armored platoon near An Loc. Late in the afternoon his troop and an element of infantry came under intense hostile rocket grenade and automatic weapons fire. Seeing that the squad of foot soldiers was pinned down in an exposed position, Lieutenant Pierce directed his vehicle and another track to go to their aid. As the two tracks moved in, Lieutenant Pierce’s track was struck by an antitank rocket, the blast of which rendered him blind. Despite the pain of his serious wounds, he ordered the assault continued as he valiantly manned his machine gun, unleashing a fusillade of suppressive fire. Just after the other track succeeded in rescuing the wounded infantrymen, a rocket-propelled grenade again struck his vehicle and claimed Lieutenant Pierce’s life. First Lieutenant Pierce’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty, at the cost of his life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Headquarters, United States Army Vietnam General Orders No. 4281 (December 1, 1969)