The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the   AIR MEDAL (Bronze Star for the First Award) to

for service as set forth in the following

                 CITATION:

         "For  heroic  achievement  in  aerial  flight  while  serving as a Pilot with   Marine   Medium   Helicopter   Squadron    364   Marine   Aircraft Group Sixteen,  First Marine Aircraft wing in connection with operations against  the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam.   On the  night of 26 Jan- uary 1969,  Captain Keckler  launched  as  Section  Leader  of a  flight of CH-46   transport  aircraft  assigned  the  emergency  resupply  of  vitally needed  ammunition to  a  small Marine  unit  in a  mountainous  area of Quang  Nam  Province.   Arriving over  the designated  location,  he  dis- covered  that a  night  haze  and  lack of  both  moonlight  and  flareship made it  almost impossible to  locate the ground unit and  that the strobe light utilized  by the  Marines was  obscured by the  heavy jungle canopy. Due to  the cumbersome  cargo attached to  his  100 foot  cable,  Captain Keckler was unable to execute a  tight spiral which would have aided him in  pinpointing  the  landing  zone,   but,  after  futilely  attempting  three approaches,  determined to satisfy the desperate needs of the ground unit by dropping  the cargo into the zone.  As he maneuvered his transport as close to the site  as possible,  he came under  a down  draft which  caused him to  lose power.   As his copilot  quickly  jettisoned  the  ammunition, Captain Keckler,  displaying superior  airmanship,  recovered  control of his helicopter and,  with utmost skill,  executed a  lift off just short of the tree  tops.  Captain Keckler's  courage,  superb  aeronautical  ability  and unwavering  devotion  to duty at  great personal  risk contributed signifi- cantly to the accomplishment of the mission and were in keeping with the highest  traditions  of  the  Marine Corps and of  the United States Naval Service.