[2][3] On 13 May, McCloughan's company air assaulted into a landing zone near Tam Kỳ and Nui Yon Hill, coming under small arms and machine gun fire from defending North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces.

Upon reaching the crash site, they saw a badly wounded soldier sprawled on the ground, and McCloughan ran 100 meters (110 yards) to him through an open field, dodging the fire of his unit and a charging NVA platoon.

[2] Later that afternoon, the company's 2nd Platoon was ambushed by a large NVA unit, suffering heavy casualties, while conducting reconnaissance near Nui Yon Hill.

After supplies ran low, McCloughan volunteered to hold a blinking light in an exposed position to mark a location for a night resupply drop, remaining steadfast in the enemy fire.

[2] In 2009, McCloughan's former platoon leader revived his Distinguished Service Cross nomination with the assistance of United States Senator Carl Levin of Michigan.

[4] On 23 December 2016, then-President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, which included legislation allowing for a waiver to the five-year time limit on Medal of Honor awards.

[6] Then-Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning signed his Medal of Honor certificate on 27 December 2016,[7] and on 13 June 2017, the White House announced that McCloughan would receive his award from President Donald Trump on 31 July.

On May 13th, with complete disregard for his life, he ran 100 meters in an open field through heavy fire to rescue a comrade too injured to move and carried him to safety.

He ignored a direct order to stay back, and braved an enemy assault while moving into the "kill zone" on four more occasions to extract wounded comrades.

Private First Class McCloughan was wounded a second time by small arms fire and shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade while rendering aid to two soldiers in an open rice paddy.

Private First Class McCloughan, again with complete disregard for his life, went into the crossfire numerous times throughout the battle to extract the wounded soldiers, while also fighting the enemy.

When supplies ran low, Private First Class McCloughan volunteered to hold a blinking strobe light in an open area as a marker for a nighttime resupply drop.

Private First Class McCloughan's personal heroism, professional competence, and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Americal Division, and the United States Army.