Master Sergeant Richard Allan Pittman (May 26, 1945 – October 13, 2016) was a United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on July 24, 1966, during the Vietnam War.

After he was turned down by the Army and Navy due to being legally blind in one eye,[2] Pittman enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve at Stockton on September 27, 1965.

[3] Master Sergeant Pittman's awards include: The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to for service as set forth in the following citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a member of First Platoon, Company I, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines during combat operations near the Demilitarized Zone, Republic of Vietnam.

Hearing the engaged Marines' calls for more firepower, Sergeant (then Lance Corporal) Pittman quickly exchanged his rifle for a machine gun and several belts of ammunition, left the relative safety of his platoon, and unhesitatingly rushed forward to aid his comrades.

As Sergeant Pittman continued to forge forward to aid members of the leading platoon, he again came under heavy fire from two automatic weapons which he promptly destroyed.

Learning that there were additional wounded Marines fifty yards further along the trail, he braved a withering hail of enemy mortar and small-arms fire to continue onward.

His weapon rendered ineffective, he picked up a submachine gun and, together with a pistol seized from a fallen comrade, continued his lethal fire until the enemy force had withdrawn.