The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant [then Private First Class] Carl D. Diccio (ASN: 33622000), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving with the FIFTH Army, in action on 17 September 1944, in the vicinity of Barberino, Italy. When a platoon was crawling through a barbed wire entanglement, a murderous volume of machine gun, rifle and grenade fire wounded Sergeant Diccio and ten comrades. As the platoon attempted to withdraw, the enemy fire intensified while the Germans began shooting red flares, apparently calling for mortar support. The men of Sergeant Diccio’s squad hugged the ground, unable to move. Realizing the necessity for decisive action, Sergeant Diccio crawled through the barbed wire and poured an intense volume of automatic rifle fire into the opening of a German pillbox, to wound five of the enemy and force the surrender of nineteen others. Although severely wounded, Sergeant Diccio had saved his platoon and had eliminated a difficult obstacle in the path of his company’s advance. His indomitable fighting spirit is a tribute to the gallantry of the American Infantryman.