The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain (Infantry), [then First Lieutenant] Angelo J. Balafas, United States Army, for gallantry in action near Wonju, Korea, on 15 – 16 January 1951. As a platoon leader in Company G, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division, Captain Balafas led a patrol ten miles through a narrow valley. Despite the fact that groups of enemy troops appeared in numerous places in the rugged mountains flanking the road threatened to cut them off, Captain Balafas led a small detachment in advance of the main patrol into a minefield where an M-16 half-track vehicle had been abandoned. Clearing sufficient mines to allow passage Captain Balafas drove the vehicle out under its own power. Fighting enemy forces which had increased in strength during the entire withdrawal the patrol captured several prisoners and reopened an important route. Captain Balafas’ courage in exposing himself to small arms fire and mines to recover a sorely needed vehicle, his superior leadership in conducting a mission of greater scope than anticipated, and his exemplary conduct in the face of a numerically superior enemy are in the best tradition of the United States Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the military service.