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 Richard G. Mortensen (ASN: 19073993), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company A, 1st Battalion, 222d Infantry Regiment, 42d Infantry Division. On 23 January 1945, near Schweighausen, France, Sergeant Mortensen with three other men armed with a BAR and rifles formed a combat outpost protecting the right flank of the platoon. After driving off two enemy attacks, Sergeant Mortensen and the other men held off an enemy detachment of approximately 40 men with a machine gun, destroying the machine gun, killing 14 and wounding a number of the enemy and enabled their platoon to make its withdrawal from a position in which it was surrounded by a large enemy force.