The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Corporal Kenneth E. Hopkins (MCSN: 263628), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while attached to Headquarters and Service Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Reinforced), and serving as a Light Machine Gunner of a Wharang Platoon of South Korean Police, during operations against enemy aggressor forces in Korea on 28 November 1950. With his platoon subjected to a sudden, vicious attack by a numerically superior hostile force, Corporal Hopkins fearlessly exposed himself to the intense barrage to deliver accurate and effective machine gun fire on the approaching attackers and inflict extremely heavy casualties among their ranks, forcing them to withdraw in disorder. When the enemy reorganized and again attacked and overran elements of platoon strength nearby, he promptly displaced his machine gun to bring fire to bear on targets of opportunity. Standing fast, he continued his fire until the hostile troops surrounded his position and attacked from the rear then, displacing his machine gun, he joined friendly forces, personally accounting for more than sixty hostile deal. Corporal Hopkins, by his daring initiative, aggressive determination and heroic fighting spirit, succeeded in preventing the enemy from completing its mission of overrunning the battalion command post, thereby upholding the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.