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] Gustave J. Gillert, Jr. (ASN: 0-2020719), United States Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, in action against an armed enemy in Korea. On 26 July 1950, the enemy launched a coordinated counterattack against a battalion in the vicinity of Song-ju, Korea. During the heated engagement the battalion command post was subjected to a heavy barrage of mortar fire which seriously wounded one soldier. Captain Gillert, the battalion S2, ran fifty yards through the concerted fire to the man, applied a tourniquet and moved him to a position of comparative safety. Later, the battalion was threatened with envelopment and displacement was ordered; in the absence of mechanical communications, Captain Gillert moved forward through heavy fire to deliver the orders to the forward elements. He remained forward, assisting the company commander in the most difficult maneuver to break contact with the enemy. It was largely through his effort that the displacement was successfully accomplished. Captain Gillert’s exemplary courage, grim determination and selfless devotion to duty reflect great credit upon himself and uphold the highest traditions of the Military Service of the United States.