The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Private Philip Eugene Johns (ASN: US-52079999), United States Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Company E, 2d Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, in action near Sungam-ni, Korea, on 27 July 1951. His platoon had the mission of taking and securing Hill 734, a rugged, steep terrain feature. As the unit advanced up a ridge, its attack was halted by a tremendous concentration of enemy automatic weapons and small arms fire. Private Johns serving as lead scout, led his squad to a flanking ridge and started towards the top of the hill in an effort to destroy the enemy automatic weapon position that was pinning down the friendly troops. Crawling ahead of the rest of the squad, he reached an enemy communications trench. Dropping into the emplacement, he surprised three hostile soldiers and killed them with a hand grenade and rifle fire. As the rest of the squad moved up to put a machine gun into action, the enemy again halted the attack with a withering hail of automatic weapons and small arms fire. Private Johns, seeing that his unit was still unable to advance, decided to personally destroy the critical enemy position. With complete disregard for his own safety, he jumped from the trench, exposing himself to the enemy’s inter-locking bands of fire and rushed up the hill toward the enemy bunker. When last seen, he was going over the ridgeline, firing his rifle from the hip and fighting the enemy at point blank range. Private Johns’ courageous action, aggressive initiative and selfless devotion to duty reflect the highest credit on himself and the United States Infantry.