The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant [then Captain] Pedro J. Leander, Philippine Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Company A, 3d Infantry Regiment, Philippine Army, in action against the enemy at Nagbalayon, Bataan, on 22 January 1942. While in command of his company on a defensive front, Lieutenant Leander crawled to a hostile enemy mortar and silenced it, thus minimizing the shelling of his own men.