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 First Class Shinichi Nakata (ASN: RA-10104720), United States Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Company L, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division, in action against an armed enemy on 25 May 1951, in the vicinity of Kosoktul, Korea. Company L, caught in an enemy ambush, was surrounded and subjected to heavy enemy small arms, automatic weapons, mortar and grenade fire. Private Nakata, with complete disregard for his own safety, ran through the hail of enemy fire to a machine gun whose crew had been destroyed. Carrying the weapon to the company perimeter, he turned it over to a gunner. When the gunner was killed, Private Nakata manned the gun until the ammunition was exhausted. He then once more rushed through the hostile fire to procure more ammunition, returned, and resumed firing. Though wounded in the course of the action, he refused to be evacuated but insisted that the company needed him. He continued to man the weapon until an enemy mortar shell inflicted wounds from which he died the next day. The gallantry in action and self-sacrificing devotion to duty displayed by Private Nakata reflect great credit upon himself and uphold the highest traditions of the Military Service of the United States.