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) Arthur William Pence, Jr. (ASN: 0-28440), United States Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Company A, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division, in action against an armed enemy on 1 August 1952 in the vicinity of Chorwon, North Korea. On that date Captain Pence was serving as commanding officer of a rifle company assigned the mission of securing and holding Hill 266, commonly known as “Old Baldy”. As Captain Pence’s company reached the point for attack it was suddenly subjected to an intense enemy artillery and mortar barrage, followed by a devastating hail of small arms fire, which forced the company to temporarily halt its attack. Realizing the seriousness of the situation and being fully aware of the risks involved, Captain Pence left his place of comparative safety and crossed the fire swept terrain, placing himself in a centralized position in order to be in a location more suitable for issuing orders to his unit. When the friendly nit became temporarily disorganized due to the intense hostile fire, Captain Pence again crossed the bare terrain, constantly exposing himself to the enemy observation in order to better reorganize the company. The actions of Captain Pence in moving from man to man encouraging them to hold on, supervising the evacuation of the numerous friendly casualties and personally participating in the fighting with any weapon available, enabled the company to resume the attack and secure the objective. The gallantry in action and superb leadership displayed by Captain Pence on this occasion reflect great credit upon himself and the military service.