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 Willard J. Rey (ASN: US-56147972), United States Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Company E, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division, in action against an armed enemy on 8 October 1951 in the vicinity of Sanggonbae, Korea. On this date, during an assault on Hill 636, the gateway to the ridge objectives of the Regiment, elements of Company E were pinned down by an intense blaze of fire from the hostile positions. Private Rey noticed that the main resistance was coming from a machine gun situated in a heavily fortified bunker. Completely disregarding his own safety, he voluntarily left his position of comparative safety and ascended the hill through the deadly enemy fire. Upon reaching a position within grenade range of the bunker, Private Rey rose and, while fully exposed to a heavy concentration of fire from his objective and neighboring positions, threw hand grenades into the hostile emplacement, destroying it and killing its occupants. While thus fearlessly exposed to the hostile fire, Private Rey was fatally wounded. Through his courageous and self-sacrificing spirit, elements of his unit were able to resume their advance and secure the objective with a minimum of friendly casualties. His valor was outstanding on a field of battle where bravery is common and will live forever in the hearts of his comrades.