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 Jesse Sibley (ASN: RA-6705048), United States Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Headquarters and Service Battery, 52d Field Artillery Battalion, 24th Infantry Division, near Osan, Korean, on 5 July 1950. His unit was attacked without warning by an overwhelming, numerically superior enemy force. After several hours of bitter fighting, the friendly troops were completely surrounded and all possible avenues of escape were cut off by enemy road blocks. Although he was in a relatively safe position outside the enemy encirclement, Private Sibley volunteered to go forward with a machine gun crew in an attempt to break up the road blocks, thereby providing a route of withdrawal for his unit. Although outnumbered twenty-to-one, he continuously exposed himself to the enemy and aggressively engaged them in fire fights which caused the hostile soldiers to disperse and opened a safe route of withdrawal for his surrounded unit. When last seen, he was still manning his machine gun fighting against harassing enemy snipers. Private Sibley’s courageous action, indomitable spirit and selfless performance of a mission far beyond the call of duty contributed immeasurably to the success of his unit’s withdrawal and reflect the highest credit on himself and the United States Artillery.