The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Corporal Virgil Johnson, Jr. (ASN: RA-15428935), United States Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Company L, 3d Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, in action against an armed enemy in Korea. On 7 September 1951, Corporal Johnson’s machine gun unit, while occupying defensive positions on Hill 284, near Chorwon, Korea, was suddenly attacked by numerically superior hostile forces using mortars, automatic weapons, small arms, and grenades. Although this night attack was directed against the entire company, the area of Corporal Johnson’s unit came under the greatest concentrated effort by large numbers of enemy soldiers who penetrated deeply into the defenses. While the machine gun crew was firing desperately into the advancing hordes, a burst of enemy fire inflicted casualties on the men and knocked out their weapon. Corporal Johnson ordered his men to withdraw and, under intense hostile automatic weapons and grenade fire, remained behind to cover the displacement with his personal weapon. He continued to engage the enemy in exchanges of fire until certain that his entire crew had reached safety; but now realizing that the machine gun could be repaired and used by the enemy, he found himself cut off from it by the foe. With this thought in mind, he voluntarily and unhesitatingly charged back through the intense enemy fire to seize the weapon. The sudden fury of this one-man attack caught the enemy off guard; the ensuing confusion enabled him to extricate the weapon and return with it to the new defense positions. The courageous actions of Corporal Johnson greatly slowed the enemy attack, materially contributing in the successful defense of the entire area occupied by the company. The gallantry and fearless devotion to duty displayed by Corporal Johnson reflect the highest credit upon himself and the military service.