The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class Robert L. Bedwell (ASN: 35812100), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company I, 3d Battalion, 254th Infantry Regiment, 63d Infantry Division, in action on 29 January 1945, in the vicinity of Jebsheim, France. Private First Class Bedwell, accompanied by another soldier, dashed across an open area in the face of intense machine gun and machine pistol fire to succeed in setting fire to hay in a barn from which fifty-nine enemy soldiers ran out to surrender. His exemplary courage is commensurate with the finest traditions of the Armed Forces of the United States.