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 Joseph F. Ozwirk (ASN: 6813245), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company I, 3d Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, in action against the enemy in Italy, on 29 February 1944. When an enemy counterattack on his company’s position was stopped by heavy fire in front of concertina wire strung along a ditch to the front of the Infantry unit on the morning of 29 February 1944, Private Ozwirk quickly left his foxhole and began crawling forward, through enemy machinegun and artillery fire, to flank them. As he approached he began firing at a group of Germans who had become entangled in the wire when they had sought cover in the ditch. Remaining in the exposed are under continuing fire for approximately 45 minutes, he took 15 prisoners, two of them officers, and returned them to his company. His gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.