The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant First Class Robert M. Slater (ASN: RA-34929995), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving with Battery D, 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Battalion (Self Propelled), 7th Infantry Division, in action at the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, on 28 November 1950. On this date the gun section of which Sergeant Slater was the leader was in close support of two field artillery units at a point on a defense perimeter. Sergeant Slater emplaced his two self-propelled weapons so as best to cover the routes of approach being used by the enemy to attack the perimeter at that point. Between the hours of 0030 to 0730 on this date the enemy attempted to pierce the perimeter by repeated rushes with small arms, hand grenades and Bangalore torpedoes, in an effort to knock our Sergeant Slater’s weapons. Although he could have exercised command of his section from the comparative safety of a foxhole or inside one of the armored vehicles, Sergeant Slater, with undaunted courage, voluntarily exposed himself to intense enemy fire by going constantly back and forth between the weapons, directing the fire, passing ammunition, encouraging the gun crews, assigning and instructing replacements for casualties, until he himself was wounded in the face by shell fragments, although this did not stop him. As a result of his high devotion to duty and his extreme personal bravery, his section killed at least one hundred enemy and the integrity of the defense in that vicinity was maintained. Sergeant Slater’s heroism, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.