The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Staff Sergeant Richard J. Cole (ASN: 20619872), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with the 32d Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized), on 23 December 1944, in Belgium. Staff Sergeant Cole was securing ammunition for his gun crew when his tank received a direct hit from an enemy 88-mm. gun, setting the tank ablaze and injuring its crew. Braving intense artillery and small arms fire, Staff Sergeant Cole, although wounded by a shell fragment, entered the blazing tank on three occasions to rescue severely wounded crew members. After extricating each soldier from the tank, he carried him approximately 25 yards across fire-swept terrain to safety.