The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain (Infantry), [then First Lieutenant] Robert E. Hutchins (ASN: 0-1019175), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving with Company B, 31st Tank Battalion, 7th Armored Division, in action in the area of Born, Belgium, on 19 January 1945. When a small group of his command was in perilous position, besieged by numerically superior enemy, Captain Hutchins braved death to obtain medical aid for the wounded and relief for his hard-pressed fighters. Finding the force under heavy fire in a house only 100 yards from the Germans, Captain Hutchins stripped himself of all equipment and crawled over 150 yards in deep snow to reach medical personnel and report the position of his men, two of whom were casualties. He then walked for over a mile to secure a platoon of tanks and infantry and personally led them in knocking out the hostile force that was threatening his troops. Captain Hutchins’ courageous action, which saved his men from death or capture, is keeping with the highest traditions of the Armed Forces of the United States.