The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant (Infantry) Teruo Ihara (ASN: 0-1695695), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving with Company E, 2d Battalion, 442d Regimental Combat Team, attached to the 34th Infantry Division, on 4 July 1944, in Italy. When their attack was met with extremely heavy enemy fire of all types the company was forced to withdraw. Lieutenant Ihara’s squad lost contact with the remainder of the company and were forced to spend the night in enemy territory. When the squad attempted to find an escape route the next morning, they discovered several of the enemy digging in on the reverse slope of the hill. Lieutenant Ihara deployed his squad and aided in knocking out a machine gun nest located on a terrace above his squad’s positions. As Lieutenant Ihara was crawling forward to locate enemy positions, he encountered an enemy soldier whom he instantly killed with accurate fire. The main body of the enemy troops, sensing an attack, attempted to withdraw to a wooded area to the rear. Lieutenant Ihara and two comrades, however, laid such heavy and accurate fire upon the enemy that only four of them escaped. The courage and aggressiveness displayed by Lieutenant Ihara was instrumental in killing and wounding 60 of the enemy and his actions reflects highly upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.