The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant Gerald J. McLaughlin (MCSN: 0-43995), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as a Platoon Commander of Company F, Second Battalion, Fifth Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Reinforced), in action against enemy aggressor forces in Korea on 27 November 1950. When a numerically superior hostile force launched a fanatical attack against his platoon’s position, First Lieutenant McLaughlin fearlessly exposed himself to heavy and accurate enemy small arms, machine gun and grenade fire to reorganize his remaining men and lead them in a counterattack against the enemy. Armed only with a .45 caliber pistol and hand grenades, he continued to press the assault against the hostile troops, which were reinforced by a heavy machine gun and 60-mm. mortars, and, by his daring tactics, personally accounted for five enemy dead in his drive to capture the enemy weapons and to retake all the lost ground. Aggressive and determined throughout, First Lieutenant McLaughlin, by his courageous leadership and heroic fighting spirit contributed to the successful repulse of the enemy attack and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.