The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Private Leonard Mathis, United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with 596th Engineer Company, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, in action against the enemy in France, on 30 August 1944. Private Leonard Mathis, Private First Class Ernest R. Coffelt, and Sergeant Howard Jaynes had cleared a path through an enemy anti-airborne minefield across the Var River, France, which consisted of booby-trapped 155-mm. artillery shells. These were hung from wires stretched between poles about five feet above ground. The procedure was that one man would “embrace” the shell and raise it a fraction of an inch while a second man would reach up and insert the safety pin in the detonator. The third man then knelt to hep catch the shell’s weight after the first man cut the wire. Private First Class Coffelt was inserting the safety pins and Private Mathis was kneeling, while Sergeant Jaynes inserted the safety pin. The three gallant engineers were killed when the 17th such booby trap exploded. The gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty demonstrated by Private Mathis, at the cost of his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.