Navy Federal Credit Union

Awards Received

  • Silver Star

    Service:

    United States Navy

    Rank:

    Lieutenant, Junior Grade

    Action Date:

    January 25, 1952

    Headquarters, VIII U.S. Army, Korea (EUSAK), General Orders No. 358 (July 8, 1952)

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star (Army Award) to Lieutenant, Junior Grade George Atcheson (NSN: 0-476757), United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as a member of Headquarters Joint Advisory Commission Korea, in action against the enemy in Korea. Late on the night of 25 January 1952, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Atcheson led a raiding party consisting of forty-five Koreans in an amphibious action designed to destroy a railway bridge located on a vital enemy transportation link extending down the east coast of northern Korea. After landing on the hostile beach and personally placing the explosive charges on the bridge, Lieutenant, Junior Grade Atcheson observed an enemy patrol entering the area. So skilled was his direction of the friendly fire that fourteen of the fifteen hostile soldiers were killed and one captured. Then, with calm efficiency, Lieutenant, Junior Grade Atcheson supervised the setting of the detonators and led his men back to the beach where they were transported back to the ship from which they had come. A short time later, the charges exploded with great force and, when morning came, a derailed locomotive was observed at the site of the destroyed bridge and was subsequently rendered useless by naval gunfire. The gallantry and singular skill displayed by Lieutenant, Junior Grade Atcheson in carrying out this vital and extremely hazardous mission reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.