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 First Class Aubry E. Ball (ASN: 37146366), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company M, 3d Battalion, 129th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division, in action at Luzon, Philippine Islands, on 29 January 1945. Private Ball, a machine gunner, was firing his weapon from a newly captured hill when enemy tanks attacked the hill from the rear, spraying it with intense machine gun and 47-millimeter fire. Private Ball was forced to momentarily take cover, but realizing that his exposed machine gun was in danger of being destroyed by the hostile fire, he secured the assistance of another man, crawled over the hill in the face of intense Japanese fire, and carried the gun to a more sheltered location. Then, bidding his comrade to take cover, he loaded his machine gun and was just starting to fire when he was fatally wounded by an enemy shell.