The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class Elton L. Knight (ASN: 33852594), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with the 101st Airborne Division. On 10 January 1945 his company was assigned the mission of securing the high ground in the vicinity of Longchamps, Belgium and establishing defensive positions. When the company crossed the line of departure it was pinned down by enemy automatic weapons fire and heavy concentrations of enemy artillery. Although the enemy was well entrenched and he was under intense fire, Private First Class Knight, disregarding his own safety, used his machine gun as an assault weapon and, firing it from the hip, rushed an enemy strongpoint consisting of two machine guns and five machine pistols. He succeeded in silencing the strongpoint and continued to spray the enemy lines with the fire from his machine gun. The cool courageous manner in which Private First Class Knight conducted himself enabled his company to secure its objective. His actions were in accordance with the military traditions of the United States.