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 Second Lieutenant (Infantry) Albert J. Gibeau, Jr. (ASN: 0-1999996), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with the 320th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, in action near **** and ****,Belgium, on 7 and 15 January 1945. While directing fire of his machine gun section in support of attacking riflemen, Lieutenant Gibeau noticed one of his guns out of action, ran to that position and attempted to place the gun back in action. While so engaged he was wounded by an enemy rifle grenade, but refused evacuation, and personally manned a machine gun whose crew members had become casualties. He succeeded in destroying an enemy machine gun, thereby enabling assault troops to reach their objective with minimum casualties. On 15 January, Lieutenant Gibeau led his section forward to support an attack on ****. With complete disregard for personal safety, he supervised the placing of his guns in position on each flank despite intense concentrations of enemy fire, and was killed by an enemy artillery shell while moving from one gun position to another. His gallant devotion to duty reflects credit upon himself, his unit, and the military service.