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 Donald R. VanVolkinburg (ASN: 36873021), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with the 35th Infantry Division, in action in the vicinity of Fresnes-en-Saulnois, France, on 8 November 1944. When Company F, 2d Battalion, 320th Infantry Regiment was forced to make a withdrawal during a heavy enemy mortar barrage, a wounded soldier became entangled in barbed wire from which he was unable to extricate himself, and was left behind exposed to intense enemy fire. Seeing the distress of his comrade, Private VanVolkinburg voluntarily crawled from a covered position across approximately fifty yards of terrain subjected to aimed machine gun and small arms fire to reach the wounded man, released him from the wire entanglement, and carried him back to the company positions. Private VanVolkinburg’s intrepid loyalty to a wounded comrade-in-arms is in accord with the military traditions of the United States.