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 Melvin June Humes (ASN: US-52128063), United States Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Company L, 3d Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, in action against an armed enemy in Korea. On the night of 8 August 1952, a platoon of Company L of which Private Humes was a rifleman, was assigned the mission of assaulting an enemy position in the vicinity of Kyeho-dong, Korea. As the friendly assault elements neared their objective, they were subjected to enemy small arms and mortar fire and were in danger of being overrun by the enemy attempting to isolate the base of fire from the assault elements. Upon realizing the seriousness of the situation, Private Humes immediately moved to a forward position from where he fired a rapid and accurate volume of fire upon the foe, enabling the friendly forces to mount a machine gun and direct counter-fire against the enemy. Although knocked to the ground by a mortar fragment, he quickly gained composure and continued harassing the enemy with rifle fire. When the foe threatened to surround the assault squad, he ran toward the enemy, firing his rifle in a final attempt to repulse their aggression. During this action, Private Humes was mortally wounded. The gallantry displayed by Private Humes on this occasion enabled the friendly unit to elude the enemy threats and reflects great credit upon himself and the military service.