The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant (Infantry) Harold Napoleon Gilbert, Jr. (ASN: 0-514667), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company A, 716th Tank Battalion, 6th Infantry Division, in action against the enemy on 27 January 1945, in the Cabaruan Hills, Luzon, Philippine Islands, First Lieutenant Gilbert commanded a platoon of tanks in a combined tank-infantry attack against heavily defended enemy positions on commanding ground. The deeply entrenched enemy directed anti-tank machine gun, mortar, and rifle fire into the tanks of the attacking forces. The combined attack stopped as communications between tank and infantry were disrupted. Realizing the danger to friendly forces if the attack was not resumed immediately, First Lieutenant Gilbert dismounted in to the vicious hostile fire and successfully re-established communications by contacting the infantry company commander. Upon remounting his tank he was wounded in the leg by enemy fire. Disregarding his painful wound, he continued to press the attack. After five hours of intense action, weak from his wounded an exhausted by the terrible strain, he was lifted from the tank and evacuated. The gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty demonstrated by First Lieutenant Gilbert, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.