| This page of the Korean War Educator is available to our readers to post names and citations
of those who received the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action in the Korean War. It is not
a definitive list of all the heroic Americans who deserved and received this distinguished award in Korea.
If any of our readers have the citations to go along with the names on the list below, please contact
Lynnita Brown to include the award text in the citations
section. If a name needs to be added, simply contact Lynnita.
Page Contents:
For distinguished gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States
or while serving with friendly forces against an opposing enemy force.
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Descriptive Information
 Description:
A Gold star, 1-1/2 inches in circumscribing diameter with a laurel wreath encircling rays from the center
and a 3/16 inch diameter silver star superimposed in the center. The pendant is suspended from a rectangular
shaped metal loop with rounded corners. The reverse has the inscription "FOR GALLANTRY IN ACTION".
- Ribbon:
The ribbon is 1-3/8 inches wide and consists of the following stripes: 3/32 inch Ultramarine Blue 67118;
3/64 inch White 67101; 7/32 inch Ultramarine Blue; 7/32 inch White; 7/32 inch Old Glory Red 67156 (center
stripe); 7/32 inch White; 7/32 inch Ultramarine Blue; 3/64 inch White; and 3/32 inch Ultramarine Blue.
- Criteria:
The Silver Star is awarded to a person who, while serving in any capacity with the U.S. Army, is cited
for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States while engaged in military operations involving
conflict with an opposing foreign force, or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in armed
conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. The
required gallantry, while of a lesser degree than that required for award of the Distinguished Service
Cross, must nevertheless have been performed with marked distinction. Soldiers who received a citation
for gallantry in action during World War I may apply to have the citation converted to the Silver Star
Medal.
- Components:
The following are authorized components of the Silver Star Medal:
a. Decoration (regular size): MIL-D-3943/11. NSN for decoration set: 8455-00-269-5758. Individual
medal: 8455-00-246-3834.
b. Decoration (miniature size): MIL-D-3943/11. NSN 8455-00-996-5013.
c. Ribbon: MIL-R-11589/136. NSN 8455-00-252-9953.
d. Lapel Button: MIL-L-11484/9. NSN 8455-00-253-0819.
- Background:
a. The Citation Star was established as a result of an Act of Congress on July 9, 1918 (65th
Congress, Sess II, Chapter 143, page 873) and was promulgated in War Department Bulletin No. 43 dated
1918. It was retroactive to include those cited for gallantry in action in previous campaigns back to
the Spanish-American War. Per letter from General Jervey, Office of the Chief of Staff, dated February
26, 1926, is quoted in part: The Secretary of War directs as follows - The following is the amended
version of paragraph 187 of Army Regulation: "No more than one Medal of Honor or one Distinguished Service
Cross or one Distinguished Service Medal shall be issued to any one person, but for each succeeding
or act sufficient to justify the award of a Medal of Honor or Distinguished Service Cross or Distinguished
Service Medal, respectively, a bronze oak leaf cluster, shall be issued in lieu thereof; and for each
citation of an officer or enlisted man for gallantry in action, published in orders from headquarters
of a force commanded by a general officer, not warranting the issue of a Medal of Honor, Distinguished
Service Cross or Distinguished Service Medal, he shall wear a silver star, 3/16 inch in diameter, as
prescribed in Uniform Regulations." Army Regulation 600-40, paragraph 48, September 27, 1921, specified
that the Citation Star would be worn above the clasp, on the ribbon of the service medal for the campaign
for service in which the citations were given.
b. On July 19, 1932, the Secretary of War approved the Silver Star medal to replace the Citation
Star. This design placed the Citation Star on a bronze pendant suspended from the ribbon design. The
star was no longer attached to a service or campaign ribbon.
c. Authorization for the Silver Star was placed into law by an Act of Congress for the Navy on
August 7, 1942 and an Act of Congress for the Army on December 15, 1942. The primary reason for congressional
authorization was the desire to award the medal to civilians as well as the Army. The current statutory
authorization for the Silver Star Medal is Title 10, United States Code, Section 3746.
d. Order of precedence and wear of decorations is contained in Army Regulation 670-1. Policy
for awards, approving authority, supply, and issue of decorations is contained in Army Regulation 600-8-22.
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Introduction
The Korean War Silver Star recipients found on this page of the KWE are by no means the full roster of
recipients of the award. The listing was compiled by searching the internet for names and citations and
relying on printed resources and submissions to the KWE. It is a predominantly Army listing, but KWE
is trying to locate the names of the Silver Star recipients from other branches of service. (Everyone
is invited to help.) Visitors who are searching for Silver Star recipient names and citations might
be interested to read this message to the KWE from Paul B. Brown, Modern Military Records, Textual Archives
Services Division, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland:
"Although among our holdings can be found 'award case files' for soldiers of the U.S. Eighth Army
who were recommended for various medals, we do not have a comprehensive list of citations for personnel
who received the Silver Star medal during the Korean War."
Silver Star recipients from the 65th Infantry Regiment are listed on the KWE courtesy of Danny and Mildred
Nieves, whose "Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment" website is located at
www.valerosos.com. Danny wrote to say:
"I have 255 Silver Star Recipients for my site. Originally I had only the 125 that are listed in
Max W. Dolcator's history of the Third Division for the 65th Infantry Regiment. The actual title of
Dolcator's book is "3d Infantry Division in Korea", Tokyo: Toppan Printing Company, 1953. The book has
a listing of the Silver Star recipients for the 65th Infantry Regiment and its sister regiments, the
7th and 15th. The listing for the 65th in Dolcator's book is incomplete since it only lists 125 Silver
Stars.
Dolcator listed the names but did not include the citations. While researching the 65th Infantry
Regiment at the National Archives, I came across the citations for the Silver Stars and Bronze Stars
that I have on my site. The focus of my research was the 65th Infantry Regiment, but I did see the citations
for its sister regiments too. The names that do not have links to citations on the Silver Star pages
of my site are part of Dolcator’s original list, and I have not made copies of those citations yet.
My wife and I made two trips to the Archives in Maryland and made over 1000 photo copies. On my last
trip my wife was exhausted from the research. She and my son gave the order to retreat. I left without
making copies for a six month period of the Korean War.
Currently I am working on the Bronze Star list and the roster for the 65th. When time permits I will
go back to the archives and make copies for the citations that I am missing for the Silver Star page.
As you can probably imagine, this has been a lot of work. You are welcomed to the Silver Star citations
that are on my site and I am glad that you are giving my wife and me credit for the work we did."
A list of Army Rangers who received the Silver Star in Korea was found on pages 247 and 248 of the book
Rangers in Korea by Robert W. Black (Ballantine Books, 1989). A list of Silver Star recipients
from the 5th Marines was given to the KWE. Other Marine Silver Star recipients were from a list compiled
by Jane Blakeney, author of Heroes of the Marine Corps: 1861-1955.
Others who have made this page possible include researcher Merry
Helm, who has forwarded hundreds of recipient names and
citations to the KWE; Doug Sterner, who manages the Home of
Heroes Military Hall of Valor on the internet; and numerous
individuals.
The Korean War Educator encourages anyone who received a Silver Star in the Korean War to add their information
to this listing, which is "under-construction". To add your information, send a copy of the recipient's
citation to Lynnita Brown, 111 E. Houghton St., Tuscola, IL 61953.
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Silver Star Citations - General Information
*KWE Note: Non-comprehensive Silver Star citations issued by the Eighth Army
can be found in the Records of the Adjutant General Section, Eighth Army, found in College Park, MD.
Note the following information:
II.379 General orders, 1948-56 [A1, Entry 151] (2 ft.), are arranged chronologically and
thereunder numerically. The orders include listings of recipients for awards such as the Bronze
Star, Silver Star, and Purple Heart, but do not contain background papers documenting the award
justification. However, such papers may reside in the award case files, 1950-53 [A1,
Entry 159] (70 ft.), which are arranged by year and thereunder alphabetically by name of recipient.
A box listing and a rudimentary name listing for this series is available for use in the Textual
Research Room in College Park, MD, or upon request. Award case files for Medal of Honor
and other decorations, 1950-51 [A1, Entry 161] (10 in.), are arranged roughly by year and thereunder
alphabetically. Additional unit award case files, 1950-51 [A1, Entry 154] (2 ft.),
have been organized as a separate series.
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List of Silver Star Recipients - Submitted to/found by the KWE
List of Silver Star recipients submitted to the KWE are listed Alphabetical by Last name. Please click
an alpha link to go to that page.
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M Mc
N O
P Q
R S
T U
V W
X Y
Z
Silver Star Citations - Submitted to/found by the KWE
Silver Star citations submitted to KWE are listed Alphabetical by Last Name. Please click an alpha
link to go to that page.
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M Mc
N O
P Q
R S
T U
V W
X Y
Z
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Planchet Research Group
Albert F. Gleim of the Planchet Research Group has compiled a booklet entitled, "U.S. Army and U.S.
Air Force Awards of the Silver Star for the Korean War." The booklet includes an incomplete listing
(far less than found by the KWE) of the the names of recipients, as well as a code to identify the specific
General Order that announced the award. The code includes the year the order was given.
Gleim's research includes Silver Star medals issued to civilians, as well as members of the British
Army, Royal Marines, Australian Forces, South African Forces, Belgian Forces, Colombian Forces, Ethiopian
Forces, French Forces, Greek Forces, Republic of Korea Forces, and Forces of the Netherlands, Philippines,
Thailand, and Turkey. To obtain a copy of this booklet, write to: Planchet Research Group, P.O.
Box 407, Madison, VA 22727. The booklet is not free. The Korean War Educator is not endorsing
this product.]
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