Ivan J. Burket

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Ivan J. Burket (0-2006351), Second Lieutenant (Infantry), U.S. Army, for gallantry in action against the enemy while serving with Company H, 274th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division, on 25 February 1945, near Styring Wendel, France. While at an 81-mm. mortar observation post, Lieutenant Burket, observing an enemy counter attack, attempted to fight it off with hand grenades. When the enemy closed in, making his position untenable, he grabbed an arm load of hand grenades and ran to a pillbox twenty yards away. During this action an enemy rifle shot pierced both forearms, forcing him to drop the grenades. Inside the pillbox, he directed the bracketing in of approximately 400 rounds of mortar shells on the enemy all around the pillbox. Directly as a result of his gallant actions, the counter attack was stopped.