Stephen J. Wall

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Stephen J. Wall (32863301), Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company M, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division. On 25 January 1945, after Staff Sergeant Wall set up his heavy machine gun section to return the intense fire of enemy small arms 100 yards distant, near Houssen, France, the two weapons jammed. Running to the nearest machine gun, he exposed himself for 20 minutes to enemy bullets that killed a man three yards from him and mortar shells bursting 15 yards away, while he repaired the gun. He then dashed 150 yards over to the second gun and spent 15 minutes under fire repairing it. When the first weapon jammed again, Staff Sergeant Wall fixed it and then personally engaged a hostile machine gun, silencing it in a 15-minute duel. Turning his weapon on other hostile emplacements, he laid down such accurate fire that he drove back all enemy attempts to counter-attack.