Career
Silk joined the Army from his birth city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania in April 1941, and by November 23, 1944 was serving as a first lieutenant in Company East, 398th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division. On that day, near Saint Pravel, France, he single-handedly attacked a German-held farmhouse and captured the soldiers inside. He was awarded the Medal of Honor a year later, on November 1, 1945.
Silk reached the rank of lieutenant colonel before leaving the Army.
He died at age 39 from complications from a peptic ulcer and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington County, Virginia. Skillfully deploying his light machinegun section, By his gallant willingness to assume the full burden of the attack and the intrepidity with which he carried out his extremely hazardous mission.