The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Sergeant James T. Mitchell (MCSN: 254161), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism as a Squad Leader, serving with Company F, Second Battalion, Twenty-fourth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, during operations against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Mariana Islands, from 15 June to 9 July 1944. Leading a small combat patrol into an enemy-infested wooded draw on 4 July, Sergeant Mitchell aided his men in the annihilation of seven of the enemy. Obtaining more Marines as resistance increased, he continued to push forward and, despite two saber wounds sustained during his action, succeeded in annihilating additional Japanese and in gaining valuable information as to the extent and strength of enemy positions. When his company had become dangerously pinned down by hostile enfilade rifle and machine-gun fire and had suffered ten casualties, six of whom were lying in an exposed position pleading for help on 9 July, he volunteered to lead a group of six Marines to administer first aid and evacuate the men to safety. Wounded in the leg while performing this act, he refused evacuation and, during the hazardous five hours that followed skillfully assisted in the almost insurmountable task of slowly transporting the casualties over a jagged coral on improvised litters to safety on high ground to the rear. Again refusing treatment or evacuation until his comrades had been taken to the aid station, he was instrumental in saving at least six lives, and served as an inspiration to the men of his company. Sergeant Mitchell’s courage, initiative and devotion to duty throughout this period of grave peril enhanced and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.