The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private Robert D. Goode (MCSN: 436138), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous Gallantry and intrepidity while serving as a Flame Thrower Operator of Company E, Second Battalion, Twenty-eighth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 1 March 1945. Despite difficulty presented by the weight of the flame thrower and the heat encountered in operation, Private Goode repeatedly exposed himself to hostile grenades and machine-gun fire to advance and neutralize pillboxes in a series of fortifications at the base of Mount Suribachi, continuing this aggressive method of attack until his platoon’s sector of action had been secured. As a member of the first patrol to scale Mount Suribachi on 23 February, he courageously climbed the precipitous slope and assisted in neutralizing the many caves found in the rim of the volcano, some of which contained as many a seventy Japanese. Sustaining painful wounds which necessitated his evacuation while neutralizing a well-entrenched enemy cave position in the northern sector of the island, he returned to duty 3 March, and carried on his courageous attack against the enemy until seriously wounded on 10 March, while endeavoring to destroy the hostile cave positions in the vicinity of the battalion’s final objective. By his aggressive fighting spirit, fortitude and unwavering devotion to duty throughout, Private Goode upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.