The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to First Lieutenant Jefferson W. Maultsby (MCSN: 0-16212), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while attached to the Third Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marines, Japanese forces at Saipan, Mariana Islands, on 27 June 1944. When the enemy launched a vicious counterattack against our forces during the early morning, First Lieutenant Maultsby fearlessly left his position of comparative safety to go to the aid of a hospital corpsman under attack by three of the enemy and, engaging the superior force in fierce combat, succeeded in beating off the attackers. Mortally wounded during the bitter engagement, First Lieutenant Maultsby, by his daring initiative, great personal valor and self-sacrificing efforts on behalf of another, saved the life of a man who otherwise might have perished and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.