The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class Michael Balog (MCSN: 351205), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as an Ammunition Carrier in a Machine Gun Platoon of Company C, First Battalion, Twenty-Ninth Marines, SIXTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 15 May 1945. With his platoon subjected to a terrific barrage of hostile hand grenades thrown from behind the crest of a prominent knoll, Private First Class Balog braved the intense fire, which had inflicted heavy casualties on his section, to rush toward the enemy position, directing accurate machine gun fire and tossing grenades into the Japanese emplacement. Repeating this heroic act successfully on four occasions, he enabled his platoon to continue and seize its objective. By his courage, initiative and selfless devotion to duty, Private First Class Balog upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.