The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class William K. Green (MCSN: 876415), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as a Member of a Machine Gun Squad of Company C, First Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Mariana Islands, 15 June 1944. Reaching the initial objective after landing on the beach on D-Day, Private First Class Green encountered bitter hostile resistance and, realizing that a machine gun was urgently needed at the objective, returned sixteen hundred yards to the beach and with a companion located a heavy machine gun and ammunition. Braving intense enemy artillery and mortar fire, he and his comrade carried out three successful trips to the beach, placed the machine gun in a firing position on the front line and, during the night, killed at least nine of the Japanese and were largely instrumental in repelling a determined hostile counterattack and in holding the beachhead. By his courage and bold initiative, Private First Class Green contributed materially to the success of our operations against this heavily-fortified Japanese stronghold, and his indomitable fighting spirit throughout reflects the highest credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service.