The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class Fred C. Hall (MCSN: 463868), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Company B, Fourth Tank Battalion, FOURTH Marine Division in operations against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Mariana Islands on 15 January 1944. Endeavoring to get a tank ashore safely in an LCM which listed dangerously to port, Private First Class Hall volunteered to help prevent the lighter from capsizing by taking a position on the starboard gunwale instead of staying in the shelter of the well deck. In the face of heavy enemy artillery and mortar fire, he remained in this hazardous station until wounded by a hostile shell. His courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.