The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class Joseph L. Hudome (MCSN: 469598), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as a Member of a Forward Observation Section of the Third Battalion, Fourteenth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands on 8 March 1945. Observing a hostile rifleman holding up the advance of an infantry squad, Private First Class Hudome courageously crawled forward over an exposed route with enemy small arms and mortar fire falling all around him and tossing grenades into an enemy foxhole, annihilated the Japanese rifleman thereby making it possible for the infantry to continue its advance. His initiative and aggressive fighting spirit were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.