The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant Fletcher Long (MCSN: 0-16870), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as an 81-mm. Mortar Platoon Leader of the Second Battalion, Twenty-fifth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 1 March 1945. When a faulty round of ammunition exploded in one of his mortar tubes causing heavy casualties and setting fire to two large ammunition dumps, First Lieutenant Long quickly administered first aid to a wounded comrade within thirty yards of the burning piles and, although wounded himself, evacuated the man to safety. With shrapnel falling over the entire area, he supervised his men in fire-fighting, thereby averting disaster by preventing the blaze from spreading to other ammunition piles. Immediately after the explosions ceased and the fires were extinguished, he reorganized the platoon to direct it to a new firing position. His courage, leadership and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.