The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant Walter M. Newland (MCSN: 0-16898), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while attached to the Marine Fighting Squadron FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO (VMF-452), while on board the U.S.S FRANKLIN (CV-13), during operations against enemy Japanese forces near Kobe, Japan, 19 March 1945. When the carrier was hit by an enemy bomb and rocked by the explosion of her own ordinance, First Lieutenant Newland immediately organized and led parties into numerous hot magazines to remove and jettison live ammunition, and then fought raging fires in the face of further enemy air attacks. His courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.