The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant George H. Spierring (MCSN: 0-28800), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Pilot of a Fighter Plane in Marine Fighting Squadron ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE (VMF-123), attached to the U.S.S. BENNINGTON (CV-20), in action against enemy Japanese forces in the vicinity of the Kure Naval Base, Southwest Honshu, Japan, 19 March 1945. Penetrating a strongly-defended Japanese sector, First Lieutenant Spierring braved overwhelming opposition to assist his group in destroying nine airborne enemy aircraft and damaging seven more. When his formation was intercepted by numerically superior hostile planes, he unhesitatingly maneuvered to destroy another Japanese plane and flew through intense antiaircraft fire to protect his comrades and fight off enemy forces even after his own plane was severely damaged, thereby contributing materially to the safe return of thirteen of the fifteen planes, eleven of which were badly damaged. His outstanding airmanship and devotion to duty in the face of grave danger were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.