The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Willard L. Shupe (NSN: 8289223), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and conspicuous devotion to duty while serving as a Medical Corpsman with Company I, Third Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces at Saipan in the Mariana Islands, during the attack against strong enemy forces on Hill 500, on 20 June 1944. On that date, while one of the assault rifle platoons of his company was pinned down and suffering heavy casualties from heavy machine gun and rifle fire, Corpsman Shupe went forward to administer first aid to the wounded. Although he himself was hit, he refused to stop to attend to himself but assisted in evacuating four wounded men from the area until wounded the second time. Still, he refused to be evacuated until he bled to death while attending to his wounded comrades. By his courage and efforts in behalf of others at great risk to his own life, Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Shupe undoubtedly saved many lives, and his steadfast devotion to duty throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.