The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Private First Class Leonard J. Allnutt (MCSN: 533950), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action as Mortar Ammunition Carrier, serving with Company C, First Battalion, Twenty-Eighth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, on 19 February 1945. Armed with hand grenades and demolition charges, Private First Class Allnutt voluntarily crawled forward several hundred feet to the left flank of a Japanese blockhouse from which terrific automatic small arms fire and a barrage of hand grenades were holding up the advance of his platoon. Facing the enemy’s heavy fire with cool daring and resolute fighting spirit, he destroyed the blockhouse and its occupants, thereby facilitating his platoon’s offensive. By his aggressive initiative and unwavering devotion to duty, Private First Class Allnutt upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.