Navy Federal Credit Union

Awards Received

  • Silver Star

    Service:

    United States Marine Corps

    Rank:

    Private

    Batallion:

    1st Battalion

    Regiment:

    21st Marines

    Division:

    3d Marine Division

    Action Date:

    December 25, 1943

    Commander South Pacific: Serial 00773 (March 17, 1944)

    The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private Francis D. Arterbery (MCSN: 456675), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Company B, First Battalion, Twenty-First Marines, THIRD Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces in the Japanese infested Cape Torokina Area, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, on 25 December 1943. While proceeding through our lines with a message to the Command Post of his battalion, Private Arterbery encountered a Japanese soldier dressed in a Marine Corps uniform and armed with a rifle. Being unarmed, he feigned ignorance of the enemy imposter’s identity until they were abreast and, in a quick surprise attack, overpowered the Japanese in hand-to-hand combat and took him as a prisoner to his Battalion Command Post. Private Arterbery’s daring initiative and courageous conduct were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.