The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant Orrell F. Kent (MCSN: 0-15504), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as a Platoon Leader of the Second Tank Battalion, SECOND Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Tinian, Mariana Islands, 31 July 1944. When the advance of a rifle platoon had been stopped, First Lieutenant Kent brought forward a platoon of tanks to destroy the Japanese position. Opening the turret of his tank, he voluntarily exposed himself to direct his tanks to better advantage. Later that same day, when another platoon was held up by an enemy machine gun, he rode on the front of his tank in the face of intense hostile fire, thereby gaining better vision of the enemy emplacement, which he speedily destroyed. By his aggressive fighting spirit and courageous devotion to duty, he contributed materially to the success of the campaign, and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.