The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Corporal Stanley J. Kurtyka (MCSN: 307934), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as a Rifle Squad Leader of Company F, Second Battalion, Twenty-fifth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 13 March 1945. Wounded while leading his squad through heavy hostile fire, Corporal Kurtyka continued in the attack and, although wounded a second time necessitating immediate treatment by a corpsman, refused evacuation and remained to direct his unit until the mission was accomplished. His courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.