The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private Andy D. Mathis (MCSN: 449141), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as an Automatic Rifleman of Company K, Third Battalion, Twenty-first Marines, THIRD Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 24 February 1945. When his platoon was halted by heavy enemy machine-gun and rifle fire from a pillbox, Private Mathis unhesitatingly braved hostile fire to run forward two hundred yards across an open airstrip to a point from which he opened fire into the enemy position. Although seriously wounded, he continued to fire until he had killed the occupants of the pillbox and enabled his platoon to continue the attack. His courage and devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon Private Mathis and the United States Naval Service.