The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant Lloyd Van Ness (MCSN: 373871), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Company E, Third Battalion, Twenty-first Marines, THIRD Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 6 March 1945. After his Platoon Leader had been wounded and the Senior Non-Commissioned Officer killed, Sergeant Van Ness took command of the platoon and, reorganizing his men, continued the attack over rocky terrain. Moving up and down the lines through heavy small-arms and mortar fire, he selected better positions for his guns and located enemy targets and, when one of his gun crews was subjected to intense hostile fire from a pillbox and all members became casualties, manned the gun himself, moving forward to a position from which he destroyed the enemy occupying the pillbox. By aiding his platoon in the destruction of three enemy machine guns and twenty Japanese he contributed directly to the success of the company’s advance. His courage and devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon Sergeant Van Ness and the United States Naval Service.