Navy Federal Credit Union

Awards Received

  • Distinguished Service Cross

    Service:

    United States Army

    Rank:

    First Lieutenant (Infantry)

    Batallion:

    3d Battalion

    Regiment:

    127th Infantry Regiment

    Division:

    32d Infantry Division

    Action Date:

    March 18, 1945

    Headquarters, U.S. Forces-Pacific, General Orders No. 54 (July 16, 1945)

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant (Infantry) Robert James Stallman, Jr., United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company K, 3d Battalion, 127th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces at Colibong, Luzon, Philippine Islands, on 18 March 1945. After a squad from a rifle platoon had outflanked and neutralized an enemy pillbox and was about to gain the top of a hill, a concealed enemy light machine gun suddenly opened fire at point blank range, killing two men and wounding four. First Lieutenant Stallman, who had remained with the platoon to direct the covering fire, quickly went to the aid of the wounded. In spite of increasingly concentrated Japanese fire, as well as the realization that the enemy were waiting for each time he returned, he traversed a distance of about 100 yards four times to within 20 yards of the enemy light machine gun, in order to return the wounded men to safety. Although it took almost an hour to effect these rescues, First Lieutenant Stallman never wavered in the face of enemy fire which repeatedly missed him by the narrowest of margins. First Lieutenant Stallman’s outstanding courage and devotion to duty and his readiness repeatedly to expose himself to extreme danger in order to save the lives of his comrades, exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.