The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Corporal Olon Edward Brooks, Jr. (MCSN: 447055), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Acting Scout Sergeant, serving with an Artillery Forward Observation Team of Battery E, Second Battalion, Eleventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division, during operations against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 20 April 1945. Discovering that his forward observation team was ambushed and pinned down by intense enemy machine-gun and rifle fire, Corporal Brooks unhesitatingly worked his way forward to an exposed position where he took station and, delivering a steady stream of accurate fire on the enemy, diverted their return fire to himself, thereby making it possible for his team to withdraw. His bold and unselfish courage in sacrificing his own safety for that of his comrades and his indomitable devotion to duty in the face of overwhelming odds reflect the highest credit upon Corporal Brooks and the United States Naval Service.