The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private Ernest R. Dedmon, Jr. (MCSN: 491229), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Company A, First Engineer Battalion, FIRST Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 6 May 1945. After extremely heavy hostile machine-gun and mortar fire had forced the tactical withdrawal of the assault company, Private Dedmon volunteered with a comrade to go forward of friendly lines to bring back a wounded Marine who had been overlooked by the corpsmen. Undaunted by intense enemy fire and the difficult terrain, he ran approximately four hundred yards to reach the casualty and, upon finding that the man’s left leg had been completely severed, assisted in applying a tourniquet fashioned from communication wire, and helped carry the wounded man on a poncho back to an aid station. His outstanding courage and devotion to duty under fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.