The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Corporal John E. Duddy (MCSN: 380829), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Company F, Second Battalion, Sixth Marines, SECOND Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan, Mariana Islands, 16 June 1944. When communications failed during a heavy Japanese counterattack, Corporal Duddy voluntarily braved heavy machine-gun and small-arms fire and made his way to the Company Command Post to adjust the supporting Naval gunfire. Continuing his valiant actions, he made three more trips in the face of heavy fire and accurately adjusted the Navel gunfire within two hundred yards of our lines. His courageous initiative was a decisive factor in repelling the hostile counterattack and his zealous devotion to duty throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.