The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Corporal Ole B. Ekstrom (MCSN: 425926), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as a Tank Crewman, serving with Company A, Sixth Tank Battalion, SIXTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 12 May 1945. With his tank immobilized and the tank commander wounded during a fierce engagement with the Japanese, Corporal Ekstrom unhesitatingly exposed himself to the furious enemy machine-gun and rifle fire to carry the injured officer to another tank. Courageously disregarding the incessant barrage of hostile fire which surrounded the heavy vehicle as it moved forward to a defiladed position, he held the wounded man on the tank until he himself was stuck down, mortally wounded by an enemy machine-gun bullet. His dauntless initiative and fortitude in the face of grave danger and his self-sacrificing efforts on behalf of his fallen commander reflect the highest credit upon Corporal Ekstrom and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.