The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain Rodney L. Heinze (MCSN: 0-9695), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Commanding Officer of the Third Battalion, Twenty-first Marines, THIRD Marine Division in action against enemy Japanese forces on Guam, Mariana Islands on 21 July 1944. During the attack to seize the cliffs above the Asan River Valley, a terrain feature which commanded the entire Division beach, Captain Heinze’s company was gradually forced into a bottleneck by the nature of the terrain and was receiving heavy concentrations of hostile mortar and machine gun fire which inflicted heavy casualties. Due to the physical difficulty of scaling he almost perpendicular cliffs, many of the company were collapsing from heat exhaustion. Faced with these almost insurmountable obstacles, Captain Heinze boldly made his way up and down the front lines in full view of the enemy, urging the men to renew their efforts and to move on to the crest of the cliff. By his heroic actions he inspired his men to seize the objective and consolidate the position before dark. Captain Heinze’s courage, daring initiative and unwavering devotion to duty throughout were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.