The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant John J. Jachym (MCSN: 0-8769), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while in charge of a platoon in the First Battalion, First Marines, FIRST Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on August 19 and 21, 1942. Meeting an enemy patrol near Papangu, Second Lieutenant Jachym heroically led his platoon through the thick undergrowth in an enveloping maneuver with such skill and initiative that the enemy was trapped and almost completely annihilated. Two days later, when the First Marines attacked an enemy force between Tenaru Village and the Tenaru River, Second Lieutenant Jachym, commanding his platoon in the face of fierce Japanese fire from machine guns and mortars, closed with the enemy along the banks of the river. His great personal valor and distinguished leadership aided in a large part in the final capture or destruction of the entire enemy forces in this operation.