The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Major William H. Kennedy, Jr. (MCSN: 0-7725), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Commanding Officer of the First Battalion, Twenty-seventh Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 15 March 1945. Although suffering from a wound inflicted by the enemy three days previous, Major Kennedy coolly directed and encouraged his assault units, which had been greatly disorganized by casualties and replacements and were near exhaustion from six days of fighting. By his aggressive leadership, he inspired his men not only in the seizure of a heavily-defended ridge to their immediate front but in advancing an additional two hundred yards to take a ridge that dominated the entire northeastern part of the Island. His courageous fighting spirit and tactical judgment were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.