The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class Kenneth L. Leverington (MCSN: 888156), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as a Flame Thrower Operator of Company G, Second Battalion, Fifth Marines, FIRST Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu, Palau Islands, on 27 September 1944. When his tank was rendered out of action by a Bangalore torpedo explosion and heavy automatic fire during an assault on a well-fortified ridge, Private First Class Leverington moved forward alone and turned his flame thrower directly into the entrance of a cave fortification, thereby saving the lives of many of his comrades. Although wounded when a demolition explosion from an adjacent cave blew him completely off his feet, he ran back to get another flame thrower and returned to bring additional fire to bear on the cave. His outstanding courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.